Rationalization

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌræʃ(ə)n(ə)laɪˈzeɪʃn̩/

Definitions

1. The process of inventing plausible but false explanations for one's behavior or beliefs to justify them, or the reorganization of a system or process to make it more efficient and logical
2. The act of creating seemingly reasonable explanations to justify actions or beliefs while simultaneously optimizing a system for greater efficiency and coherence
3. It involves formulating logical justifications for personal behavior or ideologies, alongside reorganizing processes for enhanced clarity and effectiveness

Etymology: The word's most striking development is that it was coined in two senses that now sit uneasily together. Its first recorded use dates to 1831, and the meaning it carried then was the older, mathematical-and-economic one: making something orderly, logical and efficient. The sense of inventing false reasons to excuse one's conduct came later, as the psychological use took hold. The root is the French "rationalisation", itself built from "rational" plus the suffix "-ization", or from the verb "rationalize" plus "-ation". "Rational" traces back to Latin "rationalis", from "ratio", meaning reckoning, calculation or reason. The English word therefore carries the idea of counting and accounting at its core, which explains why the efficiency sense came first. The modern excuse-making meaning reverses the tidy picture. Rather than reasoning toward a conclusion, the speaker works backward from a conclusion they already want, and the "reason" is manufactured to fit. The same word now describes both disciplined reorganisation and self-deception, a split that the original formation of "rational" plus "-ization" gives little hint of.

Synonyms: justification, explanation, reasoning, defense, excuse

Antonyms: irrationality, unreasonableness