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Cognitive Dissonance And Its Effects On Our Lives
Cognitive Dissonance And Its Effects On Our Lives
Cognitive dissonance belief
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Humans have a powerful internal motivation to keep a stable and positive self-image. Cognitive dissonance refers to situations where there are two or more conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors. This disharmony or dissonance between beliefs can cause feelings of stress and discomfort and is a threat to a person’s overall self-esteem and self-image. These feelings of tension and discomfort motivate a person to reduce and eliminate the dissonance. This can be achieved by changing a behavior, changing one of the contradicting thoughts, or by adding a new belief. In this paper, I analyze examples of cognitive dissonance in my life and the effectiveness of the different methods I utilized in attempting to resolve it. The first example of dissonance …show more content…
“ It’s not that I’m dumb. I only did bad on the test because I had three test that week and two paper due. I wasn’t able to study as much as I normally would for the test.” Next, I added a new though. I learned that the average on the test was a 70%, so in reality, I had received a fairly average grade in comparison to the rest of the class. Although these two methods made me feel somewhat better, they didn’t change the fact that I had got a 69% on the test. My final step was a change in behavior. I came to realize that to do better on the next test I would have to make some adjustments to how I approach organic chemistry. This is what motivated me to find a tutor. However, this action in itself created another form of dissonance because in my mind a person who does well in school does not need a tutor. After receiving a much better grade on the second organic chemistry test thanks to the help of my tutor, I made a final change to my thoughts. I am still a person who cares about and does well in school, and having a tutor doesn’t mean I’m not intelligent it is simply another way of helping me to reach my goals. Coming to this conclusion helped me to remove the last of the dissonance I had been …show more content…
Entering my sophomore year at college, I had set goals for myself that included going to the gym once or twice a week and making sure that I eat fruits and vegetables every day. I didn’t consider these goals to be overly ambitious. I knew that I had a busy schedule this year with seventeen credit hours, and anything more would be hard to work into my daily routine. The first couple weeks of the school year went as planned, and I felt a sense of accomplishment for keeping to my plans. However, as the year progressed and the homework load for my classes increased I struggled to keep to my goals. I found that the belief that I lived a healthy lifestyle was in contradiction with the fact that I never found time to go to the gym and I was often settling for whatever food options were the quickest and most available to
American social psychologist and original developer of the theory of Cognitive Dissonance Leon Festinger breaks down his theory into two main parts. First, the presence of dissonance, inconsistency or unpleasantness, will psychologically motivate a person to achieve consonance, consistency or pleasantness (Festinger 3). Psychologist Elliot Aronson, key researcher in the 20th century of this theory, expands on the definition of dissonance to be more straightforward. Dissonance occurs when a person holds two ideas, beliefs, or opinions at the same time that are contradictory with one and other. Part two of the theory states that a person will attempt to avoid situations or knowledge that would possibly or pro...
The desire for consistency can go beyond rational thought or force a person to rationalize when things are out of line. People find comfort in knowing what to expect. When what is known and believed is challenged, people are disrupted and forced to make a decision on how to process conflicting information. To avoid the discomfort caused by cognitive dissonance, people may ignore opposing views, examine and change their views to maintain consistency with their actions or even seek reassurance (Defining Communication Theories, 2001).
In the play Doubt, by John Patrick Shanly, Sister Aloysius is treating Father Flynn unfairly. Sister Aloysius is the principal of St. Nichols School, who is suspicious and always doubt everyone, especially Father Flynn. She thinks that Father Flynn is guilty, but has no proof. Sister Aloysius doesn’t like Father Flynn in the school and his ideas. She treats him unfairly. Sister Aloysius treats Father Flynn unfairly when she still accuses Father Flynn of giving the altar wine to Donald Muller after Father Flynn tells her the truth. She treats him unfairly by forcing him to request the transfer without proving if Father Flynn is guilty or not and also makes him resign by lying about his past.
