More handpicked essays just for you.
Introducing the theory of cognitive dissonance
Introducing the theory of cognitive dissonance
Introducing the theory of cognitive dissonance
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In”Good Will Hunting” A film from 1997 the film follows Will Hunting, a 20 year old South Boston kid (Southie) who works as a janitor at MIT. Will is an orphan who grew up in various foster homes and was physically abused as a child. Will is also an extraordinary mathematical genius with a photographic memory. While working as a Janitor at MIT, he easily solves a posted mathematical theory on a bulletin board meant for professor’s students, and grabs the attention of the attending professor at MIT. During the professor’s discovery of Will, his legal difficulties come to light; as he had assaulted a childhood bully. Attempting to help Will, the professor takes on responsibility for Will before the judge and gets him psychological help in order to mitigate his legal matters, and help Will use his genius mind to its full potential; while aiding the professor himself in his own needs to fulfill incomplete goals in his own life in the field of mathematics. Will is currently in young adulthood, when …show more content…
This is part of the Cognitive Dissonance Theory which works on the assumption that individuals seek consistency between expectations and reality. One scene from the movie that shows cognitive dissonance is when Will is talking to his friend best friend. Will tells him about his future of living in South Boston, and never leaving. His best friend tells him that if in twenty years Will is still living in South Boston, coming over to his house watching sports, and working construction, he will kill him. The second scene is when Will’s psychiatrist tells Will that “It’s not your fault”. (Referring to the abuse he suffered as a child). The psychiatrist repeats it five more times and after the fifth time Will is crying his arms saying he’s
The film Good Will Hunting starts by giving us a glimpse into a rather bleak moment in the life of Will Hunting, a college-aged janitor at the prestigious university called MIT. He lives the typical college life in many respects, from regularly meeting his friends at the bar to getting into a relationship built upon lies – with the glaring exception that he is not a college student whatsoever. In fact, he is portrayed as an undiscovered genius…at least until getting into trouble with the law leads to a bail out that eventually turns around his life for the better.
Childhood is crucial to the lives of teenagers and young adults. The experiences, advice, influences that people receive during their formative years is what they carry with them through the rest of their lives. Any emotional turmoil during this period of growth can have serious implications on individuals as they grow older. The book, The Catcher in the Rye, and the movie, Good Will Hunting; tell about the lives of two emotionally troubled young men: Holden and Will. Both of them suffer from emotional blockades in life that are rooted in their childhoods. They both are afraid to connect with others, have little self-value, and little motivation. These complications that Holden and Will face as they mature and grow up affect them in similar ways. Through the encouragement of unexpected mentors Will Hunting and Holden Caulfield, both capable individuals, learn to dismiss the fear of attachment and overcome their disillusioned youths.
Some people dream of wealth, happiness, or genius, but is any of that easily attainable? An intellectual young man from the movie Good Will Hunting has an unusually high IQ that is shrouded by emotional problems. Will Hunting is arrested after yet another case of physical assault in Boston, and this time it was a police officer. When he is arrested, his genius is discovered by a college professor, Gerald Lambeau, who sees potential in Will despite his flaws. Instead of jail time, Labeau offers him a fair bargain. As long as Will attends mandatory therapy, he will be allowed to work alongside the professor. But education isn’t everything, because under Wills sarcastic wit and mathematical genius, he hides his true self. Will scares off five different therapists before he finds himself stuck with Sean Maguire, who ends up using personal and profound forms of therapy to crack Wills shell. Sean delivers this speech to help Will realize his ignorance of his insecurities and other people by using ethos, logos, and pathos appeals; Sean addresses that true knowledge and perspective can only
Will knows that his life is not great, but it is not until he has this breakthrough that he sees that he is the one that can make it better. In the being of the film you can tell Will does not enjoy the life he lives, but does not think there is anything different out there for him. Once he opens up to Shawn his therapist, he realizes he has the power to change the things he is dissatisfied with. Will understands now that if he works hard enough and gets the proper about of support that he can make a difference in the world and put his skills to
Good Will Hunting is the graceful tale of a young gentleman’s struggle to find out where he belongs in the world, by first finding out who he himself is. In this film, Matt Damon takes on the role of a disturbed genius that has a keen understanding of the deepness of human character. The film is a voyage through the mind of Will Hunting as he is required to undergo psychotherapy as an alternative to serving jail time. With the assistance of a psychologist, played by Robin Williams, Will learns about himself and recognizes his individual worth in the world by comprehending what is most important to him in his own life. This motion picture serves as a source of superb example for film technique. Gus Van Sant’s directing ability joined with the writing skills of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who also plays Will’s best buddy, Chuckie, is a vibrant mixture of technical features used to induce sentiment and compassion amongst the viewers of this heart-warming film. Characteristics of the color, angles, shots, camera movement, editing, and distortions are all each particularly noteworthy to the general composition of Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting.
