Is cognitive dissonance ever good for an organization? For an individual?
The man passes through paths and decisions whose results are not known. His mind is attracted to decisions that support his beliefs and intellectual tendencies, but he also searches for them and ignores ideas and actions that contradict with his personal convictions. These cognitive biases can lead the individual to make wrong decisions, because he does not see the whole truth or ignore its vision. With cultural openness, it is difficult to isolate oneself from everything that conflicts with his inner beliefs.
Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension, mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more conflicting beliefs, ideas or values
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And thus he does not allow himself to think rationally and locks himself with the rejected contrary thoughts which confirms his old ideas only.
The degree of cognitive dissonance depends on the value of what the one beliefs and his nature and how this information is based in his minds. The greater the value of this belief, the more urgent tension is to get rid of this dissonance resulting from the conflicting ideas.
Cognitive dissonance may be good in order to change and gain new knowledge that may be useful for obtaining opportunities that have not been taken into account. Therefore, the individual should observe his behavior and follow his thoughts so that he can understand his positions and the consequences of them until change occurs. The cognitive dissonance plays an important role in knowing what an individual can do in dealing with different ideas and thus assessing himself and reorganizing his awareness to reduce the internal conflict of these recurring
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Negotiation and Agreement
Leaders will explain to the employees the points that they resist, and through negotiation, many solutions are agreed to confront resistance to change. This approach is suitable for those who resist change and who have a strong and influential role and threaten to leave work.
References:
Changing Minds. n.d. Cognitive Dissonance. Retrieved from: http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/cognitive_dissonance.htm
Heathfield, Susan M. 2017. How to Reduce Employee Resistance to Change. March 02, 2017. Prosci. n.d. Five Tips for Managing Resistance. Retrieved from: https://www.prosci.com/change-management/thought-leadership-library/managing-resistance-to-change
Prvulovic, Goran. 2015. Impacts of Cognitive Dissonance in the Workplace. April 25, 2015. Retrieved from: https://safetyrisk.net/impacts-of-cognitive-dissonance-in-the-workplace/
Retrieved from: https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-reduce-employee-resistance-to-change-1918992
Saylor Academy. (2012). Cultural Intelligence for Leaders. Creative Commons by-nc-sa
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...
Cognitive dissonance is when an individual feels uncomfortable because they are a good person but they have chose to do a bad things. Instead of dealing with the consequences they ignore the situation. Cognitive dissonance can relate to Lords of the flies book on Chapter 9. The morning after the boys killed Simon thinking it was the
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.
Cognitive dissonance can be described as the feeling of discomfort resulting from holding two conflicting beliefs. It can also be said to be the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. A well-known psychologist Leon Festinger (1919–89), introduced this concept in the late 1950s where he proved that, when confronted with challenging new information; most people are observed to preserve their current understanding of the world by rejecting or avoiding the new information or by convincing themselves that no conflict really exists in one way or the other (Festinger, 04).
Decisions are the basis of human history, advancement, and modern society. Important decisions often cause a conflict within a person as he or she attempts to make a choice based on what he or she believes is right, as well as what he or she believes is wise. Throughout life and society, people find themselves at a crossroads of beliefs or thoughts with the justification of murder. This is due to the dissonance illustrated when they have mixed feelings with the idea that killing another human is wrong, although it seemingly appears unavoidable in certain situations. This inevitability is what justifies murder in the first place. These mixed feelings create a cognitive dissonance that impacts society in a detrimental manner because people in society care less about people being murdered due to the simple and common justification behind it.
Cognitive dissonance theory is the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent. There are three methods that dissonance can be condensed. Individuals can modify one or more of the beliefs, attitude, behaviors, and more, this way the connection between the two elements are in agreement with one another. Another method is to gather new information that will compensate the dissonant beliefs. The third method is to decrease the importance of the beliefs, attitudes, behavior, and etc. Dissonance theory does not say that these methods will work; only people in the state of cognitive dissonance will use these methods to condense the degree of their dissonance. Cognitive dissonance theory
While people deal with everyday life, a plethora of events is occurring throughout the day. Most people usually do a multitude of actions to resolve these events without thinking as well. This can be anything from trying to get to class as soon as possible, talking to someone that recently was introduced, or doing a kind of tradition at a football game. Cognitive Biases is defined as a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment, whereby inferences about other people and situations may be drawn in an illogical fashion. This article will talk about a small sample of these situations and clarify what the meaning behind them. It shall discuss Negativity Bias, Confirmation Bias, Gamblers Fallacy, and Illusion of Control
Cognitive dissonance occurs when inconsistencies with behaviors and attitudes/beliefs exist either within an individual or between two parties. More expressly, cognitive dissonance is when actions and values are different. The purpose of researching cognitive dissonance is to answer the following questions:
“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.
