The job searchers’ willingness to alter their priorities allowed them to adjust their expectations in response to their realistic options, but it also created a conflict between their initial priorities and their later ones. The more successfully they were able to resolve this conflict, by creating a false but consistent story about their values in the life-defining category of “career,” the better off they were. Those who recalled their past preferences less accurately were happier with the jobs they accepted. These protective illusions prevented them from recognizing their inconsistency,
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