Real-Life Examples of Cognitive Dissonance

The theory of cognitive dissonance explains many aspects of human behavior and has numerous real-world cognitive dissonance theory applications. When our behavior deviates from a chosen standard , dissonance is aroused.

• Study participants who complete an uninteresting task have been found to rate the task as more enjoyable if they were first asked to tell someone else it was enjoyable—an effect attributed to cognitive dissonance.
• In these cases, message recipients might seek information that would reassure them and enhance their perceptions that the favorable outcomes may yet come to fruition.
• But you also enjoy eating meat, though you know some animals are kept in inhumane conditions before being used for meat.
• Amy is well aware of the benefits of engaging in some form of physical activity.
• A general theme of that work was that humans often bring about problems unwittingly, as a result of intellectual and creative talents—for example, creating new technologies without being fully able to foresee their long-term consequences.

Dissonance due to inadequate justification occurs when we invest a significant amount of time, energy, money, or effort, but we receive little or nothing in return on the investment. We may feel as if the effort was a waste or that we were cheated out of our payoff. With dissonance that results from wanting something we can’t have, there are things we would like to have that we cannot for any number of reasons. When the desired “something” is very important, we may have dissonant cognitions that make us tense and unhappy. Self-affirmation theory suggests that people with high self-esteem are less prone to dissonance than those with low self-esteem since they have more positive attributes in their self-concept to draw on. Have you ever had the experience of investing a lot of time and energy into something, only to realize much later on that it wasn’t worth all the effort?

1: Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Dissonance exists between their beliefs that they have bought a good car and that a good car should be comfortable. Dissonance could be eliminated by deciding that it does not matter since the car is mainly used for short trips or focusing on the cars strengths such as safety, appearance, handling . The dissonance could also be eliminated by getting rid of the car, but this behavior is a lot harder to achieve than changing beliefs. An introduction to https://ecosoberhouse.com/ and an overview of perspectives on the theory. Reduce cognitive dissonance by being mindful of their values and pursuing opportunities to live those values. Cognitive dissonance is not a mental health condition, and a person does not necessarily need treatment for it.

The theory can also be used to explain reasons for donating to charity.Cognitive dissonance can be applied in social areas such as racism and racial hatred. Research from Acharya, Blackwell and Sen shows that individuals committing violence against members of another group develop hostile attitudes towards their victims as a way of minimizing cognitive dissonance.

Tips for Dealing With Cognitive Dissonance

A person who experiences internal inconsistency tends to become psychologically uncomfortable and is motivated to reduce the cognitive dissonance. All three traditional and theoretical options of reducing the CD induced stress levels have their merit but also limitations. For example, a task of changing people values is an arduous one as values are deeply ingrained in human psyche and heavily dependent on a variety of factors forming the individual view of the world. Dissonance reduction through obtaining new information and therefore reducing the importance of cognitions is an easier option.