Using Rationalization as a Defense Mechanism

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsThe Psychology of RationalizationExamplesCausesHealthier Coping Strategies

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The Psychology of Rationalization

Examples

Causes

Healthier Coping Strategies

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Rationalization involves justifying behaviors, thoughts, or feelings using logical explanations.While such explanations sound reasonable, they disguise unacceptable thoughts and don’t accurately depict a person’s true feelings and motivations.

This article discusses the psychology of rationalization, examples of how it is used, and how to find healthier ways to deal with difficult emotions.

According to Freud, rationalization allows people to justify their thoughts or behaviors without experiencing conflicts, anxiety, or shame if they face their true motivations.

While manyFreudian theorieshave fallen from favor in psychology, the idea of rationalization has persisted. Later researchers continued to expand on Freud’s ideas, proposing that rationalization might not just protect the ego from anxiety, it might also serve adaptive purposes.

By relieving feelings of distress, rationalization allows people to cope with difficult situations that might pose a threat to their well-being.

Another theory suggests that rationalization might serve another important purpose. According to this explanation, decision-making is complex and rarely relies on a single process. Instead, it often incorporates instinct, norms, habits, reasoning, and other influences. Rationalization might be an attempt to represent all of these processes into a coherent narrative, or what researchers have called “a useful fiction.”

While some researchers argue that rationalization can be a rational response, others argue that it can be a detrimental defense mechanism that is associated with worse emotional development and increased antisocial behavior.

Rationalization vs. LyingWhile rationalization is similar to lying, there are important distinctions. Lying is a conscious attempt to deceive, while rationalization often occurs partly or primarily outside of conscious awareness. And while both disguise a person’s real motives forself-serving purposes, rationalization protects them from being fully aware of their true motivations.

Rationalization vs. Lying

While rationalization is similar to lying, there are important distinctions. Lying is a conscious attempt to deceive, while rationalization often occurs partly or primarily outside of conscious awareness. And while both disguise a person’s real motives forself-serving purposes, rationalization protects them from being fully aware of their true motivations.

Examples of Rationalization

One of the reasons why rationalization has remained such an enduring concept is the fact that many people can immediately recognize examples of it in their own lives. Rationalization often occurs in a variety of different ways. It may involve:

In Romantic Relationships

Other common examples in relationships include minimizing problematic behaviors, finding ways to justify actions, and making excuses to explain why things happen. For example:

In Family Relationships

Rationalization can take a severe toll on family relationships over time. While it might make the person using this defense mechanism feel better in the short term, it can erode trust and communication between family members.

In the Workplace

Using rationalization can be problematic when a person uses post hoc excuses to justify immoral or unethical behavior. One study found that those with low moral identity were more likely to engage in immoral behavior after using moral rationalization to justify past actions.

Why We Use Rationalization as a Defense Mechanism

There are a variety of reasons why people use rationalization to justify their behaviors:

To Avoid Cognitive Dissonance

People want to believe that they act in accordance with their beliefs and values. When they don’t, it creates a state of psychological tension known ascognitive dissonance.

To Maintain a Sense of Self

People also want to be able to see themselves in a positive light. Part of this involves being able to think that they act in ways that are consistent and in accordance with their values. Rationalization often serves as a way to maintain this positive outlook on the self.

To Protect Self-Esteem

Rationalization can protectself-esteem, but it does so at a cost. People may be able to better cope with stress in the moment, but it can also lead to further problems down the road. Refusing to acknowledge the truth of the situation can lead to faulty thinking, cognitive biases, and self-deceptions. It prevents people from being able to evaluate their own actions and make changes that can benefit them in the future.

When rationalization becomes a pattern you use to excuse away unhealthy behavior or justify toxic patterns, it can lead to poor choices and unrealistic ways of coping with problems. For example, you might rationalize your partner’s behavior to avoid conflict, but this can deepen the problems in your relationship and contribute to poor communication.

Finding Healthy Ways to Deal With Emotions

If you use rationalization to ease feelings of anxiety or cope with troubling situations, recognize that the use of such defense mechanisms is both common and normal. In many cases, using these types of defenses allows us toalleviate stressin the moment until with are better equipped to emotionally process the situation.

Rationalization can become a problem if you use it excessively to avoid dealing with reality. If you want to find healthier ways to deal with emotions, improve communication, and handle conflict, the following strategies can be helpful:

Rationalization is something that most people engage in from time to time. While it can have its benefits, it can also lead to poor accountability andbad decisions. Not dealing with your real motivations can also limit your personal growth.

Because rationalization is often used as a tool to avoid emotions, finding healthier ways of coping can be helpful if you find yourself using this defense mechanism too often. Buildingself-awareness, learning to identify emotions, and practicing emotional acceptance are a few strategies that can be helpful.

