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Rationalization is a suboptimal defense mechanism associated with clinical and forensic problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

Stuart Brody Open the ORCID record for Stuart Brody [Opens in a new window]  and
Rui Miguel Costa
Stuart Brody
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Charles University in Prague, Praha 1, Czech Republicstuartbrody@hotmail.comwww.DrStuartBrody.com
Rui Miguel Costa
Affiliation:
William James Center for Research, ISPA – Instituto Universitário, 1149-041Lisboa, Portugal. rcosta@ispa.pten.ispa.pt/faculty/rui-miguel-costa
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Abstract

Cushman argues that “rationalization is rational.” We show that there is reasonable empirical clinical and forensic psychological evidence to support viewing rationalization as a quite suboptimal defense mechanism. Rationalization has been found to be associated not only with poorer emotional development, but also with a broad range of antisocial behavior, including not only shoplifting, but also pedophilia and murder.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e31
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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