Every individual has a unique composite of values and is readily presented with contrasting choices in their daily lives. As individuals act on these choices, they are sometimes presented with a conflict of interest between the beliefs they hold and the actions they commit. Such internal conflict is defined by Leon Festinger as cognitive dissonance: “a psychological state in which an individual’s cognitions—beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors—are at odds” (Bloom, Santos, & Egan, 2007, p. 978). Sendhil Mullainathan and Ebonya Washington (2009) describe cognitive dissonance as “the internal need for consistency” (p. 86). Mullainathan and Washington exemplify cognitive dissonance as occurring when “[an] individual…unconsciously [changes] his beliefs to alleviate the discomfort of having inconsistent attitudes and actions (p. 87). Cognitive dissonance occurs because people are generally uncomfortable with discrepancies being present in their lives. To account for these differences and to reacquire mental harmony, individuals employ “cognitive dissonance reduction mechanisms” to devalue their original set of beliefs, stop or alter their behavior, or modify their thinking to match up with their behaviors (Bloom et al., 2007, p. 978). Bloom et al. (2007) suggest that cognitive dissonance reduction mechanisms are a result of “developmentally constrained systems” (p. 982). Limited real-time mental functioning capability of the brain may imply that cognitive dissonance reduction mechanisms are processes by which the central executive works to streamline mental work more consistently and efficiently. This information processing system fosters an environment in which the brain can store and maintain a larger amount of data over a more exten... ... middle of paper ... ... reduction mechanisms, I attain cognitive peace as my belief system realigns with my behaviors. Whether making a choice at the grocery store, deciding to end a relationship, or experiencing buyer’s remorse, cognitive dissonance is evidenced in every day events. As described by Festinger and in my personal illustration, a mental disharmony (cognitive dissonance) occurs when individuals experience a misalignment between their beliefs and behaviors, and reduction mechanisms are then utilized to reacquire cognitive coherence and reduce mental energy expended. Works Cited Bloom, P., Santos, L. R., & Egan, L. C. (2007). The origins of cognitive dissonance. Psychological Science, 18(11), 978-983. Mullainathan, S., & Washington, E. (2009). Sticking with your vote: Cognitive dissonance and political attitudes. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1(1), 86-111.
From a very early age, perhaps the age of six or seven, I realized that I enjoyed disputing things. As I grew older, I attempted to curb this tendency, since I thought it might negatively impact people’s views of me, but I never intended to stamp it out, as it was too integral to my nature.
Cognitive dissonance is when an individual feels uncomfortable because they are a good person but they have chose to do a bad things. Instead of dealing with the consequences they ignore the situation. Cognitive dissonance can relate to Lords of the flies book on Chapter 9. The morning after the boys killed Simon thinking it was the
One study done by Leon Festinger in 1957 demonstrates the desire to resolve cognitive dissonance. In this experiment, participants had to perform a series of extremely boring tasks, such as putting spools of thread into a box, dumping them out, and then putting them back in for half an hour and turning wooden knobs (that performed no action other than turning) quarter turns until they were all turned, and then starting back at the beginning and turning them all another quarter turn until the “end” of the study. After the participants were finished with their deliberately boring task, they were asked to lie to the next set of participants (actually just confederates) and were offered either one dollar or twenty dollars to tell them that the study was exciting and enjoyable. This task created cognitive dissonance, which can also occur when reading Science Fiction. After the participants lied, they were asked to honestly rate the task they performed. Surprisingly, the participants who were paid less rated the experiment more highly than those who were paid more. The explanation behind this is that the participants who were paid more cold justify their lie with the fact that they got twenty for it, thus resolving the cognitive dissonance. On
American social psychologist and original developer of the theory of Cognitive Dissonance Leon Festinger breaks down his theory into two main parts. First, the presence of dissonance, inconsistency or unpleasantness, will psychologically motivate a person to achieve consonance, consistency or pleasantness (Festinger 3). Psychologist Elliot Aronson, key researcher in the 20th century of this theory, expands on the definition of dissonance to be more straightforward. Dissonance occurs when a person holds two ideas, beliefs, or opinions at the same time that are contradictory with one and other. Part two of the theory states that a person will attempt to avoid situations or knowledge that would possibly or pro...
