Need a Good Excuse? Make Sure It's Moral
We've all been there. "I'd love to but I have a previous engagement." "I'd like to go on a blind date with your brother but my next 10 weekends aren't free." "I'd like to try your lasagna but I'm allergic to cheese." That's what they say about mine! We're talking about excuses , of course. "We've all done it, offered an excuse for our poor behavior or rude reactions to others in the heat of the moment, after a long commute or a tough day with the kids," newswise.com reports. "Excuses are commonplace, an attempt to explain and justify behaviours we aren't proud of, to escape the consequences of our acts and make our undesirable behavior more socially acceptable. What do most excuses have in common? According to the web site, a researcher from Cambridge University has suggested that the answers lie in what they all tell us about our underlying motivation . "When excuses are permissible,...