Sometimes the greatest test of a theory is its longevity. Over time, some theories will be disproved, some will be modified, and some will become the basis for a whole new group of theories. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance has stood up to challenge for over forty years, and is considered by many to be the single most important theory of social psychology. Though there have been modifications to the theory after many recreations and simulations of the original 1957 experiment, few have been able to really disqualify Festinger’s findings. It would be safe to say that many people don’t even have a full grasp of the incredible implications that Festinger’s research and experiments have towards the self-concept and behavior, myself not excluded. The actual definition of cognitive dissonance is almost too simple: an unpleasant feeling that arises from the contradiction of belief and action. Festinger, however, went on to find that dissonance would in fact change attitudes over time, helping people to justify their behavior when they know it is clearly wrong.
It is a very different motivation from what psychologists are used to dealing with but, as we shall see, nonetheless powerful” (p. 3). A few different factors determine the amount of dissonance individuals experience, including the degree to which one’s belief systems deviate from the regularity. Different cognitions, or types of knowledge, determine the overall strength of dissonance, for instance cognitions, which are connected to personal beliefs and the self, tend to result in stronger dissonance. Furthermore, the relation between dissonance and consonance could also play a role in the degree of strength of dissonance: the greater the dissonance, the more pressure there is to reduce it and reach consonance. When cognitive dissonance occurs, it often results in a conflict between a “person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action” (Festinger 1957, p.), and it is influential to individuals’ actions and behaviors. When a conflict arises, there are different steps individuals take to reduce the consequent dissonance. Festinger suggest three key strategies to minimize cognitive dissonance: (i) changing a behavioral cognitive element, or the focus is put on more supportive cognitive elements that outweigh the dissonant behavior; (ii) changing the environmental cognitive element, or the importance of the conflicting belief is reduced, and (iii) adding new cognitive elements, or the conflicting belief is changed in order to be consistent with other
Cognitive dissonance is a communication theory mostly used in the field of social psychology in providing a theoretical framework in dealing with various issues relating to psychology. The title provides us with the concept that cognitive is thinking while dissonance is the inconsistency or conflict brought about. Cognitive dissonance manifests when one holds two or more incompatible beliefs simultaneously. This theory has been used and applied in several disciplines including communication, due to its simplicity and straightforwardness. The theory is commonly applied in these dynamic fields since it replaces previous conditioning or reinforcement theories by viewing individuals as more purposeful decision makers striving to acquire a balance in their beliefs. Cognitions are chunks or bits of knowledge which can pertain to any variety of values, emotions or values. These cognations can be related to one another or they can also be completely independent from each other (Cooper, 06). For instance, one may like to eat junk food, but may also be trying to lose weight. The two cognitions are related to each other in tha...
lected Theory: Cognitive Dissonance is an objective communication theory created by Leon Festinger, a Stanford University social psychologist. Cognitive Dissonance is a conflicting mental state caused by discrepancy between two beliefs held by an individual. The more important the belief the stronger the dissonance. The strain caused by dissonance leads us to change our behavior or belief. Festinger says there are three different ways to reduce or avoid dissonance: selective exposure, postdecision dissonance, and minimal justification. Also, Festinger describes three different reasons for why one reduces dissonance. These reasons are self- consistency, personal responsibility for bad outcomes, and self- affirmation to dissipate dissonance.
“Humans are not a rational animal, but a rationalizing one” (“Class 20”). This was asserted by the much acclaimed, significant, and influential social psychologist Leon Festinger as referencing to his theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Social psychology is “a branch of psychology particularly concerned with understanding social behaviors such as” incentive and compliance (Sheehy). Festinger’s contributions to the social and cognitive branches of psychology as well psychology overall prove themselves worthy to today. This theory specifically challenged many common notions that were seemingly already accepted by behaviorists everywhere during his time (Tavris and Aronson). Its reality awakens its verifications. Consecutively, its “enormous motivational power” affects many on a daily basis (Tavris and Aronson). In the final analysis, the theory of Cognitive Dissonance by Leon Festinger is fundamental to behaviorism while directly changing the way human beings across the planet think and do.