The individual is constantly striving for consistency within oneself and around oneself. Humans seek order and regularity, from simple every-day routines to more complex political and social attitudes, and when a disruption, of any kind, occurs, it could lead to overwhelming, even dramatic situations, anxiety, and psychological discomfort. These disruptions are of interest to people, as much are the rules and consistencies in reality. Many choose to deviate from the norm, knowing the consequences of the inconsistencies they create. For instance: serial killers or recidivists. The psychologist Leon Festinger () writes that these inconsistencies could be rationalized and, therefore be perceived as consistent in a particular attitude or a system
They were both taught the non-traditional way of education. 1S Jerold Lucey says in his essay “Home Schooled?” that “[t]he survey found that home-schooled children scored well above the national median on standardized tests,”(##). This is just another piece of evidence that shows it is not how you are taught, but instead how you are educated. Traditional education is not for everyone as it was not the way that home-schooled kids wish to be educated, or Will in the movie. Parents always want what is best for their kids. Education is just another thing that they want to see their children succeed at. 2S According to Cynthia Drenovky and Isaiah Cohen in their article titled “The Impact Of Homeschooling On The Adjustment of College Students”, they say “[h]omeschooling is an option for education that has increased considerably since the 1970s,” (##). This shows that it is becoming more and more popular because parents are getting sick of sending their kids to an actual school where they won’t pay attention or learn. Just like in the movie, although Will was not homeschooled he still managed to find a way to become a successfully educated person in
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
Cognitive dissonance theory is the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent. There are three methods that dissonance can be condensed. Individuals can modify one or more of the beliefs, attitude, behaviors, and more, this way the connection between the two elements are in agreement with one another. Another method is to gather new information that will compensate the dissonant beliefs. The third method is to decrease the importance of the beliefs, attitudes, behavior, and etc. Dissonance theory does not say that these methods will work; only people in the state of cognitive dissonance will use these methods to condense the degree of their dissonance. Cognitive dissonance theory
The character this film is primarily centered around is Will Hunting. Will lives in a tattered house in a bad neighborhood in the city of Boston. He grew up in foster care where he sustained continual physical abuse as a child. Will has a few close friends he is always with but never opens up about anything below surface level. Will is incredibly gifted with intelligence however he works as a custodian at the highly prestigious school, MIT. Professor Lambeau teaches advanced mathematics at MIT and is the one who discovers Will’s incredible talent for solving advanced mathematical theory. Professor Lambeau has high hopes for Will and pushes him into getting jobs with prestigious employers so that his gift is not wasted working as a custodian. Chuckie Sullivan is one of the closest of Will’s friends. They’ve known each other for years and Chuckie drives Will to work every day. Chuckie cares for Will and realizes the gift that he has and tries to convince Will he should be doing something of greater importance with his life. Skylar is a college stu...
Cognitive dissonance can be described as the feeling of discomfort resulting from holding two conflicting beliefs. It can also be said to be the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. A well-known psychologist Leon Festinger (1919–89), introduced this concept in the late 1950s where he proved that, when confronted with challenging new information; most people are observed to preserve their current understanding of the world by rejecting or avoiding the new information or by convincing themselves that no conflict really exists in one way or the other (Festinger, 04).
The way I would describe cognitive dissonance is contradicting with two different ideas or more. There could be a set of believe but then this could be broken when something else comes along. This can go different ways either by sticking with their first idea, reducing one idea or changing to the other idea.
The theory of Cognitive Dissonance states that when individuals are presented with information that implies we act in a way that contradicts our moral standards, we experience discomfort (Aronson, Wilson, and Akert, 1998, P. 191). This is considered Cognitive Dissonance,
Self-fulfilling prophesy, where people expect a person to act a specific way so they treat them as if they would act...
The sociological perspective examines the hidden reasons for one’s actions and identities that people have. It stressed how they are influenced by their society and most of all their social location. Social location predetermines all aspects of one’s life and there are rules that come with social location, and with rules come social control mechanisms and social stratification that keep people in line. With social location also come institutions that provide roles which form one’s identity. In the movie, “Good Will Hunting,” the main character Will Hunting is a young deviant what grows up in a rough neighbourhood and has the intellect of a genius. Role theory and other concepts from the sociological perspective explain Will Hunting’s actions and identity.