Skip to content
AFTER CERTAINTY

Person

Carol Tavris

Social psychologists who study cognitive dissonance, self-justification, and why smart people defend bad decisions.

Why this matters

Tavris and Aronson explain moral seriousness that cannot admit error—the psychology of locked narratives.

Focus in observatory

Works

book

Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts

Tavris, Carol, and Elliot Aronson. *Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts*. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2007.

Related books

Book

How Serious Systems Learn

Disciplines for Acting Without Certainty

A handbook for teams and institutions that need to learn in motion, improve under pressure, and make better decisions without waiting for perfect information.