Justifying Wrong Decisions: Causes, Remedies, and How to Make Sound Decisions

People typically use a set of logical reasons to justify their decisions and behaviors. This article examines the underlying causes and motivations for such behavior and the factors that genuinely influence the decision-making process.

Note: This article is taken from the blogger Vlad Dolezal; he tells us about the behavior of justifying wrong decisions, its causes, and how to overcome it and make sound decisions.

It highlights how crucial it is to apply this knowledge to make better decisions and use the appropriate motivations to persuade others.

Reasons for Rationalizing Poor Decisions and Mistakes

People generally tend to justify their decisions with a set of arguments and rationales all the time. You can identify the true motivations and reasons behind your decisions by observing these behaviors in your daily life and using the information provided in this article to help you make more informed decisions.

Here are two reasons for rationalizing poor decisions:

1. Preserving Self-Worth and Self-Confidence

Let's say a salesperson at an electronics store persuades you to purchase a device with many features you don't need. When someone asks you why you bought that item, you will eloquently describe its features. However, you might not use the device much after trying its features for the first time.

In this instance, your emotional response during the purchasing process is more important to the purchase than the device's actual features. When someone questions your decision, you’ll defend it by emphasizing the device’s features to prove that it was correct.

2. Adhering to the Rational and Logical Self-Image

People feel satisfied when they attribute their actions and decisions to rational thinking because it presents them as reasonable, collected people.

Initially, you might resist this assumption and find it bothersome. However, it’s essential to keep an open mind, reflect on your past decisions, and consider the underlying motives.

Decision-making involves both logic and emotion, meaning there’s no purely rational or entirely impulsive decision.

For example, if you ask a Linux user why they chose that operating system, they’ll likely provide logical reasons and explain its advantages to you as follows:

• Secure.
• Free.
• Open-source.

However, these surface-level reasons don’t fully explain Linux’s popularity despite its security, free, and ability to modify the written code in the source language to suit the user's needs. The real motivations that drive me to use the Linux system:

• Linux allows users to customize and fix the system according to their needs.
• Linux offers a wide range of options for the user.
• Feeling unique. Using an uncommon operating system sets me apart from the majority.
• The command-line interface is enjoyable for me as a user.

While this assumption may initially disturb you and challenge your self-image, consider it and examine your past decisions. Based on your personal experiences, it may hold true.

Factors Actively Influencing the Decision-Making Process

Below are three questions that should be taken into consideration:

1. Why do men ride motorcycles more than women?
2. Why do men participate in team sports more than women?
3. Why are men interested in technological tools while women tend to focus on fashion?

Below are my personal, non-logical responses answers to these questions, and some people may not agree with them:

• Because of biological differences, men typically feel a stronger need for freedom than women do. They enjoy doing things that give them a sense of freedom, like parkour and horseback riding. Conversely, women might not be as drawn to these kinds of activities. One of the main reasons more men choose to use Linux is their desire for freedom.
• Men have an innate desire to compete, which helps them define their masculinity compared to other men. They used to fight each other to establish control and authority over one another. Although human societies have evolved and become more civilized, the instinct for competition still exists. Men today channel this instinct through competitive sports and other refined activities.
• There isn’t a definitive answer.

We can conclude from the previous answers that not all of a person's decisions and actions are supported by logic.

Humans make decisions primarily based on their needs to feel significant, attractive, desirable, and satisfied with who they are. This means that most of our decisions are driven by our emotions.

People seek logical justifications to fulfill these instinctual needs, refusing to acknowledge the true reasons. Some tend to buy luxurious cars to impress others and feel luxury and self-worth, but they either deny these motives or use logical arguments to justify their decisions.

You may decide to purchase an expensive item, choose the store logically, then identify the factors that help you make the appropriate decision based on logic and strive to deny the emotional factor despite it being the main driver of your decision.

Finally, you examine your budget and the reasonable amount you can afford to pay. The amount paid depends on the value and status resulting from acquiring the item, a motive far removed from logic and reason, which is why the individual denies it.

