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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–5Cite as

Rationalization (Defense Mechanism)

Synonyms

Lying; Lying to oneself; Justifying; Making excuses; Bullshitting

Definition

Rationalization is a disavowal defense mechanism which permits an individual to deal with emotional conflicts, or internal or external stressors, by devising reassuring or self-serving but incorrect explanations for his or her own or others’ thoughts, actions, or feelings, which cover up other motives (Perry 1990).

Introduction

Defense mechanisms are automatic psychological processes that protect an individual from emotional conflicts or awareness of internal or external stressors. They impact individuals’ reactions to conflicts and stressors (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Defenses can be arranged hierarchically based on their usual level of adaptiveness. Within the hierarchy, defenses are grouped into different levels based on common functions. These levels include the psychotic (0), action (1), major image-distorting (2), disavowal and autistic-fantasy (3), minor image-distorting (4),...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish, Montreal, H3A 1Y2, QC, Canada

    Megan Knoll

  2. Department of Psychiatry, McGill University at the Jewish General Hospital, 4333 Cote-Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal, H3T 1E4, QC, Canada

    Claire J. Starrs & J. Christopher Perry

Authors
  1. Megan Knoll
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  2. Claire J. Starrs
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  3. J. Christopher Perry
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Megan Knoll .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. MacQuarie University, North Ryde, Australia

    Simon Boag

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Knoll, M., Starrs, C.J., Perry, J.C. (2016). Rationalization (Defense Mechanism). In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1419-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1419-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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