Thinking books · Critical thinking · Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson, 2007

Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) — the big ideas

How self-justification works, and why it is strongest in people who most need to reconsider.

Free — no account needed to read

The big ideas

Cognitive dissonance is resolved by changing the belief rather than the behaviour, which means the justification arrives automatically and feels like reasoning.

The pyramid: two people who start almost identically end up far apart because each small justification makes the next one easier, and neither notices the slide.

The more you have invested in a position — publicly, professionally, financially — the harder self-correction becomes, which is the opposite of the incentive you would want.

Memory is reconstructed in the direction of the current self-image, so honest recollection is not available as a check.

Practise it — no need to have read it

Write a decision you defended that turned out badly. Write the justification you used at the time, and ask whether you would accept it from someone else.

A hint: The test is whether you would accept the same reasoning from a person you disagree with.

Where it shows up in real life

• Admitting a mistake at work
• Reviewing your own decisions
• Understanding why someone will not back down

Described in our own words with the source named — never quoted, and not a substitute for reading the book.