If you think rationalization might be holding you back and preventing you from acknowledging reality, consider talking to a mental health professional. By working with a therapist, you’ll be better able to identify rationalization and develop better ways to cope with difficult emotions.

8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cushman F.Rationalization is rational.Behav Brain Sci. 2019;43:e28. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19001730Knoll M, Starrs CJ, Perry JC.Rationalization(Defense mechanism). In: Zeigler-Hill V, Shackelford TK, eds.Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing; 2020:4301-4305. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1419Freud S.The Neuro-Psychoses of Defence.Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. 1894;3:41-60. Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing.Brody S, Costa RM.Rationalization is a suboptimal defense mechanism associated with clinical and forensic problems.Behav Brain Sci. 2020;43:e31. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19002073Mulder LB, van Dijk E.Moral rationalization contributes more strongly to escalation of unethical behavior among low moral identifiers than among high moral identifiers.Front Psychol. 2020;10:2912. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02912Jarcho JM, Berkman ET, Lieberman MD.The neural basis of rationalization: cognitive dissonance reduction during decision-making.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(4):460-467. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq054Quilty-Dunn J.Rationalization is irrational and self-serving, but useful.Behav Brain Sci. 2020;43:e42. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19002218Torre JB, Lieberman MD.Putting feelings into words: affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.Emotion Review. 2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cushman F.Rationalization is rational.Behav Brain Sci. 2019;43:e28. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19001730Knoll M, Starrs CJ, Perry JC.Rationalization(Defense mechanism). In: Zeigler-Hill V, Shackelford TK, eds.Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing; 2020:4301-4305. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1419Freud S.The Neuro-Psychoses of Defence.Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. 1894;3:41-60. Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing.Brody S, Costa RM.Rationalization is a suboptimal defense mechanism associated with clinical and forensic problems.Behav Brain Sci. 2020;43:e31. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19002073Mulder LB, van Dijk E.Moral rationalization contributes more strongly to escalation of unethical behavior among low moral identifiers than among high moral identifiers.Front Psychol. 2020;10:2912. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02912Jarcho JM, Berkman ET, Lieberman MD.The neural basis of rationalization: cognitive dissonance reduction during decision-making.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(4):460-467. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq054Quilty-Dunn J.Rationalization is irrational and self-serving, but useful.Behav Brain Sci. 2020;43:e42. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19002218Torre JB, Lieberman MD.Putting feelings into words: affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.Emotion Review. 2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Cushman F.Rationalization is rational.Behav Brain Sci. 2019;43:e28. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19001730Knoll M, Starrs CJ, Perry JC.Rationalization(Defense mechanism). In: Zeigler-Hill V, Shackelford TK, eds.Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing; 2020:4301-4305. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1419Freud S.The Neuro-Psychoses of Defence.Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. 1894;3:41-60. Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing.Brody S, Costa RM.Rationalization is a suboptimal defense mechanism associated with clinical and forensic problems.Behav Brain Sci. 2020;43:e31. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19002073Mulder LB, van Dijk E.Moral rationalization contributes more strongly to escalation of unethical behavior among low moral identifiers than among high moral identifiers.Front Psychol. 2020;10:2912. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02912Jarcho JM, Berkman ET, Lieberman MD.The neural basis of rationalization: cognitive dissonance reduction during decision-making.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(4):460-467. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq054Quilty-Dunn J.Rationalization is irrational and self-serving, but useful.Behav Brain Sci. 2020;43:e42. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19002218Torre JB, Lieberman MD.Putting feelings into words: affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.Emotion Review. 2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706

Cushman F.Rationalization is rational.Behav Brain Sci. 2019;43:e28. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19001730

Knoll M, Starrs CJ, Perry JC.Rationalization(Defense mechanism). In: Zeigler-Hill V, Shackelford TK, eds.Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing; 2020:4301-4305. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1419

Freud S.The Neuro-Psychoses of Defence.Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. 1894;3:41-60. Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing.

Brody S, Costa RM.Rationalization is a suboptimal defense mechanism associated with clinical and forensic problems.Behav Brain Sci. 2020;43:e31. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19002073

Mulder LB, van Dijk E.Moral rationalization contributes more strongly to escalation of unethical behavior among low moral identifiers than among high moral identifiers.Front Psychol. 2020;10:2912. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02912

Jarcho JM, Berkman ET, Lieberman MD.The neural basis of rationalization: cognitive dissonance reduction during decision-making.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011;6(4):460-467. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq054

Quilty-Dunn J.Rationalization is irrational and self-serving, but useful.Behav Brain Sci. 2020;43:e42. doi:10.1017/S0140525X19002218

Torre JB, Lieberman MD.Putting feelings into words: affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation.Emotion Review. 2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706

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