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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bloodstone Press" data-source="post: 2544792" data-attributes="member: 12468">No. When psychologists use the term "justification" they mean it as a method for the person in question to reduce cognitive dissonance that occurs when they consider their actions that conflict with their self-concept.  When you are killing the mosquito you do not experience cognitive dissonance, since you don’t have any ideas that it would be wrong to kill the mosquito.  So no, you are not "justifying".  See my post in the other thread, where I separated out justification from a criminal self-concept. If you perceive yourself as a criminal, you have no need to justify your actions, because you don't experience cognitive dissonance when you commit a crime. Conversely, you experience cognitive dissonance when you obey the law, because that behavior conflicts with your self-concept. So you would have to justify your law-abiding behavior, instead.Similarly, if your friend were to kill a mosquito, in direct conflict with his current beliefs and self-concept, he would experience a high level of cognitive dissonance and need to either justify his actions, equivocate, or change his self-concept. You have no preconceived notions that your killing is wrong, so you're not justifying. Besides that, I agree with most everything else people have said so far in this thread.</blockquote>