Lie
Denying something you know to be true because you want to avoid consequence of this truth.Non-denial Denial
Making it sound like you are denying something when in fact you're not technically denying it. For example, a politician who says "we have no plans to raise taxes." This doesn't mean that they won't raise taxes just that the plans haven't been developed yet.Narcissistic Defense
Narcissists are known to go to great lengths to support their inflated self-opinion. These tactics are called narcissist defenses and include the ability to deny something that is plainly true. Narcissists may also be able to convince themselves of this denial.Motivated Reasoning
Motivated reasoning is the process of finding evidence to support what you want to do as opposed to seeking objective truth. For example, a person who spends too much time playing video games who finds excuses to justify this behavior. For example, claiming that the games are helping their reaction time while ignoring more significant impacts such as low performance at work or school.Groupthink
Denying an inconvenient fact because it doesn't align to the ideology of a group such as a political party.Polite Fiction
A polite fiction is when a group ignores a truth in favor of a fiction that is more conductive to group harmony or saving face. For example, a sales team that celebrates their wonderful accomplishments at a year-end party that in fact had a terrible year with the loss of several large customers.Backfire Effect
The backfire effect is when an individual becomes more committed to an opinion when faced with evidence that the opinion is wrong. For example, an individual who uses cherry picking to deny an environmental problem that is increasingly obvious.Plausible Deniability
Plausible deniability is the practice of designing something to be easy to deny. For example, a decision that is made with an informal conversation and no written record.Gaslighting
Gaslighting is a bizarre attempt to cause someone to lose their grip on reality by denying perceptions and facts. For example, playing sounds of strange voices from a hidden device and pretending you can't hear it.Notes
A denial isn't necessarily wrong. In other words, it is possible to deny something that is actually not true.| Overview: Denial | ||
Type | ||
Definition | A statement that something is not true. | |
Related Concepts | ||