Cognitive dissonance looks at the way people combat contradictions within their minds by actively seeking consistency. For his theory, Festinger refers to cognition as thought/mental processes and dissonance as inconsistency. His famous example is that of an addicted smoker who knows that smoking is detrimental to his or her health and is thus in conflict with his or her self. The main hypothesis of Festinger’s theory is comprised of two parts; Festinger wrote about the first part of his theory that "The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try to reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance," and described the second "When dissonance is present, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely increase the dissonance" (Festinger, 1957). Festinger elaborates on the importance an individual places on reducing cognitive dissonance by discussing two essential factors: the value of the cognitions and the ratio of cognitions (Festinger, 1957). The former consists of the personal importance or value that the individual places on the opposing cognitions, resulting in either a minor or major dissonance. The latter consists of the proportion of the degre...
Cognitive psychology is defined as a perspective that examines human thought and behavior in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events. The strategies and schemas that we use to view the world are important to understanding why we think and behave the way we do. Many of the experiences people have determine the way they think about oneself, without even realizing it. Also, most of the time people do not realize the way the brain interprets situations they are in and how it impacts the person they are. In Redirect, by Timothy D. Wilson, cognitive psychology is discussed as well as ways to cope with it. It is important to notice the way you react to things and make sure you are participating in recovery steps that have been proven to be successful. Cognitive psychology plays a very important role in human behavior and how tolerant one will be throughout life.
Prevention of resistance is most effective when implementing change. Preventing the weight of inertia in a workplace allows the change to happen in a timely manner with minimal problems. As Lee (2004) emphasizes, leaders have the ability to effect change and performance. If someone is accountable for outcomes and poor habits, outcomes will improve. The manager must show a caring attitude over the process of change and welcome any positive innovation. This caring attitude will become contagious to the employees working under him and become a priority to them as well. Approaching the change in an accepting, open-minded manner can decrease the vulnerability and frustration associated with change. How the change is presented can make the biggest difference in the outcome of the change. The manager must show that blaming will be avoided at all costs. One will only ask why, not who, to avoid the feeling of belittlement. This can allow employees to become comfortable with voicing their opinions and mistakes, which can allow an even greater range of improvement. The manager must also encourage...
al. 2016, p.247). The process begins when your attitude and behavior are on different spectrums. This would sound something like going to the movie when you only have 2 hours before a major test or going to a tanning salon even though skin cancer is part of your family history that you are usually strict about preventing. Usually during this feeling you make say well I studied last night or it was only five minutes in the tanning bed. This is called self-talk this is when you try to disregard how big the dissonance really was. You may reduce the dissonance by minimizing the conflict, changing your perspective, adding cognitions, or other things like these. These help your attitudes and behavior to come more in line together. The choices or reduces in the dissonance can have good or bad consequences.The best example and most common example I have is minimizing the calories when I am dieting. I may be logging my food into myfitnesspal app and I will put I ate a fourth instead of a half. This is something I always find myself doing but minimize this dissonance by saying it’s ok I didn’t really eat the whole apple or I didn’t eat the skin off the apple so that counts right. This causes a debate between my attitude and behavior. My attitude says “I want to eat healthy, but my behavior says “I only ate half a
Cognitive dissonance typically occurs when an individual’s behavior is inconsistent with their beliefs. Since the individual is unable to change the behavior that has occurred they must change their att...
Cognitive dissonance is a theory defined as “the discomfort people feel when two cognitions (beliefs, attitudes) conflict, or when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their conception of themselves” (Aronson, 2016, pg. 158). This, in turn, causes discomfort that can be difficult to ease. Some basic ways to reduce cognitive dissonance are: Realign our behavior with the dissonant condition, justify our behavior by changing one of the dissonant behaviors, justify our behavior by adding additional cognitions. The reason we experience cognitive dissonance is that as humans we aim to keep a positive self-image, but occasionally we go against that image and cause cognitive dissonance (Aronson, 2016). The following are