Disposing of trash outside, even when knowing this is against the law, wrong, and is harmful for the environment, is a prominent example of cognitive dissonance, especially if the person feels bad after littering but continues to do so. By using these types of explanations, the smoker is able to reduce the dissonance and continue the unhealthy behavior. For example, Festinger explains that a smoker might cope with the discrepancy between their knowledge (that smoking is bad) and their behavior (that they smoke) by quitting. In other words, it seems that everyone does experience dissonance from time to time—but what causes dissonance for one person might not for someone else.

Who proposed the cognitive dissonance theory?

Businesses should promote a positive organizational culture that aligns with their stated values. This will help to reduce the amount of cognitive dissonance employees experience between their personal values and those promoted by the company, boosting morale and productivity. Discrepancy between an attitude and a behavior – eating a doughnut while https://ecosoberhouse.com/ thinking of reducing calorie intake – leads to psychological discomfort called cognitive dissonance (Harmon-Jones, 2019). A person who feels defensive or unhappy might consider the role cognitive dissonance might play in these feelings. If they are part of a wider problem that is causing distress, people may benefit from speaking with a therapist.

• Thus, they had an opportunity to reduce cognitive dissonance by reporting their new preference.
• Engaging with music and especially joining in group singing helps to generate euphoria, which diminishes perception and critical thinking.
• Therapy can help patients by reflecting on and taking control of their thoughts.

Leveraging the psychology of cognitive dissonance

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. A good example is the prospect of embarrassing ourselves in front of others, such as cognitive dissonance and addiction by forgetting our words during a speech. However, after further thought, we may decide that it does not matter what others think of us and can thus reduce the dissonance. Cognitive dissonance occurs frequently and to all of us (Harmon-Jones, 2019).

Forced Compliance

Hence, rituals help by embedding behavior, which people otherwise would have had conflicting feelings about, in social norms and institutions. Previous studies using EEG have also demonstrated that the DPLFC, especially on the left side, plays a key role in dissonance reduction processes (Harmon-Jones, Gerdjikov, & Harmon-Jones, 2008; Harmon-Jones, Harmon-Jones, Fearn, Sigelman, & Johnson, 2008). The reasons for this enhancement include increased motivation on the part of the client and a more positive view about the likelihood of therapeutic success. Feelings of personal choice and responsibility are at the core of these reasons, and they represent essential conditions for dissonance to occur; people must feel that they had choice and were responsible for the action that led to the dissonance. Cooper and Axsom report research using experimental designs with college students interested in weight control that reveal support for this dissonance explanation of therapeutic outcome. Only participants in a condition involving high dissonance (expenditure of effort via exercise and choice in this type of effort) showed weight improvement relative to comparison conditions involving different approaches to weight control.

Culture and Cognitive Dissonance

Averse consequences vs. inconsistency

What Influences Cognitive Dissonance?

Discussing discrepant behavior

Social Psychology, Theories of

• Moreover, integration of cognitive dissonance and current CBT models of OCD (Aardema & Wong, 2020; Doron & Kyrios, 2005; Doron et al., 2007) can organize a variety of findings and theoretical concepts in a coherent and unified way.
• If a woman reads that her favorite politician has done something immoral, she could conclude that the charges have been invented by his enemies—or, instead, rethink her support.
• Your behavior contradicts not just the beliefs you have about the world, but also the beliefs that you have about yourself.
• This can prompt people to adopt certain defense mechanisms when they have to confront it.
• Although familiar information tends to reproduce itself, new information has an impact, according to many theories.