To reduce this dissonance, they may seek out new information that overrides the belief that greenhouse gasses contribute to global warming. By bringing attention to the inconsistencies in our minds, cognitive dissonance may present an opportunity for growth. People who feel it could realize, for example, that they need to update their beliefs to reflect the truth, or change their behavior to better match the person they want to be.
Belief disconfirmation
In 1955 Festinger left the University of Minnesota for Stanford University, where he and his students launched a series of laboratory experiments testing cognitive dissonance theory and extending it to a wide range of phenomena. When cognitive dissonance theory was first presented, three experimental paradigms (namely decision justification, effort justification and induced compliance behaviour) were used to empirically test and provide evidence to support the theory. Leon Festinger first presented the cognitive dissonance theory in 1957 to illustrate the relationship between perceptions, motivations, and cognitions.
How Attitude Change Takes Place
The subjects convinced themselves that the tasks were somewhat interesting to rectify the dissonance due to inconsistency between believing the tasks were boring but telling someone they were interesting. In other words, an individual can reduce the mental discomfort by changing the inconsistent cognitions, reducing the importance of conflicting elements, acquiring new harmonious elements or increasing the importance of the existing consistent elements. Festinger used the case of a habitual smoker to demonstrate the theory (Festinger, 1962).
Forced Compliance Behavior
- Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education.
- The concept of cognitive dissonance is nicely explained in this YouTube video by social psychologist Andy Luttrell.
- With dissonance that results from wanting something we can’t have, there are things we would like to have that we cannot for any number of reasons.
- The strong initiation subjects convinced themselves that the discussion was more interesting than it actually was to make their effort to feel worthwhile.
Cognitive dissonance is the unpleasant mental state that may result if someone really does have certain beliefs but thinks or acts in a way that contradicts them. Psychologist Joel Cooper recently published a comprehensive update of cognitive dissonance theory after more than 50 years of research. Relationships are typically built on shared attitudes, beliefs, and values. When our friends or partners act contrary to our beliefs and values, we perceive dissonance.
In their laboratory experiment, they used 71 male students as participants to perform a series of dull tasks (such as turning pegs in a peg board for an hour). Dissonance due to inadequate justification occurs when we invest a significant amount of time, energy, money, or effort, but we receive little or nothing in return on the investment. We may feel as if the effort was a waste or that we were cheated out of our payoff. With dissonance that results from wanting something we can’t have, there are things we would like to have that we cannot for any number of reasons. When the desired “something” is very important, we may have dissonant cognitions that make us tense and unhappy.
Download 3 Free Positive CBT Exercises (PDF)
The subjects whose strong initiation required reading aloud obscene words evaluated the discussion as more-interesting than the subjects of the mild initiation group. The reading of obscene sexual words to be initiated to cognitive dissonance theory the discussion involved a greater investment by the subjects than reading non-obscene words. Listening to a dull discussion was not worth the embarrassment of reading the obscene words, resulting in cognitive dissonance.
- Alternatively, they may reduce cognitive dissonance by being mindful of their values and pursuing opportunities to live those values.
- Examples of cognitive dissonance include a smoker who knows cigarettes are dangerous, a company that doesn’t follow its own code of ethics, or a person who avoids speaking about a past trauma while still dealing with it in the present.
- Cognitive dissonance can have many different causes, including addiction, a desire to meet the expectations of others, fear of change, and trauma.
- This intellectual tradition proposed that people navigated the world by motivational pushes and pulls, and therefore our behaviours were driven by psychological forces.
Their questionnaire includes items regarding the decision-making process before and after the purchase. The full text can be requested from the authors free of charge via the ResearchGate website. These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you or your clients with tools to find new pathways to reduce suffering and more effectively cope with life stressors.
