The Cause Of Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is at the heart of all spirituality. There is a need for humans to have a belief in something bigger than ourselves. Civilizations have a need for structure and stability to help them thrive, at the heart of all civilizations is religion. There is danger in having absolute faith and very thin line between spiritual beliefs and a dangerous cults. If someone is under stress, they fight even harder to hold onto their belief as outlandish or different it maybe. The cause of Conative dissonance if the difference between the faith one person holds and the reality around them. Festinger studied a faithful cult who believed that the world was going to come to an end, on December 21st. He sent in some of his cohorts to infiltrate the group. The group members had given jobs, careers and physical assets in line with their faith. The cult received a prank call from someone saying they had a flood in their

The belief in something bigger then ourselves has been at the fore front of many cultures. The need for a spiritual belief is almost the same as the need to breath for many people. As far back as written words there has been gods or a god. From the Egyptians to the Greeks, there has always been a belief system. The origins of the different gods vary from culture to culture but still there is a belief. Festinger in 1957 described the need for the cognitive dissonance comparable to the need to eat or breath. To conclude I found that cognitive dissonance is as important as the need to breath. Civilizations are strengthened by the spiritual beliefs their people hold. Spirituality has and will remain a constant in all cultures as a necessity to keep people strong and give them structures. The dissonance is driven by the changing world around us and changes the religion to fit the person’s situation. Beliefs will change but the fact remains we need something to hold onto to and keep us grounded. Having a belief is at the base of human