ABSTRACT
Humans are masters of lying and self-deception. We want others to believe us good, fair, responsible, and logical, and we place just as much importance on thinking of ourselves this way. Therefore, when people behave in ways that might appear selfi sh, prejudiced or perverted, they engage a host of strategies designed to justify questionable behavior with rational excuses: “I hired my son because he’s more qualifi ed.” “I promoted Ashley because she does a better job than Aisha.” Or, in the example from our title and the subject of an experimental investigation we report below, “I read Playboy for the articles.”
