If left unchecked, it could lead to anxiety and mental tension, and you might even try to rationalize harmful actions. Leon Festinger first proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance, centered on how people try to reach internal consistency. He suggested that people have an inner need to ensure that their beliefs and behaviors are consistent. Inconsistent or conflicting beliefs lead to disharmony, which people strive to avoid. Research from Acharya, Blackwell and Sen shows that individuals committing violence against members of another group develop hostile attitudes towards their victims as a way of minimizing cognitive dissonance. Importantly, the hostile attitudes may persist even after the violence itself declines (Acharya, Blackwell, and Sen, 2015).

Potential Pitfalls of Cognitive Dissonance

• “You might say to yourself that it’s okay because there wasn’t much left and, anyway, there’s coffee usually brewing in the office kitchen,” Dr. Noulas says.
• Attending specialized therapy sessions such as psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy can help individuals who struggle with cognitive dissonance work through emotional difficulties and disruptive or negative thoughts.
• As a result she might start to feel grateful for and happy about those nights in, rather than beating herself up for being “lazy” or not sociable enough.
• This situation created cognitive dissonance in most individuals—they believed that the task was boring, yet inexplicably found themselves arguing quite the opposite.
• If we put effort into a task that we have chosen to carry out, and the task turns out badly, we experience dissonance.

However, participants who were only paid $1 had more trouble justifying their actions to themselves—they didn’t want to admit to themselves that they told a lie over such a small amount of money. Consequently, participants in this group ended up reducing the dissonance they felt another way—by reporting that the study had indeed been interesting. In other words, it appears that participants reduced the dissonance they felt by deciding that they hadn’t lied when they said the study was enjoyable and that they really had liked the study.

What Is Cognitive Dissonance?

However, there are therapy options for people whose cognitive dissonance is severely affecting their relationships or the ability to live their lives. Cognitive dissonance is a normal occurrence that can affect anyone. Though, the severity may vary depending on how tightly the belief is held.

The Result of Cognitive Dissonance

The two thoughts – ‘sunbathing can cause cancer’ and ‘I am sunbathing’ – will cause the discomfort of cognitive dissonance addiction. Sometimes, when you’re faced with difficult decisions in the moment, it’s best to take a break and revisit it later when all parties have processed what’s happened. This is especially true if you’re caught up in a toxic work environment. If that same person believes the COVID-19 pandemic is real but refuses to wear a mask, their values and behaviors would contradict each other.

• Festinger and Carlsmith wanted to create a feeling of dissonance in participants—in this case, their belief (that lying should be avoided) is at odds with their action (they just lied to someone).
• Coping with the nuances of contradictory ideas or experiences is mentally stressful, as it requires energy and effort to sit with those seemingly opposite things that all seem true.
• That’s because that discomfort brings a host of less-than-ideal feelings with it.
• Additionally, words like burger, sausage and bacon can make the animal origins even more distant.
• Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes.

Informal social communication

Dissonance comes up when we realize there are two things opposing each other,” she explains. If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others through CBT, this collection contains 17 validated positive CBT tools for practitioners. Use them to help others overcome unhelpful thoughts and feelings and develop more positive behaviors. Dissonance can also be experienced vicariously through people of a social group that we identify with. When they act inconsistently with their attitude, we feel the same discomfort as if we had acted inconsistently with our attitude ourselves (Cooper, 2016).

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Eating meat

• Their questionnaire includes items regarding the decision-making process before and after the purchase.
• 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.
• This produces a feeling of mental discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance.
• For example, let’s say you believed a negative stereotype about people who belong to a specific racial, ethnic, or religious group.
• The team observed the group firsthand for months before and after the predicted apocalypse.

Cognitive Dissonance Can Help Us Justify Positive Changes We Wouldn’t Otherwise Make