Shifting either your belief or your behavior will help you find balance and reduce the tension, Leikam says. “Something has to give — either the belief system or the action,” Johnson says. cognitive dissonance addiction can happen to anyone, and most cases resolve on their own.
Discussing discrepant behavior
Festinger’s theory explained the conflict in the cult members’ minds when the flood didn’t happen and how they shifted their beliefs in order to explain the false prediction of a worldwide flood. Recognizing the disparity between thoughts or actions is what causes dissonance — and makes you feel the need to return to harmony. “In any instance where our beliefs are inconsistent, we essentially have a really profound psychic discomfort, and we must act in a way that resolves that conflict,” Dr. Johnson says.
- Examples of cognitive dissonance include a smoker who knows cigarettes are dangerous, a company that doesn’t follow its own code of ethics, or a person who avoids speaking about a past trauma while still dealing with it in the present.
- Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person’s behavior and beliefs do not complement each other or when they hold two contradictory beliefs.
- Dissonance can play a role in how we act, think, and make decisions.
- This same scenario could be about a buddy who has starkly different political beliefs or maybe is unkind to their spouse or too stern with their children.
- For example, a small 2019 study notes that dissonance-based interventions may be helpful for people with eating disorders.
Everyday Examples of Cognitive Dissonance
When the boundaries between reality and fantasy are blurred, people can be confused, anxious, or mistrustful. One of the simplest ways to address dissonance is to change one’s 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. Think back to your political party’s candidate who supported a neighborhood policy that you don’t like.
cognitive dissonance
You may research and find out that some other practices in your life – like never using a drinking straw and always bringing a reusable cup to the coffee shop – counteract the negative effects of owning a big car. It is known that emotions of cognitive dissonances often lead to an immediate elimination of the source of discomfort, which is a contradictory knowledge. Because every knowledge contradicts to some other knowledge, cognitive dissonances could have prevented accumulation of knowledge, and the culture itself.
“If you’re not able to be genuine about your needs, then that’s going to create more stress and distance in your relationships,” warns Dr. Prewitt. It’s increasingly common for someone to be diagnosed with a condition such as ADHD or autism as an adult. A diagnosis often brings relief, but it can also come with as many questions as answers. Research into eating disorders and mass shooters reveals a common thread—overvalued ideas that are relished, amplified, and nurtured online.
Psychologist Leon Festinger published the book A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance in 1957. Among the examples he used to illustrate the theory were doomsday cult members and their explanations for why the world had not ended as they had anticipated. Many experiments have since been conducted to illustrate cognitive dissonance in more ordinary contexts. In other words, he could tell himself that a short life filled with smoking and sensual pleasures is better than a long life devoid of such joys.
- However, cognitive dissonance can also be a tool for personal and social change.
- Think back to the example of the buddy who told the tasteless joke.
- Often, cognitive dissonance creates a mild discomfort and won’t cause a huge disruption in your life.
- Cognitive dissonance is a well-researched psychological phenomenon.
- A man who learns that his eating habits raise his risk of illness feels the tension between his preferred behavior and the idea that he could be in danger.
Simply recognizing when you’re experiencing the tension can be helpful even when you can’t resolve those inconsistent feelings completely. “The more aware you are that you are experiencing cognitive dissonance, the more you’re able to understand yourself on a deeper level and explore what values, morals, and beliefs truly matter to you in the short- and long-term,” she says. While cognitive dissonance can cause all of these uncomfortable feelings, those feelings can sometimes lead to positive change. For example, let’s say you believed a negative stereotype about people who belong to a specific racial, ethnic, or religious group. Then you met someone from this group – maybe it was a new co-worker – and you really liked this person. You feel uncomfortable with these conflicting ideas at first, but you eventually come to realize that the stereotype you believed must have been wrong.
- That’s how recognizing and resolving the cognitive dissonance you experience can help you understand yourself better and the values and beliefs that really matter to you.
- Confronting cognitive dissonance can often lead to positive results.
- This definition of meat-animal dissociation shares similarities with, and is facilitated by, other constructs and processes.
- Let me repeat that cognitive dissonances often lead to discarding the contradicting knowledge.
- If the person changes the current attitude, after the dissonance occurs, they are then obligated to commit to that course of behavior.