Supplying a creditable reason after the fact for something done for a reason one will not admit.
Jones's 1908 term. The concept survives in modern form as motivated reasoning, which has better evidential support and does not require the psychoanalytic apparatus.
In practice
- A shopper who bought the dearer model explains the warranty, the resale value and the build quality, in that order, after the receipt.
- A manager who declined the transfer for family reasons discovers those reasons after deciding, and reports them sincerely.
- Standing
- The concept survives in modern form as motivated reasoning, which has better evidential support.
- Subject
- Psychology & Behavior
- Essay
- Theories of the mind, from the lab to the bookshop