Why do we hold onto things even after we think better of them? This book goes into this in depth and the anwers it gave were surprising.

An excellent work and something that we can all benefit from.

While I would never call this book a "page turner." it is nonetheless a fascinating book about how cognitive dissonance affects us all. I feel after reading it that I have a much better understanding of why people do the things they do. I am already planning my second reading of this book.

An interesting book, but in my opinion it depends too much on anecdotes and too little on science to defend its points.

Not always the easiest book to read (I didn't always want to see just what humans are capable of doing in order to reduce dissonance--after all, there are some memories that I hold dear and I'm not sure I want them all called into question). However, a lot of good food for thought and parts were very interesting for some of the research I'm currently doing.

Everyone should read this book!

Challenging, compelling, and insightful. We relish opportunities to point out hypocrisy in others but are reluctant to notice the same patterns within ourselves. Importantly, this is true of both stories we tell ourselves about how we’re good people, but also stories of how we’re not.

Appreciate a research based book with anecdotal examples. Interesting info concerning justification, cognitive dissonance, and personal identity.

Very interesting book about how we self-justify our decisions and adjust our memories accordingly.

Book explores the psychological phenomenon of self-justification, where people go to great lengths to rationalize their mistakes, bad decisions, and hurtful actions in order to protect their self-image and sense of being good, moral individuals.

The key points are:

Self-Justification and Cognitive Dissonance:
- When people do something that contradicts their self-conception as intelligent, ethical beings, it creates an uncomfortable state of cognitive dissonance. To alleviate this dissonance, they engage in self-justification - inventing explanations, distorting memories, and blaming others to rationalize their mistakes and preserve their positive self-image.

Confirmation Bias and Memory Distortion:
- People tend to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms their existing beliefs (confirmation bias). They also unconsciously edit and reconstruct memories to align with their justifications, sometimes creating entirely false memories.

Slippery Slope of Escalating Commitment:
- Once people justify a small misstep, they are more likely to commit to that course of action and justify increasingly unethical decisions, leading to a slippery slope of escalating commitment to the initial mistake.

Overcoming Self-Justification:
- The authors suggest cultivating self-awareness, separating behavior from identity, and learning to accept failures as opportunities for growth rather than threats to self-worth as ways to overcome the self-justification trap.

In summary, the book provides a compelling examination of why people find it so difficult to admit mistakes, the psychological mechanisms behind self-justification, and strategies to break this destructive pattern.

Another way to hold a mirror up to your brain.

A book for all skeptics.