Cognitive dissonance: Definition, effects, and examples

When the experimenter emphasizes that participants are free to refuse to write the essay, they still write it, but eventually change their stance from their original position toward the position in the essay. No such change happens when participants are simply instructed to write the essay with no room for choice. As before, the discomfort caused by misrepresenting their attitude without sufficient justification led high-choice participants to bring their attitudes more in line with their actions. The process of resolving cognitive dissonance by changing beliefs or behaviors is a major topic of study in psychology as a means to affect personal and social change. People can resolve cognitive dissonance by changing their existing beliefs, adding new beliefs, or reducing the importance of beliefs. The experience of dissonance between attitudes and behaviors is a potent mechanism that produces attitude change.

Participants in the high-dissonance condition spread apart the alternatives significantly more than the participants in the other two conditions. Brehm (1956) was the first to investigate the relationship between dissonance and decision-making. Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

How To Reduce Cognitive Dissonance In Your Life?

They then invested $20,000 in an extremely accurate laser gyroscope and performed their test. Cognitive dissonance can also be described as a situation where you change your beliefs to rationalize your previous beliefs. The whole goal of this rationalizing is so that you can say you were technically never wrong.

• This theory was developed by Stanford University professor Leon Festinger and was prompted by an observational study of a fringe religious group known as the Seekers.
• This is when the dissonance occurs between an individual and a group they belong to or identify with.
• In one of the studies, participants were told about an unpleasant test for a virus (which was fictitious).
• However, the children who were threatened felt no pressure to change their opinions about the toy since they had a logical reason for giving it up.

If the person changes the current attitude, after the dissonance occurs, they are then obligated to commit to that course of behavior. At the conclusion of the study, subjects https://ecosoberhouse.com/ were asked to rate the tedious tasks. The subjects paid one dollar ($1) rated the tasks more positively than did the subjects in the twenty-dollar ($20) or control groups.

Potential Pitfalls of Cognitive Dissonance

Finally, many of the studies supporting the theory of cognitive dissonance have low ecological validity. For example, turning pegs (as in Festinger’s experiment) is an artificial task that doesn’t happen in everyday life. The theory of cognitive dissonance has been widely researched in a number of situations to develop the basic idea in more detail, and various factors have been identified which may be important in attitude change. Notice that dissonance theory does not state that these modes of dissonance reduction will actually work, only that individuals who are in a state of cognitive dissonance will take steps to reduce the extent of their dissonance.

In one of the studies, participants were told about an unpleasant test for a virus (which was fictitious). Half of them were told they qualified for testing, and the other half was led to believe they were not. In our professional lives, cognitive dissonance can result in missed opportunities. If we are hard-headed in our ways and unwilling to consider information that runs against our stance, then we will be less responsive and adaptable to situations in our workplace. Read on to learn about where you’ve likely encountered cognitive dissonance before.

Cognitive Dissonance in Theory and Everyday Life

However, for the mild punishment children, it was a more difficult decision. Their desire for the toy was great and their concern for the mild punishment was small. While they also chose not to play with the toy, they may have needed to justify, to themselves, why they did not play with the forbidden toy. The degree of punishment was insufficiently strong to resolve their cognitive dissonance; the children had to convince themselves that playing with the forbidden toy was not worth the effort.

For example, a 2019 study notes that dissonance-based interventions may be helpful for people with eating disorders. This approach works by encouraging patients to say things or role-play behaviors that contradict their beliefs about food and body image. Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person holds two related but contradictory cognitions, or thoughts. American psychologist Leon Festinger first developed the concept in the 1950s. It can occur when a person holds two contradictory beliefs at the same time.

Why is it so hard to change someone’s beliefs?

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the ways in which you can apply this knowledge in your own interactions. Cognitive dissonance and the way we cope with it regularly affect our relationships, too, both positively and negatively. Patients are likely to feel uncomfortable when dissonant thoughts are discussed, which can impede their ability to think constructively.

By practicing self-awareness, open-mindedness, and reflection, you can develop the skills to manage cognitive dissonance more effectively and make decisions that align with your values and beliefs. Smokers know that smoking is bad for their health, yet they continue to smoke. To reduce their dissonance, smokers may deny the risks of smoking, downplay the health consequences, or find ways to justify their behavior, such as claiming that smoking helps them relax.

For example, a student might cheat on a test because they’re afraid of getting in trouble with their teacher. For example, if you have to work hard on your homework for an hour but it’s worth 100 points on your test next week, then you’re more likely to value the 100 points than if it was just given to you for free.

Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time. This results in a clash between their outer world and inner thoughts causing them to either adjust their thinking patterns treatment for cognitive dissonance (mental adjustment) to match each other better (cognitive change). Or they can just ignore or dismiss one of the conflicting beliefs, ideas, or values (dissonance reduction). The number of variations within this approach to self-evaluation regulation is also substantial.