Cognitive Dissonance Theory: A Crash Course
Summary
TLDRCognitive dissonance, a concept from social psychology, refers to the discomfort experienced when holding two contradictory beliefs or behaviors. First described by Leon Festinger in 1957, it arises from inconsistency, such as a smoker knowing the habit is harmful. People resolve this dissonance by altering beliefs, changing behaviors, adding rationalizing thoughts, or trivializing the inconsistency. Dissonance is not just a mental conflict but can cause physical discomfort, motivating individuals to restore consistency for inner peace. The need to resolve dissonance is heightened when individuals perceive they had a choice and foresee negative consequences from their inconsistent actions.
Takeaways
- 📚 Cognitive Dissonance was first introduced by Leon Festinger in 1957, marking a significant concept in social psychology.
- 🤔 It is defined as the mental discomfort experienced when holding two or more inconsistent thoughts or beliefs.
- 🚬 An example given is a smoker who knows smoking is unhealthy but continues the habit, leading to dissonance.
- 🔄 To resolve dissonance, individuals might change their beliefs, alter their behavior, add rationalizing thoughts, or trivialize the inconsistency.
- 💡 Changing a belief, such as downplaying the health risks of smoking, can alleviate the discomfort caused by dissonance.
- 🏃♂️ Adjusting behavior, like quitting smoking, is another way to restore consistency and reduce dissonance.
- 🍇 Adding new, rationalizing thoughts, such as engaging in other healthy behaviors, can also help in managing cognitive dissonance.
- 🤷♂️ Some may choose to trivialize the inconsistency, accepting the dissonance without necessarily resolving it.
- 🧠 The need to resolve dissonance stems from the desire for a clear, consistent understanding of the world and the discomfort of physical tension it causes.
- 🔍 Research indicates that cognitive dissonance can lead to physical discomfort, which people are motivated to alleviate.
- 🎓 The motivation to resolve dissonance is heightened when individuals perceive they had a choice in the matter and anticipate negative consequences.
Q & A
What is cognitive dissonance?
-Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon where a person experiences discomfort due to holding two or more inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or values.
Who first introduced the concept of cognitive dissonance?
-Leon Festinger introduced the concept of cognitive dissonance in his 1957 book, where he outlined a detailed understanding of the theory.
How does cognitive dissonance manifest in an individual's thoughts?
-It manifests when an individual holds two inconsistent thoughts, such as knowing that smoking is unhealthy while also being a regular smoker.
What are the ways Festinger suggested to resolve cognitive dissonance?
-Festinger suggested changing one of the inconsistent thoughts, changing behavior to align with beliefs, adding new rationalizing thoughts, or trivializing the inconsistency to resolve dissonance.
Why do people feel the need to resolve cognitive dissonance?
-People feel the need to resolve cognitive dissonance because it creates a sense of physical discomfort and inner tension, which motivates them to restore consistency and feel better.
What role does the perception of choice play in experiencing cognitive dissonance?
-The perception of having a choice over the inconsistent behavior or belief is crucial for experiencing cognitive dissonance. If there is no choice, the inconsistency does not cause significant dissonance.
How does the perception of aversive consequences influence cognitive dissonance?
-The perception of negative consequences resulting from the inconsistency increases the motivation to resolve the dissonance, as it adds a layer of potential harm to the inconsistency.
What is an example of cognitive dissonance provided in the script?
-An example given is a person who smokes cigarettes despite knowing that smoking is unhealthy, leading to an inconsistency between their behavior and their knowledge.
How does cognitive dissonance relate to physical discomfort?
-Cognitive dissonance is associated with physical discomfort, as studies have shown that experiencing inconsistency can lead to negative physical tension.
What are some strategies people use to add new thoughts to reduce cognitive dissonance?
-People might add new thoughts that rationalize the inconsistency, such as acknowledging other healthy behaviors they engage in despite the unhealthy action causing the dissonance.
Why is cognitive dissonance important to understand in social psychology?
