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cognitive dissonance and its effects on our lives
cognitive dissonance theory in psychology essay
cognitive dissonance theory thesis
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Description of Theory
The term dissonance refers to when one cognitive element is inconsistent with another cognitive element according to the lecture notes of Professor Soreno. Cognitive elements can be categorized in four groups called beliefs, attitudes, values, and perceptions of behavior. Beliefs can be defined as a perception that something exists or not. This perception can range from a central or peripheral type of belief. The more central a belief is, the harder it is to change that belief. An attitude describes the positive or negative feelings we have toward people, things, or ideas. Values are beliefs that are so important to a person, that they practically guide a person’s life. There are two types of values, instrumental and terminal. Perceptions of behavior simply refer to the interpretation of actions by another. For example, when someone waves at a person, in America, it is often perceived as a friendly gesture. When two of these cognitive elements are incongruent, it leads to dissonance, which can very in intensity. People often experience dissonance on a daily basis, but because it is so minute, it is not bothersome. The Cognitive Dissonance theory deals with these small occurrences, but for the sake of understanding, extreme examples help to explain the theory in better detail.
According to Festinger, all of the cognitive elements held the same value in producing cognitive dissonance, but some scholars have challenged his theory. In the book, The Handbook of Motivation Science, the authors claim that attitude cognitive element holds a heavier value over the other elements by saying it can change the behavior of a person. They quote, “In experimental tests of the theory, knowledge about recent behavior is usua...
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...s communication studies continue, there will be more tests and conclusions on the Cognitive Dissonance theory that will reveal more about human communication. After all, learning how we communicate with each other is how we are able to grow as a society.
References
Harmon-Jones, E. (2008). Cognitive Dissonance Theory. In J. Shah, W. Gardener, & V. Gardener, Handbook of Motivational Science (pp. 71-83). New York City: The Guilford Press.
Helwig-Larson, M., & Collins, B. (1997, April 1). A Social Psychological Perspective on the Role of Knowledge about AIDS in AIDS Prevention. Current Directions in Psychological Science , Vol. 6 (No. 2).
Lepper, M. R., & Greene, D. (1975). Turning Play into Work: Effects of Adult Surveillance and Extrinsic Rewards on Children's Intrinsic Motivation. Journal ol Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 31, 479-486.
Hogg, M.A., Abrams, D., & Martin, G.N. (2010). Social Cognition and Attitudes. In Martin, G.N., Carlson, N.R., Buskist W., (Ed.), Psychology (pp 646-677). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Sometimes the greatest test of a theory is its longevity. Over time, some theories will be disproved, some will be modified, and some will become the basis for a whole new group of theories. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance has stood up to challenge for over forty years, and is considered by many to be the single most important theory of social psychology. Though there have been modifications to the theory after many recreations and simulations of the original 1957 experiment, few have been able to really disqualify Festinger’s findings. It would be safe to say that many people don’t even have a full grasp of the incredible implications that Festinger’s research and experiments have towards the self-concept and behavior, myself not excluded. The actual definition of cognitive dissonance is almost too simple: an unpleasant feeling that arises from the contradiction of belief and action. Festinger, however, went on to find that dissonance would in fact change attitudes over time, helping people to justify their behavior when they know it is clearly wrong.
It is a very different motivation from what psychologists are used to dealing with but, as we shall see, nonetheless powerful” (p. 3). A few different factors determine the amount of dissonance individuals experience, including the degree to which one’s belief systems deviate from the regularity. Different cognitions, or types of knowledge, determine the overall strength of dissonance, for instance cognitions, which are connected to personal beliefs and the self, tend to result in stronger dissonance. Furthermore, the relation between dissonance and consonance could also play a role in the degree of strength of dissonance: the greater the dissonance, the more pressure there is to reduce it and reach consonance. When cognitive dissonance occurs, it often results in a conflict between a “person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action” (Festinger 1957, p.), and it is influential to individuals’ actions and behaviors. When a conflict arises, there are different steps individuals take to reduce the consequent dissonance. Festinger suggest three key strategies to minimize cognitive dissonance: (i) changing a behavioral cognitive element, or the focus is put on more supportive cognitive elements that outweigh the dissonant behavior; (ii) changing the environmental cognitive element, or the importance of the conflicting belief is reduced, and (iii) adding new cognitive elements, or the conflicting belief is changed in order to be consistent with other
Cognitive dissonance makes it difficult for people to accept conflicting new ideas. Conflicting beliefs create discomfort
Cognitive dissonance is a theory presented by Leon Festinger’s in 1957. This theory suggested that we have an inner drive to hold our attitudes and beliefs in harmony. When we have two inconsistent cognitions this creates dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is physically uncomfortable to experience. There’s some negative physical tension that you feel any time you recognize two inconsistent thoughts or realize that you’ve done something through your behavior that contradicts you true attitudes and beliefs. Dissonance gets in the way of finding some sense of truth. In general, if we want to understand the world, then we want a clear, consistent picture of it. Anything that makes us feel inconsistency of something that’s a problem, and we are motivated to restore consistency again. We can restore
