For Festinger, consistency among cognitions was not a preference but a drive. Just as people need to reduce their thirst by drinking and their hunger by eating, people who perceive inconsistency must find a way to reduce it. The drive to reduce inconsistency can be accomplished by a number of means, but attitude change became the most frequent resolution in the early research on dissonance. Enter cognitive dissonance therapy, a specialized form of cognitive therapy that aims to address these conflicting beliefs head-on. To help individuals recognize and resolve their inconsistent thoughts and behaviors, ultimately leading to improved mental health and well-being.
Who May Experience Cognitive Dissonance?
- “The tension that gets created when you hold certain beliefs or values but act in a way that conflicts with your belief systems generates an internal discomfort that most people have to subconsciously work very hard to ignore,” Curry says.
- For example, you want to build a habit of exercising as soon as you leave work, so you keep gym clothes in your car as a reminder.
- When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance.
- As individuals, we develop many thoughts and beliefs about ourselves and the world around us.
- She has reported on several medical and science topics ranging from coronavirus news to the latest findings in mental health and women’s health.
- It is appropriate that we accelerate the application of dissonance to processes and institutions that can provide real help to people.
Once a choice has been made, however, people need to find a way to reduce these feelings of discomfort. We accomplish this by justifying why our choice was the best option so we can believe that we made the right decision. Another possibility, and one that I endorse, is that dissonance is a learned drive. I consider dissonance to be a secondary drive that is learned early in childhood and then becomes generalized to myriad issues that we deal with as we develop. The New Look model also makes children’s learning of dissonance a more plausible aspect of normal development. This works Drug rehabilitation well with approaches such as REBT, parts therapy and work with the subconscious mind using ideo-motor therapies.
Decision Making
In support of their position, Aronson, Fried & Stone (1991) created a procedure to study dissonance that has become known as the hypocrisy paradigm. In two studies on AIDS prevention, Aronson et al (1991; Stone, Aronson, Crain, Winslow & Fried, 1992) had participants write speeches in favor of using condoms during every sexual encounter in order to reduce the risk of AIDS. Ostensibly, the reason for making the speeches was to convince younger adolescents to use condoms. The feeling of hypocrisy was created by asking participants to recall any instances in their own recent pasts that they had failed to use condoms. In Thibodeau & Aronson’s (1992) view, this procedure established dissonance by having participants focus on the discrepancy between their advocacy and their past behavior. They suggest that there were no aversive consequences, yet dissonance was aroused.
Understanding Cognitive Dissonance: A Guide to Mental Clarity and Well-Being
Resolving cognitive dissonance empowers individuals to live authentically and embrace their true selves. Therapy offers a structured environment for addressing cognitive dissonance. A therapist can guide individuals through exploring conflicts, understanding their roots, and finding effective resolutions. Cognitive dissonance is resolved by changing either the conflicting belief or the behavior. Depending on the situation, one may be easier or more practical than the other.
How to Break Bad Habits
You can also lessen the chances of dissonance beginning in the first place if you practice being mindful, Noulas says. So, for instance, when conflict or tension arises, take the time to pause and think through your situation and your feelings. Doing some soul searching to determine the areas of your life where contradiction exists can shed light on areas you may need to work on. Maybe you always expect your friends to be prompt when you have dinner plans, but you’re usually 10 minutes late yourself. Adjusting your behavior or your expectations of your friends might help lessen conflict down the line.
- As predicted by dissonance, participants in the high choice condition came more than 10 feet closer to the snake after the therapy, but in the low choice and test-retest control conditions, there was no improvement.
- „The Road Not Taken,“ one of the most famous and most misunderstood poems, may be a metaphor for reconciling life’s choices but may also carry a message of cognitive dissonance.
- This might involve going along with something due to peer pressure or doing something at work to avoid getting fired.
- One way he developed the term was by entering and studying a group of people who believed a flood would destroy a part of the earth—and the dissonance they experienced when that belief did not come true.
- When we realize that we have brought about negative events, we are traveling on the road toward dissonance.
Cognitive dissonance can interfere with the perceptions they hold about themselves and their abilities, which is cognitive dissonance treatment why it can often feel so uncomfortable and unpleasant. Sometimes you might find yourself engaging in behaviors that are opposed to your own beliefs due to external expectations at work, school, or in a social situation. This might involve going along with something due to peer pressure or doing something at work to avoid getting fired. In my view, these studies are interesting because they provided a link between theoretical issues that we have studied in the laboratory and real-world practices that can improve lives.
Cognitive Dissonance Treatment
Gosling et al. (2006) found that the students who had not been asked about their responsibility changed their attitudes toward the admission policy. Those who completed the responsibility scale used the scale to avoid taking responsibility and did not change their attitudes. Festinger realized that social comparison theory was unnecessarily narrow. Festinger wondered how people would react if they noticed discrepancies https://ecosoberhouse.com/ with their past experience. In one classic example from his original work, he asked what people would feel if they were out in the rain but were not getting wet. In another, he wondered how people would feel if they noticed that their own behavior did not fit with social mores.