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 …