Bias and Belief

Mistakes Were Made but not by me

Notes on Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)

Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson (2007) Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. Harcourt. ISBN:9780151010981 (Google information)

What are the effects in the real world of the processes of self-justification and bias that psychologists have observed again and again in laboratory research? How can sincere, well-meaning people cause horrible suffering and pain to other people and yet be blind to their own responsibility?

This book achieves the best of both worlds by being easily readable by a non-technical audience, with lots of topical examples, while being based on solid research. There are 260 endnotes, many of which include multiple references to academic papers. Aronson is an extremely eminent scientist (and author of the textbook The Social Animal) and both authors seem very humane and

Structure of the Book

Introduction

Chapter 1: Cognitive dissonance: The Engine of Self-justification

Chapter 2: Pride and Prejudice, and Other Blind Spots

Chapter 3: Memory, the Self-justifying Historian

• False memories

Chapter 4: Good Intentions, Bad Science: The Closed Loop of Clinical Judgment

• "Recovered memories"

Chapter 5: Law and Disorder

• How prejudices and self-justification affect each stage of the judicial process
  • The Investigators
  • The Interrogators
  • The Prosecutors
• Jumping to Convictions (recommendations about how to improve the situation)

Chapter 6: Love's Assassin: Self-justification in Marriage

• Examples of how self-justification in relationships can lead each partner to the illusion that they are the reasonable one and that the other is hard to live with
• The crucial role of attribution in the happiness or unhappiness of the relationship: i.e. seeing your spouse as being a stupid person rather than doing something stupid
• Self-justification in choices about relationships, e.g. after a difficult decision to leave someone, minimising their positive qualities and after a difficult decision to stay with them, minimising their negative qualities

Chapter 7: Wounds, Rifts and Wars

Chapter 8: Letting Go and Owning Up