Mistakes Were Made

English language

Published May 7, 2007

ISBN:
978-0-15-101098-1
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4 stars (3 reviews)

Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) is a non-fiction book by social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, first published in 2007. It deals with cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias and other cognitive biases, using these psychological theories to illustrate how the perpetrators (and victims) of hurtful acts justify and rationalize their behavior. It describes a positive feedback loop of action and self-deception by which slight differences between people's attitudes become polarized.

3 editions

Review of 'Mistakes Were Made' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is book very hard to read. It confronts you with all the tricks that the brain uses to reduce cognitive dissonance in order to make you look good to yourself even when the decision you make is not the more moral. Confirmation biass and selective memories are other tricks that the brain uses to allow us to live with ourselves. In the end, you have some advice on how to avoid this kind of behavior.