Making excuses about our social transgressions comes natural to us, as we experience guilt or shame upon committing the error. The excuse is our attempt to lessen the potential (or imagined) blame from others or even ourselves.

• An excuse can provide us a sense of control on our lives, viewing our mistakes as an anomaly.
• Shifting responsibility to an external force seems safer than a simple apology ("Sorry, I had a flat tire".)
• It helps maintain our social ties and positive perceptions of our coll...

Excusing the behaviour of our friends and loved ones can help us keep the relationship intact, and provides us with a tool to cover up the relationship issues and the internal problems that have no apparent solution except suppression.