Cognitive Dissonance And How To Resolve It

Abstract

Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable state experienced when an attitude, or belief, and behaviour does not match in a situation (Baron & Branscombe, 2016). It is a negative feeling from the inconsistency or gap experienced between the attitude and the overt behaviour in response to a particular stimulus. While there might not be a way to avoid cognitive dissonance, there are strategies to cope with the unpleasant feeling. This article will explore more about cognitive dissonance along with strategies to resolve it.

Keywords: cognitive dissonance, attitude, behaviour, inconsistency

Leon Festinger first coined the term ‘cognitive dissonance’ in 1957 along with the ‘principle of cognitive consistency’. The principle states that “we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and behaviour in harmony and avoid disharmony (or dissonance)” (Festinger, 1957). Therefore, when this harmony between our attitude and behaviour is disrupted, cognitive dissonance is experienced. For example, knowing fast food is bad for health but indulging in it anyway might cause some distress. Cognitive dissonance can be expressed as anxiety, guilt, embarrassment, regret, shame, or distress (Cherry, 2020).

Festinger & Carlsmith conducted an experiment in 1959 that determined the effects of cognitive dissonance and attitude change. The participants were given a series of boring tasks, like turning pegs in a board full of holes. The participants were then asked by the experimenter to greet the next participant and tell them that the task given in the experiment is an interesting one. Half of the participants were given $1 to do this, and the other half were given $20. The participants were then asked to rate the tasks as interesting or boring. The participants who were given $20 to lie to the next participant rated the task as less interesting as compared to the participants who were paid $1 to lie. This experiment was conducted to see the effects of induced or forced compliance on cognitive dissonance. (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959)

In the above experiment, the participants who were given $20 to lie to the next participant had relevant justification, receiving money, to lie. Therefore, they did not experience strong dissonance and were able to stick to their original beliefs, candid evaluation of the tasks as boring. Whereas, the participants who were given $1 had insufficient reasons for the inconsistency in their attitude, that the tasks are boring, and their behaviour of telling the next participant that the tasks were interesting. Therefore, they change their attitude of finding the tasks boring by rating them as more interesting. In this case, cognitive dissonance causes a change in attitude to make the attitudes and behaviour more consistent. When there are strong reasons to engage in inconsistent behaviour, the dissonance is weaker, and it leads to a small or no attitude change. But when there are weak reasons for inconsistent behaviour, the unpleasant feeling is strong and the individual will engage in a significant attitude change. This is called the ‘less leads to more effect’ where “less reasons or rewards for an action often leads to greater attitude change”. (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959)

Having to make a decision between two equally attractive or unappealing options can also give rise to feelings of dissonance (McLeod, 2018). For example, going out to spend some time with friends or staying home to abide by safety protocols. When new information is learned that is inconsistent with our previous beliefs, dissonance can be experienced between our previously held beliefs and the need to form new beliefs based on newly acquired information (Cherry, 2020). For instance, learning that some previously held beliefs or behaviours were problematic, misogynistic, or discriminatory. Putting significant time and effort into a task deemed important, and finding out the result is not as satisfactory, or being evaluated negatively or less appealingly for it, can lead to feelings of disappointment and displeasure (McLeod, 2018). For example, studying very hard for a test and not receiving a higher grade. 

The theory of cognitive dissonance says the discomfort will cause the individual to actively take measures to reduce dissonance and avoid stimuli that will increase dissonance (Cancino-Montecinos et al., 2020) as seen in the experiment where participants who were given $1 changed their belief of the tasks being boring. Another strategy is to change the overt behaviour to make it more consistent with the attitude (Northrup & M.D., 2018). For example, if an individual is environmentally conscious but uses disposable non-biodegradable cutlery, they can switch to eco-friendly reusable cutlery. Justifying a dissonant belief or behaviour also helps to reduce distress (Northrup & M.D., 2018). “To add more supportive new beliefs or behaviours about the situation because they try to adapt to the situation according to their current values…protects their positive self-image” (Festinger, 1957).

Denying any new information that contradicts existing beliefs to avoid increasing dissonance is called ‘confirmation bias’ and helps avoid the negative feelings of dissonance (Roy, 2021). Trivialization is the process of deeming the attitude or behaviours or the inconsistency between them as of little or no importance (Baron & Branscombe, 2016). Trivializing the dissonance minimizes it and protects self-image (Çalışkan, 2020). In the experiment by Festinger and Carlsmith, the participants that were given $20 to lie to the next participant could hold their view of the tasks as being boring more easily than the participants who were given $1 to lie. In this situation, even if the participants who were given $20 experienced dissonance, they could justify the discrepancy as a result of being paid to lie. In such a case, the participants justified the gap between their attitudes and behaviours. This process is called rationalization.

While cognitive dissonance can cause significant distress, it is a temporary negative state resolved as the individual attempts to reduce the dissonance using one of the strategies. It is important to understand that the need to resolve cognitive dissonance might lead one to make bad decisions or choices. Choosing to frequently engage in smoking or unhealthy eating habits and using rationalization to justify the behaviour instead of changing it might prove detrimental. However, cognitive dissonance is not all bad. It can lead to being exposed to new information, forming more educated beliefs, and changing behaviours for the better.

References

Baron, R. A., & Branscombe, N. R. (2016). Social psychology. Pearson Education Limited.

Çalışkan, E. (2020, July 27). Reducing Cognitive Dissonance Efficiently - PSYCHOLOGY - LSBC. Luxembourg Slovenian Business Club. https://lsbc.lu/reducing-cognitive-dissonance-efficiently/

Cancino-Montecinos, S., Björklund, F., & Lindholm, T. (2020). A General Model of Dissonance Reduction: Unifying Past Accounts via an Emotion Regulation Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.540081

Cherry, K. (2020, July 2). What is cognitive dissonance? Verywell Mind; Verywellmind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cognitive-dissonance-2795012

Mcleod, S. (2018, February 5). Cognitive Dissonance. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html

Northrup, C., & M.D. (2018, May 22). 4 Ways To Reduce Cognitive Dissonance. Christiane Northrup, M.D. https://www.drnorthrup.com/4-ways-to-reduce-cognitive-dissonance/

Roy, S. (2021, September 13). How To Reduce Cognitive Dissonance? Why Do We Suffer If Not? Happyproject.in. https://happyproject.in/cognitive-dissonance/