ABSTRACT
H ave you ever put your foot in your mouth or did something that you wish you had not done? Mistakes like these can make people feel embarrassed, somewhat ashamed, or even mortifi ed by their actions. To feel better, people sometimes apologize or make amends for their mistake. On other occasions, however, mistakes in judgment and action cause immense psychological discomfort, especially when the actions are inconsistent with deeply cherished beliefs, values, morals, or traits that defi ne the self-concept. When the consequences of a discrepant behavior are severe, taking responsibility may not reduce the discomfort; indeed, admitting to the mistake may make matters worse. Sometimes our only option for reducing the discomfort is to deny, trivialize, or seek justifi cation for the immoral or incompetent act. Our need to restore a sense of integrity can, under some conditions, even lead us to distort our perceptions of what we did. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the processes of attitude and behavior change that unfold when people commit themselves to a position or a course of action, only to realize later that it was the wrong thing to do.