-Understanding cognitive dissonance is important in social psychology because it helps explain how individuals cope with inconsistencies in their beliefs and behaviors, which can influence their attitudes and decisions.
Outlines
🚬 Understanding Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that arises from holding two inconsistent beliefs or attitudes. It was first described by Leon Festinger in 1957. The concept is rooted in the discomfort people feel when they recognize an inconsistency between their actions and their beliefs. For instance, a person who smokes despite knowing it's harmful experiences dissonance. Festinger proposed several ways to resolve this dissonance: changing one's belief (e.g., downplaying the risks of smoking), altering behavior (e.g., quitting smoking), adding new beliefs to justify the inconsistency (e.g., emphasizing other healthy behaviors), or trivializing the inconsistency (e.g., not caring about the health risks). The discomfort of cognitive dissonance is not just psychological; it can also manifest as physical tension. People are motivated to resolve dissonance to restore a sense of consistency and reduce this discomfort.
🧠 Resolving Cognitive Dissonance
The motivation to resolve cognitive dissonance is influenced by the perception of choice and the potential negative consequences of one's actions. If an individual feels they had a choice in creating the inconsistency, such as writing an essay that contradicts their beliefs, they are more likely to experience dissonance. The presence of aversive consequences, or the belief that the inconsistency could lead to negative outcomes, also increases the drive to resolve the dissonance. For example, if someone writes an essay supporting a tuition increase despite opposing it, and they believe the school administration might act on this, they would feel a stronger need to resolve the dissonance. This could involve convincing themselves that a tuition increase is actually beneficial. Understanding cognitive dissonance can provide insight into how people adjust their beliefs and behaviors to align with their actions and maintain a consistent self-image.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Cognitive Dissonance
💡Inconsistency
💡Leon Festinger
💡Resolving Dissonance
💡Changing Beliefs
💡Changing Behavior
💡Adding New Thoughts
💡Trivializing Inconsistency
💡Physical Discomfort
💡Choice and Dissonance
💡Aversive Consequences
Highlights
Cognitive Dissonance is a term with deep roots in classic social psychology.
Leon Festinger outlined the theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957.
Cognitive dissonance is about inconsistency between two thoughts.
Example of cognitive dissonance: a smoker who knows smoking is unhealthy.
People resolve cognitive dissonance by changing thoughts, behaviors, or adding rationalizing thoughts.
One can also trivialize the inconsistency to resolve dissonance.
Dissonance is uncomfortable and motivates a search for consistency.
Physical discomfort is associated with cognitive dissonance.
Research shows physical tension during cognitive dissonance.
People are motivated to resolve dissonance due to the discomfort it causes.
Dissonance is more likely to motivate action when there is a perception of choice.
The perception of aversive consequences can increase motivation to resolve dissonance.
Understanding cognitive dissonance can help in social interactions.
Cognitive dissonance is a key concept in social psychology with practical implications.
The discomfort of cognitive dissonance can lead to changes in beliefs or behaviors.
The concept of cognitive dissonance can be applied to everyday situations.
Transcripts
Chances are good that you've heard of something called "Cognitive Dissonance."
It's a term that's starting to get thrown around a lot these days, but you
might not know that it has a really deep root in classic social psychology. In
1957, Leon Festinger wrote a book on the theory of cognitive dissonance and
outlined a really detailed understanding of what cognitive dissonance is and how
people deal with it.
Let's start out by talking about what cognitive dissonance is. How would
we define it? At the very basics, cognitive dissonance is about
inconsistency. When we hold two thoughts that are inconsistent with one another,
basically that's dissonance. So let's take the example of someone who
smokes cigarettes.
Here's a person who might have two distinct thoughts, one of which is:
"I regularly smoke cigarettes."
The other of which is the knowledge that "smoking cigarettes is unhealthy."
Here are two thoughts that a person can be having at the same time,
acknowledging both of these things as fact,
but they would seem inconsistent with one another. If you know that smoking is
bad, then logically, you probably wouldn't be engaging in that activity yourself.
And so this is a case of dissonance because there is inconsistency in your
own thoughts.
