Rationalizing Definition

When it comes to rationalizing, there are a few different ways that people tend to do it. The first is by trying to come up with a logical explanation for why something happened, even if it doesn’t really make sense. For example, if you got a bad grade on a test, you might try to rationalize it by saying that the test was unfair or that you didn’t have enough time to study.

Another way people rationalize is by justifying their actions after the fact. So, if you eat an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting, you might rationalize it by telling yourself that you deserved it because you had a hard day.

Lastly, people also tend to rationalize their beliefs by cherry-picking evidence that supports them and ignoring evidence that goes against them. For example, if someone believes that all immigrants are criminals, they might only pay attention to stories about immigrants committing crimes and ignore all of the evidence that shows immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens.