Psychology (any subject dealing with human behavior)

The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

It is always preferable to look for illustrative examples in classical literature . Starting a chapter in his book A First Look at Communication Theory Em Griffin goes back to an ancient fable . Aesop tells a story about a fox that tried in vain to reach a cluster of grapes that dangled from a vine above his head . The fox leapt high to grasp the grapes , but the delicious-looking fruit remained just out of reach of his snapping jaws . After a few attempts the fox gave up and said

to himself , These grapes are sour , and if I had some I would not eat them ( Griffin 1997 ) A classical piece of literature appears to be a classical instance of psychological phenomenon , which Leon Festinger called cognitive dissonance and which generally refers to discrepancy between human beliefs and behaviour

A more formal definition , taken from online dictionary , goes as follows : Cognitive dissonance is a theory of human motivation that asserts that it is psychologically uncomfortable to hold contradictory cognitions . The theory is that dissonance , being unpleasant , motivates a person to change his cognition , attitude , or behavior (Carroll , 2004

The tension caused by dissonance cannot last long because the system tends to restore its stability or balance . In other words , dissonance evokes considerable psychological discomfort of a person , and thus a motivation for its reduction arises . There are three basic ways to deal with cognitive dissonance , which are not mutually exclusive

One may try to change one or more of the beliefs , opinions , or behaviors involved in the dissonance

One may try to acquire new information or beliefs that will increase the existing consonance and thus cause the or

One may try to forget or reduce the importance of those cognitions that are in a dissonant relationship (Festinger 1956 : 25-26

For example , a person decided to follow a slimming diet but cannot help eating his favorite chocolate . Dissonance is evident . A person who wants to lose weight shouldn 't eat chocolate . In Festinger 's opinion , he or she has three options

- to change one of the two cognitions (either stop dieting or eating chocolate

- to decrease importance of these cognitions (to decide that there is nothing tragic about being overweight or that chocolate is not fattening

-to add a new cognition (although chocolate is fattening it also stimulates mental activity

There are two most known effects dealing with eliminating cognitive dissonance . One of them arises in a situation of behavior contradictory to his /her attitude towards something . If a person of his /her free will agrees to do something , which doesn 't conform with his /her opinion belief or attitude , and if this behavior is not fully justified externally , then eventually the person 's beliefs change to fit his behavior . That is how the mechanism of moral degradation works - actions go a step before attitudes

Another effect is caused by the so-called postdecision dissonance . It arises after choosing one of two more or less equally attractive variants . The chosen variant has negative traits besides positive , and the rejected variant has positive traits as well as negative . In the course of time the subjective appeal of the chosen variant goes greater than the one of the rejected variant . This is the reason why people stick to well-known products . They tend to buy the same trademark further on to prevent a new case of dissonance . Three conditions heighten postdecision dissonance (1 ) the more important the issue (2 ) the longer an individual delays in choosing between two equally attractive options , and (3 ) the greater the difficulty involved in reversing the decision once it 's been made , then the more the person will agonize over whether he or she has made the right choice ( Griffin , 1997

In general , there are four categories of cognitive dissonance - dissonance caused by taking decision , by forced actions , by beliefs different from those of a social group , by unexpected consequences of behavior

Knowing the basics of the cognitive dissonance theory facilitates a person 's understanding of many social phenomena , and knowing the basic ways to reduce it serves as a practical guide to solve problems arising as a result of social activity

Reference

Atherton , J S (2003 ) Learning and Teaching : Cognitive dissonance Retrieved January 24 , 2005 from HYPERLINK "PSYCHOLOGY http /www .dmu .ac .uk jamesa /learning /aspects_cog .htm Carroll , Robert Todd (2004 .Cognitive dissonance . Retrieved January 24 2005 , from HYPERLINK "http /skepdic .com /cognitivedissonance .html http /skepdic .com /cognitivedissonance .html

Griffin , Em (1997 .Cognitive Dissonance Theory of Leon Festinger Retrieved January 24 , 2005 , from HYPERLINK "http /www .afirstlook .com /archive /cogdiss .cfm http /www .afirstlook .com /archive /cogdiss .cfm ...