Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) : Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts

Cover
Title
Contents
Epigraph
Preface to the Revised Editions
Introduction: Knaves, Fools, Villains, and Hypocrites: How Do They Live with Themselves?
1. Cognitive Dissonance: The Engine of Self-Justification
	Believing Is Seeing
	Ingrid’s Choice, Nick’s Mercedes, and Elliot’s Canoe
	Spirals of Violence—and Virtue
	The Pyramid of Choice
2. Pride and Prejudice . . . and Other Blind Spots
	The Road to St. Andrews
	The Gift That Keeps on Giving
	A Slip of the Brain
3. Memory, the Self-Justifying Historian
	The Biases of Memory
	True Stories of False Memories
4. Good Intentions, Bad Science: The Closed Loop of Clinical Judgment
	The Problem of the Benevolent Dolphin
	Science, Skepticism, and Self-justification
5. Law and Disorder
	The Investigators
	The Interrogators
	The Prosecutors
	Jumping to Convictions
6. Love’s Assassin: Self-Justification in Marriage
7. Wounds, Rifts, and Wars
	Who Started This?
	Perpetrators of Evil
	Truth and Reconciliation
8. Letting Go and Owning Up
	Mistakes Were Made—by Them
	Mistakes Were Made—by Me
	Act 2: The Arduous Journey to Self-Compassion
9. Dissonance, Democracy, and the Demagogue
	The Pyramid of Choice, Once Again
	Stepping Off the Pyramid: “The Democrats Are Worse”
	Sliding Down the Pyramid: “He Has Eaten Your Soul”
	Landing at the Base: “We Have Seen His Heart”
	Stopping the Slide: “Look, This Is Bigger Than the Politics of the Day”
Acknowledgments
Notes
	INTRODUCTION
	1. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: THE ENGINE OF SELF- JUSTIFICATION
	2. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE . . . AND OTHER BLIND SPOTS
	3. MEMORY, THE SELF-JUSTIFYING HISTORIAN
	4. GOOD INTENTIONS, BAD SCIENCE: THE CLOSED LOOP OF CLINICAL JUDGMENT
	5. LAW AND DISORDER
	6. LOVE’S ASSASSIN: SELF-JUSTIFICATION IN MARRIAGE
	7. WOUNDS, RIFTS, AND WARS
	8. LETTING GO AND OWNING UP
	9. DISSONANCE, DEMOCRACY, AND THE DEMAGOGUE
Index
About the Authors
Footnotes