Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance

Psychologist Leon Festinger first proposed a 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

Cognitive dissonance can be described as a state of mental discomfort experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two conflicting values, ideas and beliefs. Therefore, the condition occurs when an individual needs to choose between two or more believes or incompatible actions. A challenging cognitive dissonance is realized when two alternatives are equally attractive. It is worth to note that cognitive dissonance should be regarded to be automatic in a situation where people hold opposing beliefs. Individuals have to aware of inconsistency for them to experience a discomforting feeling. Not all the people have an experience of cognitive dissonance to the same level or degree. Some people in society have a high tolerance for uncertainty and inconsistency.

The degree of dissonance people experience can depend on a few different factors, including how highly they value a particular belief and the degree to which their beliefs are inconsistent. The overall strength of the dissonance can also be influenced by several factors:

• Cognitions that are more personal, such as beliefs about the self, tend to result in greater dissonance.
• The importance of the cognitions; things that involve beliefs that are highly valued typically result in stronger dissonance.
• The ratio between dissonant (clashing) thoughts and consonant (harmonious) thoughts
• The greater the strength of the dissonance, the more pressure there is to relieve the feelings of discomfort

Cognitive dissonance can occur in many areas of life, but it is particularly evident in situations where an individual’s behavior conflicts with beliefs that are integral to his or her self-identity. A common example of cognitive dissonance occurs in the purchasing decisions we make regularly .2

Consider a situation in which a man who places a value on being environmentally responsible just purchased a new car that he later discovers does not get great gas mileage.

The conflict:

• The man needs to take care of the environment.
• He is driving a car that is not environmentally friendly.

To reduce this dissonance between belief and behavior, he can sell the car and purchase another one that gets better gas mileage, or he can reduce his emphasis on environmental responsibility. In the case of the second option, his dissonance could be further minimized by engaging in actions that reduce the impact of driving a gas-guzzling vehicle, such as utilizing public transportation more frequently or riding his bike to work.

Consider someone who buys an expensive car but discovers that it is not comfortable on long drives. Dissonance exists between their beliefs that they have bought a good car and that a good car should be comfortable. Dissonance could be eliminated by deciding that it does not matter since the car is mainly used for short trips (reducing the importance of the dissonant belief) or focusing on the strengths of the car such as safety, appearance, handling (thereby adding more consonant beliefs). The dissonance could also be eliminated by getting rid of the car, but this behavior is a lot harder to achieve than changing beliefs.

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