Truth be told, I first come to know about Cognitive Dissonance while I was browsing Reddit. From there I learned that people who is suffering from this mental discomfort is mostly caused by their strong belief and faith in something.
Take for example people who believe that the earth is flat. Even if you present scientific facts and evidence that disproves their belief, they will not accept it and will try to rationalize, ignore and even blatantly deny those facts.
Because their belief is so strong that they feel the need to protect it. Anything that goes against their belief will be ignored. Over time this will likely cause a contradictory belief and thus physchologically stress them all out.
Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort that occurs when there is a conflict between what I think and what I do. There are three things we can do to remedy the stress produced by this sensation:
Change our behavior.
Justify our behavior by altering thought or belief.
Justify our behavior by adding new ideas to the thought or belief in question.
For example, imagine a smoker who knows that smoking tobacco carries a high risk of lung cancer and is trying to quit. As we know, this habit is difficult to change without a treatment plan, so suppose this person succumbs to temptation and smokes a cigarette. At that point, or perhaps later, cognitive dissonance will appear: I want to quit smoking and I have committed myself to it but I have smoked. What is easier for that person at that time? Changing his past behaviour is not possible and changing the unhealthy habit of smoking is proving complicated, so he decides to change his ideas in order to justify his behaviour and alleviate the stress produced by this conflict of interests.
All of us will hear excuses such as "my grandfather has smoked all his life and is like an oak tree", "one more cigarette, one less cigar is not going to do anything to me", "I smoke until this pack is finished and I don't smoke any more", etc. The same thing happens if you want to go to the gym, start a diet or study a new language.
The origin of cognitive dissonance
cognitive dissonance health beliefs values ideas
Psychology doctor Leon Festinger was the first to propose the theory of cognitive dissonance after infiltrating a cult himself to investigate its psychological principles. The members of the sect believed that humanity would perish as a result of a worldwide flood, so most left their jobs and sold their homes to focus on working for the sect. After the date of the supposed flood and obviously no catastrophe occurred, Festinger noted that the less faithful members admitted that they had acted unreasonably, learning the lesson the hard way.
However, the more adept members of the sect, on the other hand, claimed that their faith and work brought about a change in humanity's destiny, saving it from the terrible outcome. According to Festinger, human beings need consistency between what we think and the way we act. The belief invented by the most faithful groups of the sect is the result of the need to eliminate this dissonance. Moreover, cognitive dissonance is more difficult to bear when it is our own image that is affected; in this case we speak of one's perception of oneself as "stupid" having believed in that prophecy or facing the harsh reality that everything that has been done for the sect has been in vain.
In an article published by my colleague Elisabeth Rigo, an example is given of cognitive dissonance as a coping strategy in cases of domestic violence. You can take a look at it by clicking here.
Criticism of cognitive dissonance
Although much research has been done on this phenomenon, the fact is that cognitive dissonance takes place in the mind of the subject who experiences it and then translates into behavior. For this reason, the cognitive part of dissonance is difficult to measure objectively. Because of this difficulty in physically observing dissonance, some authors argue that this term is subjective and could even be confused with guilt, since it is unknown whether it is an emotion, a perception, or an interaction between the two.
There are also individual differences between people who do not always respond according to what the theory predicts. In the case of highly anxious people it seems that the theory of cognitive dissonance explains their behavior very well, but generally people seem to be able to face normal levels of dissonance without experiencing the anxiety or discomfort that this theory sustains.
However, it is important to clarify that cognitive dissonance, beyond its theoretical implications, is a coping mechanism frequently used by people. It can be useful for a bad drink, such as a breakup in a relationship, but it should not be our main decision-making strategy. Like everything else in life, their abuse can be harmful and it is therefore important to identify when we are using this strategy and prevent it from becoming a habit that leads to self-deception, lies or constant negative criticism.
Truth be told, I first come to know about Cognitive Dissonance while I was browsing Reddit. From there I learned that people who is suffering from this mental discomfort is mostly caused by their strong belief and faith in something.
Take for example people who believe that the earth is flat. Even if you present scientific facts and evidence that disproves their belief, they will not accept it and will try to rationalize, ignore and even blatantly deny those facts.
Because their belief is so strong that they feel the need to protect it. Anything that goes against their belief will be ignored. Over time this will likely cause a contradictory belief and thus physchologically stress them all out.
Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort that occurs when there is a conflict between what I think and what I do. There are three things we can do to remedy the stress produced by this sensation:
Change our behavior.
Justify our behavior by altering thought or belief.
Justify our behavior by adding new ideas to the thought or belief in question.
For example, imagine a smoker who knows that smoking tobacco carries a high risk of lung cancer and is trying to quit. As we know, this habit is difficult to change without a treatment plan, so suppose this person succumbs to temptation and smokes a cigarette. At that point, or perhaps later, cognitive dissonance will appear: I want to quit smoking and I have committed myself to it but I have smoked. What is easier for that person at that time? Changing his past behaviour is not possible and changing the unhealthy habit of smoking is proving complicated, so he decides to change his ideas in order to justify his behaviour and alleviate the stress produced by this conflict of interests.
All of us will hear excuses such as "my grandfather has smoked all his life and is like an oak tree", "one more cigarette, one less cigar is not going to do anything to me", "I smoke until this pack is finished and I don't smoke any more", etc. The same thing happens if you want to go to the gym, start a diet or study a new language.
The origin of cognitive dissonance
cognitive dissonance health beliefs values ideas
Psychology doctor Leon Festinger was the first to propose the theory of cognitive dissonance after infiltrating a cult himself to investigate its psychological principles. The members of the sect believed that humanity would perish as a result of a worldwide flood, so most left their jobs and sold their homes to focus on working for the sect. After the date of the supposed flood and obviously no catastrophe occurred, Festinger noted that the less faithful members admitted that they had acted unreasonably, learning the lesson the hard way.
However, the more adept members of the sect, on the other hand, claimed that their faith and work brought about a change in humanity's destiny, saving it from the terrible outcome. According to Festinger, human beings need consistency between what we think and the way we act. The belief invented by the most faithful groups of the sect is the result of the need to eliminate this dissonance. Moreover, cognitive dissonance is more difficult to bear when it is our own image that is affected; in this case we speak of one's perception of oneself as "stupid" having believed in that prophecy or facing the harsh reality that everything that has been done for the sect has been in vain.
In an article published by my colleague Elisabeth Rigo, an example is given of cognitive dissonance as a coping strategy in cases of domestic violence. You can take a look at it by clicking here.
Criticism of cognitive dissonance
Although much research has been done on this phenomenon, the fact is that cognitive dissonance takes place in the mind of the subject who experiences it and then translates into behavior. For this reason, the cognitive part of dissonance is difficult to measure objectively. Because of this difficulty in physically observing dissonance, some authors argue that this term is subjective and could even be confused with guilt, since it is unknown whether it is an emotion, a perception, or an interaction between the two.
There are also individual differences between people who do not always respond according to what the theory predicts. In the case of highly anxious people it seems that the theory of cognitive dissonance explains their behavior very well, but generally people seem to be able to face normal levels of dissonance without experiencing the anxiety or discomfort that this theory sustains.
However, it is important to clarify that cognitive dissonance, beyond its theoretical implications, is a coping mechanism frequently used by people. It can be useful for a bad drink, such as a breakup in a relationship, but it should not be our main decision-making strategy. Like everything else in life, their abuse can be harmful and it is therefore important to identify when we are using this strategy and prevent it from becoming a habit that leads to self-deception, lies or constant negative criticism.