overjustify

verb — 2 senses

overjustify

verb

Etymology From over- + justify.

1

To justify excessively; to provide too much justification for.

2

Human sciences, Psychology, Sciences Specifically, to provide external incentive for an already-internally-motivated behavior, thereby risking the loss of the original motivation.

Derived terms
overjustification

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.