Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D.

Excuses

by | Oct 22, 2012 | Relationships | 0 comments

Ah, we all have our favorite excuses; no one is excuse-free but some people are prone to  too many “here’s my excuse”. Expectable at age 12, excuse-making gets unattractive in adulthood.

I got curious and did a bit of research on the topic. Here is what I learned.

When we make excuses, we separate our acts from our character, i.e. “I smacked you because I was tired and you provoked me,” is an

excuse that acknowledges the act or behavior but allows the smacker to keep his notion of having a generally good character. I did it BUT… Blaming others casino online is often a defense against shame and protection against thinking poorly about one’s self.

An excuse not only explains the bad behavior but also removes full responsibility from the person.

There are all types of excuses, often relying on some incapacitation, including legal ones such as insanity, disability, and coercion. There are the old fashioned, regular ones, “I was drunk” or “I had a troubled childhood” or “Last year, you…”.  What they have in common, whether true or false, is that the person did not have free will but was controlled by other forces – “The devil made me do it !!!!”

 

 

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