Cognitive Dissonance Theory

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• Sometimes learning new information can lead to feelings of cognitive dissonance.
• He suggested that people have an inner need to ensure that their beliefs and behaviors are consistent.
• Notably, this proselytizing solution reflects not only effort justification but also the motivation to create a shared reality with others that their beliefs are true.
• This can be applied to media, news, music, and any other messaging channel.
• This phenomenon is known as alternative spreading, and the experimental paradigm is known as the free-choice paradigm.

Although a seemingly radical departure, it was in fact a continuation of a theme. Festinger’s work on visual perception concerned how people reconcile inconsistencies between visual perception and eye movements to see coherent images. His social psychological research concerned how people resolve conflict , ambiguity , and inconsistency —all manifestations of pressures for uniformity. The “predictive engine” of the brain is, according to the PP narrative, also the fundamental driver for action. This is because the brain also makes active forward-looking predictive models for proprioceptive states (i.e., states related to bodily movement and position).

Implications of the Theory

Pilot trial of a dissonance-based cognitive-behavioral group depression prevention with college students. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. Simply being more aware of how your thoughts and actions fit together can help you better understand what’s important to you, even if you don’t eliminate the dissonance. You read an article about workplace productivity that says people are more productive when they work in short bursts and take frequent breaks.

Imagine here an early cognitive dissonance theory called Proto, living in a primitive small culture. This culture, like any human culture, has shared meanings, intentions and norms, and the people of this culture particularly value the simple norm “Sharing is good” , leading this norm to be instilled at a high abstract level in their generative models. In practice, such a generative model corresponds to an increased probability of engaging in altruistic behavior, or P . Now, imagine that for some reason, Proto does not share its food and, as a result, experiences cascades of CD . Is it rational for Proto to update its generative model accordingly with the prediction error?

The Why and How of Defending Belief in a Just World

The discomfort is triggered by the person’s belief clashing with new information perceived, wherein they try to find a way to resolve the contradiction to reduce their discomfort. The cognitive dissonance theory was developed in the 1950s by a social psychologist called Leon Festinger. Until then, psychologists had thought people’s actions resulted from their core values and beliefs in a unidirectional and somewhat rigid manner. Hence, the consensus was that people’s behaviors were determined by and matched their values and beliefs. Festinger challenged this notion when he proposed that people may experience a mismatch between their beliefs and behaviors. Moreover, the discomfort caused by this mismatch could be lessened by rationalizing the behavior or adjusting beliefs to match the behavior .

Consumers tend to assess and evaluate the various options available in the market and choose one that fits their idea of perfection. After deciding to purchase a product, however, they https://ecosoberhouse.com/ that they chose to purchase that product due to the pressure placed on them by the seller. A friend gives her a choice to help hand over a few grams of an illegal drug to an anonymous person and that would pay more than she needs. But this transaction goes completely against the standards that Bella has set for herself.