So what people do when they experience cognitive dissonance?
Well, there are a few ways in which Festinger said that you could resolve
the inconsistency as a way of resolving the dissonance.
First, you can change one of those thoughts. In the case of the smoker who
realizes that smoking is bad and also that he is a regular smoker,
he might change one of those beliefs and go, "Smoking's not that bad. It's
actually not unhealthy to smoke." That will be changing one of your cognitions--
--one of your thoughts-- as a way of restoring consistency.
Another thing you could do is change your behavior as a way to restore
consistency.
So, in this case, the smoker might say, "Well I, you know, if I acknowledge that
smoking is bad,
then the way I can be consistent is to stop smoking." So, changing one of the
behaviors
that's related to the inconsistency. Another thing people can do is to add
new thoughts into the mix--thoughts that help rationalize the inconsistency.
So, someone might say, you know,
"Yes, smoking is bad. Yes, I smoke regularly. But also, I do a lot of other healthy
behaviors. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and I exercise a lot," so I'm
adding new thoughts as a way to reduce the problem of inconsistency. And finally,
people can just trivialize the inconsistency completely. They can just
say, "You know what?"
"Sure, smoking's bad, and I smoke, but I just don't care."
"And that's going to be it. That's not really as big of a deal as people say
that it is." That would be another way of resolving dissonance.
** "Man, that's tobacco." **
But why do people feel like they need to resolve anything at all? What's the big
deal about dissonance?
Well, some people say that 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. And when anything that makes us feel
inconsistency is something that's a problem, and we are motivated to restore
consistency again. But most of the research in dissonance has looked at
something a little bit different, and that idea is that it's physically
uncomfortable to experience cognitive dissonance.
There's actually 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 your true attitudes and beliefs. And so lots of
studies have shown that this is the case
by hooking up different sensors to people, or tricking them into
thinking that some pill makes them feel uncomfortable when in fact, just their
inconsistent thoughts is what's doing it. All of this research you can find more
about in my blog post on this topic, but suffice it to say that for the most part,
when you feel
cognitive dissonance, you're feeling actual physical discomfort -- you're
feeling inner discomfort as well.
And anytime we feel bad, we want to feel better! And to feel better, we just find a
way to be consistent again. That's the driving force behind cognitive
dissonance.
It's worth pointing out that there are a couple times when dissonance is
especially likely to motivate this action to resolve the inconsistency.
One of them is the perception that you had some choice over the inconsistency.
So, sometimes in cognitive dissonance studies, what they'll have people do is
agree to write some essay arguing against their own beliefs.
So, if you don't believe that your school should raise tuition, if you agree to
write an article saying that your school should increase tuition, then that would
be a case of dissonance.
However, it would only make you feel that dissonance and that motivation to
resolve inconsistency
if you felt like you had a choice over whether or not you wrote that essay. If
you didn't have any choice... if someone literally says, "You have to write an
essay before we can let you leave,
and it has to say 'tuition increase is good,'"
well then, you didn't have any choice over it, and it's not really that big of a
problem.
It's when you realize that you did have a choice and you chose to do the thing
that contradicts your own opinions that you have to then find some comfort
within yourself by resolving an inconsistency. In this case, convincing
yourself that you actually do like tuition increase. The other thing that
has to be there,
according to a bunch of research, is the perception of "aversive consequences."
In other words, you have to think that the inconsistency in your thoughts is
going to play out poorly for some reason in the future.
So, let's say you did write that essay saying tuition increases good.
If you believe that a school administration is going to read that
essay and then say, "Hey, you know, students think this is a good thing to do!",
there is a negative consequence. There is a negative consequence of your
inconsistent actions.
Now you're even more motivated to resolve the inconsistency and figure out
a way to think that tuition increase actually is a good thing to do.
Hopefully this helps clarify what cognitive dissonance is.
Now the next time you're at a party and someone throws around the term
"dissonance" (because you go to some pretty crazy parties),
you'll now be able to nod your head and actually know what they're talking about.
See you next time!
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