26
Jan 2021

10 1: Cognitive Dissonance Theory

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This model proposed that the psychological stress was caused by the feeling of being self-responsible for inducing aversive consequences, rather than the inconsistency in cognitive elements. cognitive dissonance and addiction was first presented by Leon Festinger in 1957 in order to explain the relationships between the motivation, perceptions and cognitions of an individual (Festinger, 1962). It clarified the conditions that motivate individuals to change their opinions, attitudes, beliefs or behaviours. Festinger (Festinger, 1962) defined the ‘cognition’ as any piece of knowledge that an individual has about themself or their environment.

There are also individual differences in whether or not people act as this theory predicts. Many people seem able to cope with considerable dissonance and not experience the tensions the theory predicts. When one of the dissonant elements is a behavior, the individual can change or eliminate the behavior. Participants in the high-dissonance condition spread apart the alternatives significantly more than the participants in the other two conditions. Participants in the high-dissonance condition chose between a highly desirable product and one rated just 1 point lower on the 8-point scale.

Effort justification

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort you feel when you have two contradictory beliefs or values. 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. As for the previous one, aim of the present chapter is to offer a comprehensive theoretical framework of cognitive dissonance. Strategies which companies can put in place to help consumers reduce the adverse state of cognitive dissonance are proposed in the final part of the chapter. The second condition necessary for cognitive dissonance to work is that people must have a freedom of choice.

Though a person may not always resolve cognitive dissonance, the response to it may range from ignoring the source of it to changing one’s beliefs or behavior to eliminate the conflict. Some of the ways people reduce discomfort from cognitive dissonance include seeking information that aligns with and supports current beliefs, reducing the conflicting belief’s importance, and changing beliefs to reduce the feelings of conflict. Therefore, the brain is an inference machine that attempts to actively predict and explain its sensations. The predictive dissonance account proposes that the motivation for cognitive dissonance reduction is related to an organism’s active drive for reducing prediction error.

Balance theory

The tension of a dissonance can fluctuate over time and does not follow a uniform pattern (Koller & Salzberger, 2012). However, the theory proposed that higher levels of dissonance can forcefully motivate a person to promptly address the psychological discomforts, while small levels of dissonance may not be as effective in encouraging the person to take an immediate action. The minimal tensions rather build up gradually over time before they are addressed (Festinger, 1962). Leon Festinger first proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance, centered on how people try to reach internal consistency. He suggested that people have an inner need to ensure that their beliefs and behaviors are consistent. Inconsistent or conflicting beliefs lead to disharmony, which people strive to avoid.

cognitive dissonance theory

In two pre-registered studies, we investigated the usefulness of the PAD model to assess the CDS induced by the hypocrisy paradigm (Study 1) and by writing a counterattitudinal essay (Study 2). Combined together, our two studies show that the CDS induced in the hypocrisy and counterattitudinal paradigms is first and foremost characterised by increased negative valence, as captured presently by the https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/relation-between-alcohol-and-dementia/ Pleasure dimension. Our studies did not find evidence of a role for Arousal or Dominance change, which suggest that these characteristic are less defining features of the dissonance state. While the sensitivity of the PAD scale seems moderate in regards to our results, we believe that cognitive dissonance scholars should continue to reconnect with general models of emotion to investigate the CDS.

Theory

This can prompt people to adopt certain defense mechanisms when they have to confront it. Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort a person feels when their behavior does not align with their values or beliefs. After 1 minute of writing, the experimenter feigned to have forgotten a phase of the study and gave the PAD scale to the participants. The scale was the same as in Study 1 and its instructions explained the need to assess the participants’ emotions, as they could influence their essay. At the end of the scale, a complementary question assessed participants’ attitude towards an increase of inscription fees on a 7-point-scale ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree). They further presupposed that participants would be driven to reduce the dissonance by justifying their behavior.

cognitive dissonance theory