A person will be psychologically motivated to reduce this dissonance in order to alleviate any distress. If an individual cannot externally justify a belief they will seek to internally justify it by changing their attitude or behavior. If an individual believes that the system is fair and just they are likely to adopt ideological mechanisms such as a conservative ideology or meritocratic ideology to reduce dissonance. Constant threats of violence that people see in the media or hear from political leaders can reinforce the idea that the world is an unsafe place and the threat of death is always near (Jost & Hunyady, 2005; Aronson,
The desire for consistency can go beyond rational thought or force a person to rationalize when things are out of line. People find comfort in knowing what to expect. When what is known and believed is challenged, people are disrupted and forced to make a decision on how to process conflicting information. To avoid the discomfort caused by cognitive dissonance, people may ignore opposing views, examine and change their views to maintain consistency with their actions or even seek reassurance (Defining Communication Theories, 2001).
lected Theory: Cognitive Dissonance is an objective communication theory created by Leon Festinger, a Stanford University social psychologist. Cognitive Dissonance is a conflicting mental state caused by discrepancy between two beliefs held by an individual. The more important the belief the stronger the dissonance. The strain caused by dissonance leads us to change our behavior or belief. Festinger says there are three different ways to reduce or avoid dissonance: selective exposure, postdecision dissonance, and minimal justification. Also, Festinger describes three different reasons for why one reduces dissonance. These reasons are self- consistency, personal responsibility for bad outcomes, and self- affirmation to dissipate dissonance.
“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.
Higgins, Tory. “Self-Discrepancy Theory: What Patterns of Self-Beliefs Cause People to Suffer?”(1989). Advances in Experimental Social psychology, Vol.22 (1989):93-136. Academic Press Inc.
Liberals have been found to value fairness and conservatives have been found to value loyalty and patriotism. When researchers presented participants with an article on pro-conservation intentions- a typical liberal stance, conservatives held the same conservation values and intentions as liberals when the article framed pro-conservation intentions as being a matter of loyalty and patriotism (Wolsko et al., 2016). If you view this study through the lens of cognitive dissonance theory, you can see that the conservative participant may have experienced dissonance when were given a paragraph that said pro-conservation intentions and loyalty/ patriotism are synonymous and they did not value conservation intentions, but valued loyalty and patriotism. In order to relieve this dissonance, they needed to value both loyalty/ patriotism and conservation
Social Psychologists have discovered that most people believe that they are well behaved, more competent, above average, and better at things than others. But if this is to be true, what happens when we behave in ways that are inconsistent with the conception of ourselves? This is called the theory of cognitive dissonance. According to the textbook cognitive dissonance is “the discomfort that people feel when two cognitions (beliefs, attitudes) conflict, or when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their conception of themselves (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, Sommers, 2013, pg.158). The theory of cognitive dissonance is vitally important in social psychology because it is centered on how people try to become internally consistent
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.
What is cognitive dissonance and the art of persuasion, where attitudes, emotions, and ethics play a factor in persuading an employee as to the characteristics of theoretical work situations. So, what is intellectual disagreement, the state of having unpredictable thoughts, theories, or arrogances, especially as relating to social choices and defiance change. Cognitive dissonance causes an ill feeling of uncertainty which in turns leads to unexpected modifications to one or more of the following: arrogances, theories, or performance in order to elevate the unwanted discomfort while reinstating stability. Basically
Everyday people use social cognition as a tool to help them thrive in social world. There are many important aspects of social cognition that are helpful to us in making decisions and help us to interpret the world around us. An important aspect that is linked to social cognition is that of thought suppression. Thought suppression is when a person tries to force particular thoughts, memories or feelings out of their minds that may be unpleasant or may cause a great deal of stress for the individual. Many people are unaware how often we use thought suppression in our daily lives, but the truth is we use it in almost every aspect of our day.