I saw this on slashdot today and decided to share it here. It is about studies of 'solution aversion'. The original research is mainly aimed at political ideology, but I believe it holds true for many areas of life.

The TLDR of it, is that rather than apply a solution that a person does not like, they will choose to deny the problem exists.

Some examples of this happening in non-political areas: Blue pill AFCs who stick to non-viable tactics like glue. Hamster logic. Fat acceptance. Men who have trouble attracting HBs who refuse to raise their SMV. People stagnating in their careers rather than taking steps to advance them. The list goes on...

We often say that the red pill is a bitter thing to swallow. It's true. Many of us have invested so much time and energy into bad strategies, that it is hard to start applying good strategies. I guess it is a part of human nature. But we can overcome this by focusing our efforts and putting the work in. Nothing is free.

Link to an article about the study: http://today.duke.edu/2014/11/solutionaversion

The article contains a link to the actual journal which the study was published in, but there's a subscription/paywall if you want to read deeper than the abstract.