Dissonance would be caused if you put in a lot of effort to accomplish something and then valued it negatively. Someone could dedicate so much time and energy into completing something, but the ending results be garbage, to escape dissonance, that person may attempt to convince themselves that the work wasn’t really that long and or hard, and that you actual enjoyed the work. This method of reducing dissonance is called effort justification. Aronson and Mills demonstrated a classic dissonance experiment, to investigate the relationship between dissonance and effort. In the experiment, female students volunteered to be involved in a discussion on the psychology of sex. The mild embarrassment condition read to the male experimenter out loud sex-related words like “virgin” and “prostitute.” The severe embarrassment condition had to read very explicit sexual passage and filthy words out loud. The control condition went right into the main study. All conditions listened to boring discussion about sex in lower animals. At the end the females were asked to rate how interesting the discussion was and the people involved. The most positive rating came from the severe embarrassment condition. The experiment showed if a voluntary experience that requires a good deal of effort, but does not turn out good, by redefining the experience as interesting will reduce dissonance, justifying the effort
While people deal with everyday life, a plethora of events is occurring throughout the day. Most people usually do a multitude of actions to resolve these events without thinking as well. This can be anything from trying to get to class as soon as possible, talking to someone that recently was introduced, or doing a kind of tradition at a football game. Cognitive Biases is defined as a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment, whereby inferences about other people and situations may be drawn in an illogical fashion. This article will talk about a small sample of these situations and clarify what the meaning behind them. It shall discuss Negativity Bias, Confirmation Bias, Gamblers Fallacy, and Illusion of Control
Cooper, Joel. Cognitive Dissonance: Fifty Years of a Classic Theory. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2007. Print
Other issues under the cognitive theory are social and learning theories that are founded on the assumptions that humans make decisions based on logical evaluation of ideas. One of the strengths of the theory is in its recognition of humans as logical beings. It rejects behaviorism because the theory does not recognize the importance of logics in human reasoning.
Imagine a person who is an avid animal lover and activist but also owns and wears a real fur jacket. These two beliefs and actions are inconsistent with each other and cause a distressing contradiction known as cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is the distressing mental state caused by an inconsistency between a person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action (Griffin 2006). People have an instinctual desire to keep their actions and beliefs in harmony and when they are experiencing inconsistencies they deal with it by trying to reduce it. Cognitive dissonance theory has been around since the late 1950s when it was published by Leon Festinger and has made a big impact on the educational community. This theory has been researched extensively over the last 50 years and there are many important and interesting research findings that have been produced. This is an important theory that is very relevant and can be useful in the practice of persuasion and can also help to explain people’s behaviors.
Decisions are the basis of human history, advancement, and modern society. Important decisions often cause a conflict within a person as he or she attempts to make a choice based on what he or she believes is right, as well as what he or she believes is wise. Throughout life and society, people find themselves at a crossroads of beliefs or thoughts with the justification of murder. This is due to the dissonance illustrated when they have mixed feelings with the idea that killing another human is wrong, although it seemingly appears unavoidable in certain situations. This inevitability is what justifies murder in the first place. These mixed feelings create a cognitive dissonance that impacts society in a detrimental manner because people in society care less about people being murdered due to the simple and common justification behind it.
The human psyche frequently experiences the phenomena of internal contradiction, followed by an internal struggle for some semblance of balance or consistency (Hall, 1998). Cognitive dissonance acts as motivation for people to behave in a manner that effectively reduces said dissonance and restores balance. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance explores this occurrence and the subsequent actions that people take in order to create a balance between their ideals.
Social cognitive theory is different from social learning theory because it takes into account cognitive processes including thinking, memory, language, and evaluating consequences. According to social cognitive theory, individuals play a part in their development (Malone, 2002). Cognitive patterns play a very large role in depression (Furman & Bender, 2003). For example, people don’t have a motivation to move forward in difficult times if they don’t believe they are able to do so. Self- efficacy is an important part of personal agency, and a main aspect in social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2001). A person’s perceived abilities and confidence play a part in what he or she does in his or her life. Cognition becomes a motivator or a hindrance, according to social cognitive theory. A person’s perceived self- efficacy helps determine what a person chooses to do, the amount of effort they put into it, and how long they can persist if there are barriers or failures that occur. How a person sees failure is also influential (Bandura, 20...
“Humans are not a rational animal, but a rationalizing one” (“Class 20”). This was asserted by the much acclaimed, significant, and influential social psychologist Leon Festinger as referencing to his theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Social psychology is “a branch of psychology particularly concerned with understanding social behaviors such as” incentive and compliance (Sheehy). Festinger’s contributions to the social and cognitive branches of psychology as well psychology overall prove themselves worthy to today. This theory specifically challenged many common notions that were seemingly already accepted by behaviorists everywhere during his time (Tavris and Aronson). Its reality awakens its verifications. Consecutively, its “enormous motivational power” affects many on a daily basis (Tavris and Aronson). In the final analysis, the theory of Cognitive Dissonance by Leon Festinger is fundamental to behaviorism while directly changing the way human beings across the planet think and do.
Comparing the Behavioral Perspective and the Cognitive Perspective The behavioral perspective is the idea that if psychology was to be a science, then it must focus on events, which are directly observable on behavior, rather than on mental life. The behavioral perspective maintains the primary emphasis on observable behavior and its relation to environmental events. Behavioral perspective is through reinforcement, which is the idea that patterns of emitted behavior can be selected by their consequences. Cognitive perspective is centered on the description of the nature and development of the representation of knowledge. It comes from three points of view, which are the theory of information processing, the inability of behaviorism to provide a comprehensive account for all aspects of human behavior, and the invention of the computer.