Definition of physiological. 1  1 : of or relating to physiology. 2  2 : characteristic of or appropriate to an organism's healthy or normal functioning the sodium level was physiological. 3  3 : differing in, involving, or affecting physiological factors a physiological strain of bacteria.
Motivated reasoning is confirmation bias taken to the next level. Motivated reasoning leads people to confirm what they already believe, while ignoring contrary data. But it also drives people to develop elaborate rationalizations to justify holding beliefs that logic and evidence have shown to be wrong.
This is an example of abductive reasoning. Abductive reasoning is to abduce (or take away) a logical assumption (or explanation, inference, conclusion, hypothesis, best guess) from an observation or set of observations. Because the conclusion is merely a best guess, the conclusion that is drawn may or may not be true.