Let's take bowling for another example. Research into the world of excuse making, can be very enlightning. It seems there are many different strategies involved in this explanation of, or preparation for, failure. Dr. Snyder points out that self-concept develops in the early school years when children begin learning to compare their idealized version of themselves with reality. Excuse making becomes a way of protecting young egos.
Children sometimes feel that criticism is tantamount to epic rejection.
After reading Dr. Snyder's theories, many of us can probably identify with techniques we use in our own excuse making process. The diet wasn't really broken, as the peice of cake was small and there wasn't much ice cream in the bowl. If some fan hadn't hollered too loud, that flyball wouldn't have been dropped out in center field. Of course, there is some half-truth to this technique, which makes the biased account more favourable to the excuse maker. First of all, we can lower any unrealistically high standards we may have set for ourselves.