Cue: I feel low status. In low status mode, I feel I'm on the defensive and I have something to prove. In high status mode, I think there are two effects which help avoid rationalization:

• If I feel confident in what I'm saying, then I can entertain the opposing arguments because I don't feel I have anything to fear from them
• If I feel high status, I feel less afraid of being forced to change my mind

Edit: ah, Vladimir_Nesov said something similar on the other thread