The theory of cognitive dissonance has been developed by the psychologist Leon Festinger and according to his analysis, “every human has a tendency to strive for consistency between and among cognitions”. In psychology, cognitive dissonance is defined as a situation of conflicts in attitudes, beliefs and behavior. Those situations with conflicts lead to a state of tension or discomfort, that is when we talk about dissonance. When people are aware about their behaviors and attitudes we talk about cognitions .In addition to that, let’s define the other component of the theory which is the word dissonance. In fact , Dissonance is known as an uncomfortable state of psychological and psychological tension. Leon Festinger has illustrated the dissonance as the reaction one has when someone breaks something belonging to someone else. When a person is experiencing dissonance, they are three ways to restore consonance. The first one is to reduce the importance of the conflicting cognitions. The second one is to add numerous
Social Psychologists have discovered that most people believe that they are well behaved, more competent, above average, and better at things than others. But if this is to be true, what happens when we behave in ways that are inconsistent with the conception of ourselves? This is called the theory of cognitive dissonance. According to the textbook cognitive dissonance is “the discomfort that people feel when two cognitions (beliefs, attitudes) conflict, or when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their conception of themselves (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, Sommers, 2013, pg.158). The theory of cognitive dissonance is vitally important in social psychology because it is centered on how people try to become internally consistent
During the healthy care self project I have and have not achieved my goal. During this project I learned that things do come up in life and even though you may have a plan and want to follow a regimen you will not always be able to follow it as well as you would like to. A key thing looking back that hindered my achievement towards my goal was life and how busy it can become. When it came to working out in the beginning I was very faithful to it but once I began having assessments in school I began looking at it to what is more important, working out or my grades in school. As a student who is paying for their own schooling, school always seemed more important than. While looking at the provided graph you can see what I did attend the gym faithfully in the beginning of the project but after a few weeks in is when I began to stop attending the gym.
...e completely healthy attempting to avoid my punishment and then there were days where I ultimately caved and failed at eating well. On those days, I followed the rules I set in place and worked out as I said I would that evening. Part of the time my boyfriend would inevitably cause me to falter by cooking a nice fattening meal, but I don’t blame him at all considering it was up to me to make the decision to refrain from eating it. I probably didn’t do as well as I could have around lunch time or dinner but I’m glad at the fact that I did keep away from sweets and snacks throughout the entire week. I was really intrigued with getting good results for this project so I tried my hardest to actually follow the program set. Even if I don’t keep with this change after the project it’s very comforting to know I CAN eat healthy when I want and I CAN workout if I need too.
The human psyche frequently experiences the phenomena of internal contradiction, followed by an internal struggle for some semblance of balance or consistency (Hall, 1998). Cognitive dissonance acts as motivation for people to behave in a manner that effectively reduces said dissonance and restores balance. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance explores this occurrence and the subsequent actions that people take in order to create a balance between their ideals.
Honestly, I feel like college has decrease how well I use to be. As a child, I was always overweight and it was very difficult for me. I didn’t end up changing my habits till junior year of high school and by the time I graduated high school I had lost more than 30 pounds. Now entering college, I started off eating well and working out but then I became tired with all the work and started to eat badly and not work out and officially did gain the freshman 15. Once I became lazy I noticed I started eating later at night and eating a lot of carbs. The craziest part is that I’m aware that I’m doing it and just can’t stop. My plan is when summer starts I’m going to start back on weight watchers and really change my eating habits. Two tangible behaviors
I know in the back of my mind that I need to eat healthier and exercise more, but I never actually put my thoughts about it into action. I need to keep myself in the right mindset to accomplish my goals of making myself healthier. I often will get distracted and forget all about what I had planned on doing; I need to focus. I think also having someone else there to push me and make sure I keep at the good habits will keep me from straying away. I feel like I have plenty of time to go and exercise or think “Oh, I can eat something healthy during my next meal.” However, the next thing I know, the day is over and I didn’t keep to my word. It’s a lot harder than I realized, and I’m still trying my best to get better at