Cognitive Dissonance: Theory, Examples & How to Reduce It

Being aware of cognitive dissonance and addiction when you experience it can push you to change whatever behaviors aren’t consistent with who you’d like to be. Not everyone practices what they preach—and that could trigger poor mental health. Cognitive dissonance is the psychological conflict a person experiences when they hold simultaneous conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors.

An Overview of the Pleasure Arousal Dominance Model of Emotion

It is a mechanism that alerts us when we are not acting in line with our beliefs, attitudes, or plans. Imagine confronting a sunbather with the information that excessive sun exposure is the leading cause of skin cancer. The two thoughts – ‘sunbathing can cause cancer’ and ‘I am sunbathing’ – will cause the discomfort of cognitive dissonance. It is a theory with very broad applications, showing that we aim for consistency between attitudes and behaviors and may not use very rational methods to achieve it. It has the advantage of being testable by scientific means (i.e., experiments). If we put effort into a task that we have chosen to carry out, and the task turns out badly, we experience dissonance.

What is the difference between cognitive dissonance theory and balance theory?

• The “mild initiation” group of subjects were to read aloud twelve sexual words not considered obscene.
• We may engage in behaviors or adopt attitudes to help relieve the discomfort caused by the conflict.
• Sure, you eventually get your work done, but you know you could be doing more.
• When the desired “something” is very important, we may have dissonant cognitions that make us tense and unhappy.
• That slight feeling of discomfort we perceive when noticing this mismatch is called cognitive dissonance.
• Cognitive dissonance can make people feel uneasy and uncomfortable.

Cognitive dissonance can often have a powerful influence on our behaviors and actions. It doesn’t just influence how you feel; it also motivates you to take action to reduce feelings of discomfort. The inconsistency between what people believe and how they behave motivates them to engage in actions that will help minimize feelings of discomfort. People attempt to relieve this tension in different ways, such as by rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding new information. Participants were invited to participate in a study about students’ attitudes toward tuition fees.

On the Characteristics of the Cognitive Dissonance State: Exploration Within the Pleasure Arousal Dominance Model

Being paid $20 provides a reason for turning pegs, and there is, therefore, no dissonance. Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) investigated if making people perform a dull task would create https://ecosoberhouse.com/ through forced compliance behavior. A man who learns that his eating habits raise his risk of illness feels the tension between his preferred behavior and the idea that he could be in danger. He might ease this feeling by telling himself that the health warning is exaggerated or, more productively, by deciding to take action to change his behavior. If a woman reads that her favorite politician has done something immoral, she could conclude that the charges have been invented by his enemies—or, instead, rethink her support. The degree of dissonance experienced can depend on a few different factors.

• In the Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance (1959), the investigators asked students to spend an hour doing tedious tasks; e.g. turning pegs a quarter-turn, at fixed intervals.
• As a result of changing her behavior to fit what she believes makes her happy, she might actually become happier, Leikam says.
• “Be alone with your thoughts, and figure out what’s going on,” Leno says.
• Shifting either your belief or your behavior will help you find balance and reduce the tension, Leikam says.
• But that consistency doesn’t always happen, and distress can arise as a result.
• Cognitive dissonance is often discussed alongside confirmation bias, but the two are slightly different.

Dissonance due to Inconsistency between Commitment and Information

• This procedure was intended to increase the salience of the environmental protection norm (Stone & Fernandez, 2008).
• Your behavior contradicts not just the beliefs you have about the world, but also the beliefs that you have about yourself.
• This theory has been discussed since the early days of Festinger’s proposal of cognitive dissonance.
• Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling that can occur when you have conflicting beliefs, values, or behaviors.

The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people are averse to inconsistencies within their own minds. It offers one explanation for why people sometimes make an effort to adjust their thinking when their own thoughts, words, or behaviors seem to clash with each other. Sometimes, the ways that people resolve cognitive dissonance contribute to unhealthy behaviors or poor decisions. Sometimes learning new information can lead to feelings of cognitive dissonance.

Participants in the high-dissonance condition spread apart the alternatives significantly more than the participants in the other two conditions. Participants in the high-dissonance condition chose between a highly desirable product and one rated just 1 point lower on the 8-point scale. After reading the reports about the various products, individuals rated the products again.

• School is another catalyst for tension as people are acclimating to a new environment, meeting others and learning new information.
• As we mentioned earlier, many people know that smoking is harmful to their health — yet they continue to do it.
• Inconsistent or conflicting beliefs lead to disharmony, which people strive to avoid.
• Participants in the high-dissonance condition chose between a highly desirable product and one rated just 1 point lower on the 8-point scale.

Aronson 1992 and Brehm 2007, written by two of Festinger’s historical students, offer historical anecdotic information as well as keystones to understand the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance. In the same vein, Cooper 2019 proposes the author’s personal view of this story, focusing on his own theoretical achievements. Gawronski and Strack 2012 offers an overview of the cognitive consistency field.

It’s giving you the information you need to be at peace with your decisions and to understand why you made them. Developing the self-awareness to notice and question the dissonance often resolves it. In our example, you didn’t appreciate your friend pointing out that you were drinking soda instead of water. You realize that you were making a decision that was out of step with what you said you wanted to do. Social psychologists have uncovered dozens of cognitive biases, such as self-serving bias, unconscious bias or implicit bias, confirmation bias, fundamental attribution error, and the sunk-cost fallacy. Information provided on Forbes Health is for educational purposes only.

Adding More Beliefs to Outweigh Dissonant Beliefs

Set healthy boundaries from the beginning and reinstate them if someone crosses a line. By being assertive about your values, you can minimize continued conflict from the start but also empower yourself to hold that space for your needs. For example, a person may have to do something they disagree with at work.