Conversely, you might not recognize your true rejection until you go “well, but wait, I don’t want to abandon my PhD—my family wouldn’t be proud of me.” If you get stuck on that, it’s possible that “make your family proud” really IS important to you.
I do agree that it’s a useful idea, but new insights aren’t necessarily ex post facto rationalizations.
Conversely, you might not recognize your true rejection until you go “well, but wait, I don’t want to abandon my PhD—my family wouldn’t be proud of me.” If you get stuck on that, it’s possible that “make your family proud” really IS important to you.
I do agree that it’s a useful idea, but new insights aren’t necessarily ex post facto rationalizations.