Psychology of Excuses

Excuses are a common psychological method of shifting blame and keeping the self-image intact when faced with negative feedback. There are strong emotional pressures that motivate our excuse making. Responsibility and positive self-esteem are key in reducing the need for excuses in our psychology.

Function

• Excuses shift causes or blame away from ourselves, letting us feel it's not our fault. They also protect our self-image, helping us feel good about ourselves regardless of our actions.

Effects

• Positive effects of excuses are repairing damage to one's self-image and avoiding emotional damage to the party to whom the excuse is made. Negative effects are fostering a sense of helplessness and losing credibility in the eyes of our peers.

Motivations

• Motivators for making excuses are a need to impress, to save face, to improve an outcome and to smooth the gap between the real and imagined self image.

Types

• Effective excuses are accepted and have an unintentional character, leaving the excuse maker without blame. Ineffective excuses make others feel angry or hurt and are intentional in character, placing blame on the excuse maker.

Prevention/Solution

• Building self-esteem, taking personal responsibility and learning that one can grow from failure as well as success lessens the need for excuses and controls learned helplessness.