Greetings, friends!
The expression “cognitive dissonance” is very popular in the modern world, and it is hardly possible to find a person who has not heard it. Moreover, each of us has repeatedly experienced this state throughout our lives. It is all the more surprising that not everyone correctly understands the meaning of this term. Today we will close this gap and analyze in detail what cognitive dissonance is from a psychological point of view, what it is, how it arises and how to cope with it.
What is cognitive dissonance?
Cognitive dissonance is a feeling of severe psychological discomfort that arises due to internal contradiction. For example, if it is discovered that some beliefs, values, knowledge or ideas contradict each other. It can also occur if reality begins to contradict common sense or knowledge that previously seemed absolutely accurate.
The term "cognitive dissonance" is of Latin origin. It is formed from the words cognitio (knowledge) and dissonantia (inconsistency, inconsistency). Thus, this term can be translated as “inconsistency with knowledge” or “inconsistency of knowledge.”
Cognitive dissonance can be considered as an internal conflict that arises in a person’s mind if some event or new information contradicts his existing beliefs. Each of us, under the influence of events occurring in our lives, develops a certain pattern of perception of the world in which some things are simply impossible. This feature of perception helps us understand and systematize information coming from outside without unnecessary effort.
If an event cannot be adequately interpreted using existing templates, this causes cognitive dissonance. At the same time, a person experiences such strong internal discomfort that he strives to bring mutually contradictory knowledge to a common denominator as soon as possible. To do this, the first explanation that comes to mind is usually accepted, which can reconcile this knowledge with each other.
Festinger's theory
The phrase, which we often use when there is a discrepancy between expectations and reality, was introduced into use by the American psychologist and specialist in the field of psychology of thought regulation Leon Festinger.
A widely known study is in which he and his students observed the behavior of people belonging to the Guardians of the Cosmos sect. Adherents were sure that the end of the world was about to come. For this, they abandoned their family, work, housing and began to wait for Judgment Day and salvation from aliens.
When the appointed day arrived without any consequences, the believers cleverly found an explanation for this. Their prayers extended the existence of the world!
Analyzing such stories, Festinger concluded that for the sake of peace, the brain seeks to explain what is happening by hook or by crook. He called the discomfort and tension that arises in a state of uncertainty cognitive dissonance.
Examples of cognitive dissonance
Let's look at a few examples that will help you better understand what cognitive dissonance is. A classic example is Asch's experiment, which demonstrates how strong the power of conformity over human consciousness is. The experiment involves 1 subject and several decoy participants.
They all have to take turns answering the same question. In this case, the real subject answers last, and all the decoys give a deliberately false answer before that (for example, they call a black object white or vice versa). Seeing that others call black white, the experiment participant experiences cognitive dissonance. Trying to resolve it, he agrees with the opinion of the crowd.
However, in real life, even without psychological experiments, there are plenty of typical situations that cause cognitive dissonance in people. Let's look at a few general examples:
- Betrayal. If a person is betrayed by a faithful friend, even before the resentment and disappointment he experiences cognitive dissonance. He cannot believe what happened and tries to find a logical explanation for it.
- Parental example. Children often encounter the fact that their parents dictate certain requirements and moral principles to them, but they themselves violate them. For example, parents demand that the child confess to something, promising not to punish if he is honest. But when he admits everything, he is punished. As a result, he realizes that his parents deceived him, and he himself suffered because of his own honesty.
- Moral dilemma. A surgeon may be faced with the need to operate on a terrorist who has been wounded in his own terrorist attack. A psychologist may learn that his patient is dangerous and capable (or even planning) to commit murder. The lawyer may realize that his client is indeed guilty. All these people have a conflict between moral principles and professional responsibilities.
- A “useful” habit. Any addicted person experiences cognitive dissonance whenever they realize how harmful their habit is. For example, a smoker is frightened by the thought that he will have to give up smoking, although he understands that this is necessary. But then he hears a statement like “smoking can protect against dementia” or “smoking helps you avoid gaining weight,” and he happily accepts it as truth, because it helps him get rid of internal conflict.