Human thought and decision-making processes are extremely complex. Decisions rely on both logic and emotions simultaneously. It is important to remember that emotions are the primary driver of the decision-making process.

How to Make Sound Decisions?

When someone accepts that their decisions are not totally rational and acknowledge how their emotions influence them, their capacity for rational decision-making increases.

You must realize that your emotions control your decisions, and you should try to take advantage of this. Therefore, it can be concluded that emotions are important and dominant in an individual’s life. Furthermore, your feelings about a product you bought a week or a month from now will matter more than your immediate need and desire to have it.

For example, I used to eat sweets constantly, but I eventually realized that they annoyed me and caused discomfort, lethargy, and stomach irritation. The annoying symptoms would start about half an hour after eating the sweets and last for the rest of the day. That means that while eating sweets makes me feel good for a short while, it irritates me the rest of the day.

Therefore, it is illogical to consume sweets and feel miserable the rest of the day to experience fleeting pleasure. As a result, you can control your decisions by applying logic.

In a high school philosophy class, there was a discussion about an individual’s consciousness and ability to control their decisions. Then, I wanted to prove my point to the class and waved my hand in front of my friend’s face, so he blinked.

I turned to face the class and said, “He blinked.” Everyone laughed when I said, “You have to blink when someone waves their hand in front of your face; an individual cannot control their reactions.” My friend asked me to repeat the experiment, and I waved my hand in front of his face again, but this time he did not blink.

That's when I realized that people could control their automatic behaviors. Recognizing automatic behaviors and subconscious decisions is the first step toward managing them. To be able to influence and alter automatic, unconscious decisions, you must become aware of them. His eyes will blink when I wave my hand in front of my friend's face.

If I repeat the experiment multiple times before he understands what is happening and decides to stop blinking, he will probably exhibit the same reaction. This means he was blinking unconsciously and making his decisions automatically without awareness.

Awareness is very important for personal development and making purposeful changes in life.

You can stop the behavior of justifying decisions and proving their correctness with logical arguments, learn from your mistakes, and avoid them in the future. However, you have to identify this behavior first. Recall the salesperson who persuades you to buy an electronic device, only to find out later at home that you do not need it and will be useless.

Denying your error and seeking evidence to support your decision will probably cause you to experience the anxiety associated with "cognitive dissonance," which happens when a person holds two contradictory beliefs:

1. I make rational decisions.
2. I cannot benefit from the device I purchased.

When you insist that you are rational and refuse to acknowledge emotions' role in decision-making, you will be forced to find logical justifications for your purchase. Next, you will start listing the device's features to convince your conscious mind that your decision was right. However, you won't need to look for these features once you recognize the rationalizing poor decision behavior.

You will realize that you acted irrationally based on your emotions, admit that the device will not benefit you, consider the salesperson who convinced you to buy it, acknowledge your mistake, and ensure you do not repeat it. This indicates that you have grown from your error.

Influencing Others

I am not referring here to negatively influencing others or the behaviors marketers follow to convince customers to buy products they cannot benefit from. Influencing others is a double-edged sword that depends on the individual’s intention. This means that it can be used for noble or harmful purposes.

Humans make their decisions based on their personal desires. Therefore, you should keep the following ideas in mind when trying to influence others:

• People don't base their decisions on their needs.
• People don't base their decisions on what you think about their needs.
• People don't base their decisions on what you think about their desires
• People base their decisions on their desires.

You cannot convince a reckless teenager to quit smoking by discussing the long-term health risks, high costs, and addiction problems. You need to identify their desires and convince them based on those. You could warn them that their partner or even their friends will avoid them because of the smoking's disgusting smell coming from their clothing.

Understanding someone's desires and current circumstances is essential to help them make a positive life change. You must persuade someone by coming up with arguments that align with their desires because it could be challenging for them to comprehend and accept the need to change their current circumstances.