Rationalization (psychology)

Rationalization is a way that our minds try to make excuses or explanations for our behavior, even though the real reason for what we did or said may be different. It's like when you get in trouble for yelling at your sister and you don't want to be blamed, so you try to make up a reason why it was alright. All of your reasons are rationalizations and they usually don't make a lot of sense. They can also be used to cover up something wrong you did, like when you eat the last cookie and make up a story so that no one knows you ate it.