A common example of cognitive dissonance is the collapse of ideals, which every person experiences to one degree or another as they grow older. Many beliefs that we believe in because of our naivety or inexperience turn out to be erroneous or deliberately false. And having realized this, it can be really difficult to cope with the information received.
Signs of cognitive dissonance
Studying this phenomenon, psychologists have identified several characteristic signs that are always present, regardless of the nature and cause of cognitive dissonance:
- A person is confident in each of the contradictory elements. Therefore, the contradiction makes him uncomfortable , and he needs a simple solution to the situation to be found as soon as possible.
- Conflict can only arise if the conflicting elements are related. For example, a person may want to renew a romantic relationship, but at the same time he is not ready to forgive his former “other half” for some action. You can also give an example of a person who wants his parents to be proud of him, but at the same time does not want to please them, because he is angry due to too strict upbringing.
- Cognitive dissonance is always severe mental discomfort. A person is literally torn into pieces and cannot calm down until the contradiction is resolved.
- All a person’s thoughts are busy searching for a solution , and it is impossible to escape from them. As a result, the solution is to change the attitude towards one of the conflicting elements.
- In order to get rid of cognitive dissonance, personal attitudes and views can be adjusted to an already committed action.
The last point implies that a person who has committed an offense first suffers, and later revises his views and beliefs, adjusting his thinking to get rid of the conflict. Alternatively, he may try to find an excuse for his mistake so as not to sacrifice his principles.
And finally...
Cognitive dissonance can lead to more serious consequences. It’s one thing when you find out that a tomato is a berry and not a vegetable; you can survive it. What to do if your whole life collapses, like the student or accountant in the examples? Against the background of dissonance, depression can develop, self-esteem can fall, and so on.
In such cases, it is better to contact a qualified psychologist. He will help you find the source of the problem and suggest ways to solve it.
Sincerely, psychologist Elena Elizarova.
Who is the author of the concept?
A theory that explains in detail what cognitive dissonance is and what are the mechanisms of its occurrence was proposed by the American psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957. The author himself said that he was prompted to create this theory by rumors that spread after a strong earthquake. After analyzing the composition of these rumors, their credibility and how easily they were accepted, he came to the conclusion that people tend to interpret the information they receive in such a way as to avoid internal conflict.
The essence of Festinger's theory is that each person always strives to ensure maximum coherence and orderliness of his picture of the external world. When receiving new information, a person tries to integrate it into his beliefs so as to maintain harmony. If the harmony is disturbed, he begins to experience severe discomfort and cannot calm down until he finds a way to reconcile the new information with the existing picture of the world.
As part of his theory, Festinger formulated two key hypotheses:
- In a state of cognitive dissonance, a person does everything to minimize the level of inconsistency between contradictory attitudes. As soon as he achieves correspondence (consonance) between them, the mental discomfort goes away and he feels relief and satisfaction.
- A person who has managed to cope with cognitive dissonance tends in the future to avoid information or circumstances that cause internal conflict in him.
Examples from life
In real life, cognitive dissonance occurs not only often, but almost every day. It could be a simple little thing or a life-changing decision. Numerous examples only prove this.
The famous story with a medalist and a C student is perfect as an example of cognitive dissonance. In this story, a medalist comes to university and naturally, the teachers expect high achievements from him, while they don’t pay attention to the C student, but what if their roles are reversed? If a medalist gives a bad answer on the exam, and a C student, on the contrary, tells everything correctly and factually, the teacher will experience cognitive dissonance. More precisely, his ideas and expectations will not be met .
Another example involves a beggar on the street who asks for money. On the one hand, it is worth helping, but, on the other hand, his appearance does not inspire confidence. In such a situation, people are often lost and do not know how to act in this situation.
Causes of cognitive dissonance
There are quite a lot of factors that can provoke this condition. Psychologists name the following factors as the main reasons:
- An emerging contradiction between beliefs, knowledge, goals, concepts, principles, ideas or desires.
