Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort felt when two pieces of information contradict each other or when your behavior goes against the truth of a situation. Examples of cognitive dissonance include a smoker who knows cigarettes are dangerous, a company that doesn’t follow its code of ethics, or a person who avoids speaking about a past trauma while still dealing with it in the present. To deal with the feelings of discomfort then, they might find some way of rationalizing the conflicting cognition.

For instance, dissonant behavior in the presence of friends and family (vs. alone) might bring about self-justification or vindication since the undoing of the dissonant behavior might be embarrassing. Within a developmental viewpoint, Kaplan and Crockett (1968) argue that cognitive complexity determines the reduction strategy. For example, due to lack of cognitive complexity, children’s reduction strategies are often rather primitive (e.g., denial), whereas adults are more refined (e.g., rationalization).

Social behavior

Because the task wasn’t validated by a sufficient monetary reward, they made up an internal motivation that justified the lie. If a person finds themselves in a situation where they have to do something that they don’t agree with, they’ll experience discomfort. Since they can’t escape the action, they attempt to re-establish their reasons for doing it in a way that makes the action acceptable.

• If you are experiencing cognitive dissonance, it is likely that you feel a broad range of emotions when thinking about your actions or decisions in comparison to your beliefs and attitudes.
• In other words, people can react vastly different to the same dissonant situation and then resolve the situation in several different ways.
• Our mind is hard-wired to start to believe our own lies and warped logic in order to relieve this anguish.
• Attending specialized therapy sessions such as psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy can help individuals who struggle with cognitive dissonance work through emotional difficulties and disruptive or negative thoughts.
• Unlike hypocrisy, cognitive dissonance threatens our identity and sense of self.
• Mismatches between your beliefs and actions can lead to feelings of discomfort (and, sometimes, coping choices that have negative impacts), but such feelings can also sometimes lead to change and growth.

Furthermore, our emotional perspective also led to a novel categorization of dissonance-reduction strategies. Note that this demonstration is simply meant for the above-mentioned purpose (and thereby illustrating the feasibility of the emotion-regulation perspective)–not as a test of the model presented https://accountingcoaching.online/arrest-of-boston-sober-home-operator-raises/ earlier. A central assumption of this general model is the pluralistic view on emotional reactions to cognitive dissonance and the subsequent reduction process. In other words, people can react vastly different to the same dissonant situation and then resolve the situation in several different ways.

Our addictive behaviors make us feel bad about ourselves – this is cognitive dissonance

Introverts, on the other hand, experienced increased dissonance discomfort and were more likely to change their attitude to match the majority of others in the experiment. We all face cognitive dissonance at times since we’re always learning new things that might Essential Tremor Alcohol Treatment demand change in our behavior or belief system. Whether you resolve feelings of cognitive dissonance may depend on influences from work and family, your goals, or your identity. People experience cognitive dissonance for many reasons, but a common trigger is work.

Research shows that justifications give people the impression that they made a careful decision. In the face of temptation (problematic desires), we need to dispute rationally our distorted reasoning and the judgments that follow. The importance of a sudden shift in attitudes needs to be appreciated. After all, it takes only a single moment of weakness during a high-risk situation for a recovering addict to reconsider drug use and relapse.