- Discrepancies between personal principles and moral standards imposed by society.
- The spirit of contradiction that arises in a person and forces him to resist ethical, moral, cultural and even legal norms.
- The discrepancy between the acquired knowledge or the circumstances that have arisen and the attitudes that a person already has.
How to deal with cognitive dissonance?
From a psychological perspective, cognitive dissonance can be triggered by internal conflict or external circumstances. And if you immediately understand what nature it has, it will be much easier to deal with it, since you can focus on its cause and understand how to deal with it.
You can get rid of cognitive dissonance in one of three ways:
- Accept your actions or new circumstances, changing your beliefs so that they correspond to the new picture of the world.
- Change your behavior so as to maintain your previous settings.
- Change your environment (for example, change jobs or stop contacts with acquaintances whose behavior does not correspond to your views on life).
Usually our psyche overcomes the contradiction by adjusting beliefs to new circumstances (that is, in the first way). Knowing all three methods, you can decide for yourself which option is better in a particular situation. But keep in mind that having made a choice, you can no longer doubt its correctness.
It is important to take into account that such obstacles may arise as:
- Inconveniences when changing behavior. For example, breaking a bad habit can be quite painful.
- Losses when changing environment. If you decide to change jobs to resolve cognitive dissonance, this is fraught with a decrease in income.
- Ambivalent attitude towards the situation. Let's say you don't like the place where you meet your friends, but you don't want to give up meeting. At the same time, you understand that this is the only place that is convenient for the whole company.
- Inability to change behavior. Quitting addiction is usually very difficult. It happens that a person is full of determination, but the very next day he realizes that he cannot cope. It is also very difficult to change behavior for people who are characterized by impulsiveness and mood swings.
- The impossibility of changing external circumstances. Not everything can be influenced. For example, not everyone has the opportunity to change their place of residence or job. Not everyone will decide to limit communication with their closest relatives either.
In all these cases, there is only one option left - changing your attitude to the situation. Usually our psyche resolves cognitive dissonance in this way. But if you analyze everything in advance and understand that this is the optimal solution to the problem, it will be much easier to get rid of the internal conflict.
There is no escape from this...
In order not to perceive cognitive dissonance painfully, you just need to accept the fact that this phenomenon occurs at all. It is important to understand that the discrepancy between some elements of a person’s belief system and the actual state of affairs will always be reflected in life. In fact, it is much easier to accept the facts as they are and try to adapt to the circumstances, without wasting your energy on thoughts that perhaps something was done wrong, some decision was made incorrectly. If something has already happened, then so be it.
In one of the books of the famous writer Carlos Castaneda, in which he describes the process of his training with an Indian shaman, his teacher tells him about one very effective way to live - to be a Warrior. Here it is not worth going into details of the philosophy of this path, but you just need to say that one of its main features is that a person can doubt and think until the moment he makes a decision. But, having made his choice, he must throw away all his doubts and thoughts, do what is necessary, and calmly accept the result, whatever it may be.
As for the worldview as a whole, the state of cognitive dissonance most often arises only because we are firmly convinced that something should be exactly this way and no other way. Many people believe that their opinion is the only correct one, that only the way they think is correct, everything should be the way they want. This position is the least effective for a harmonious and happy life.
Finally, accept that things may be completely different from your thoughts, views, and beliefs. The world is full of not just different people and facts, but also all sorts of mysteries and unusual phenomena. And our task is to learn to look at it from different angles, taking into account any possibilities, and not to be “narrow-minded”, stubborn and fixated on ourselves and our knowledge. Cognitive dissonance is a condition that is inherent, to varying degrees, in every person. It is important to know about it, to be able to identify and eliminate it. But it is equally important to take it for granted.
We wish you success!
What is your opinion on this issue? Surely, when reading the article, you remembered several interesting examples of cognitive dissonance from your personal life. Tell us about your experience, because nothing generates such interest as real stories. In addition, many will be interested in reading about how someone else comes out of this state. So we are waiting for your stories and comments.
