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Cognitive Dissonance

Abhishek D

22PSYB43

Department of Psychology,

Kristu Jayanti College

Dr. Akshaya I
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We all have come across situations where we acted in ways that are complete opposite or

beliefs at that time. We would’ve called ourselves as Hippocrates when we gave remarks to

other when they committed morally in-just deed and we ourselves disregarded those morals

when we came across such situations. So when we go against our attitude, beliefs and values

we face dilemma or discomfort. This discomfort is referred to as Cognitive Dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological concept that refers to the mental discomfort or

tension that arises when a person holds conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or values, or when their

behavior contradicts their beliefs.

This theory was first proposed by Leon Festinger in Mid 1950’s and was fully

presented in the year 1957. Festinger proposed that when a person has holds two or more

pieces of information that relevant to each other but is in contrast with one another, a state

discomfort termed as “dissonance” is created. He is used a formula to emphasize his theory.

The equation equates Degree of Dissonance (With regard to cognition) to be equal to

D/(D+C). Here D is the sum of dissonant cognition and C is the cognition consonant with the

particular cognition. Festinger theorized that people are motivated to minimize or remove the

sense of discomfort or dissonance. In order to reduce dissonance the person would implore

one of the three ways. One, to change our behaviour so that it would correspond with our

cognition or attitude. Two, change the attitude itself with be congruent with the behaviour.

Three, justify our behaviour by adding new cognitions.

SELF CONSISTENCY THEORY

Eliot Aronson, a student of Festinger was of the view that dissonance is not just result of

inconsistency between cognitions. He proposed that dissonance or discomfort is caused when

a persons actions goes against his sense of self-concept. That is, dissonance is a result of

inconsistency in behaviour with respect to one’s self concept. Thus this theory puts forth
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predictions that persons with low self-esteem would respond with low dissonance reduction

and the on with high self-esteem would respond with high dissonance reduction.

Self-Affirmation theory

Claude Steel proposed that people possess motive to maintain their overall self-image. He

proposed that unlike Festinger who argued that people strive to reduce dissonance caused by

inconsistent cognitions, individuals are motivated to affirm their self integrity. According to

self-affirmation theory, people can also reduce dissonance by focusing on and affirming their

competence on some dimension unrelated to the threat (Aronson, Cohen, & Nail, 1999;

Steele, 1988).

In a series of experiments Steel and his colleagues found that before the onset of the

dissonance if the participants are presented with an opportunity to exhibit self-affirmation,

this would tend to reduce their dissonance. People try to reduce their dissonance by focusing

on positive aspects of their life, personality etc. For example consider a person who views

himself as a morally well versed person. He now comes across an accident on the road and he

found himself hesitating to help the person. This would create a sense of dissonance and to

compact that person would emphasize on positive aspects of his personality. He self affirms

himself by saying things like “ I am a kind person, I have donated money to charity countless

times”, “ I feed stray dogs” etc.

Post Decision Processing

Brehm (1956) and Festinger (1957), in their works on cognitive dissonance, claimed that

when faced with two desirable alternatives, dissonance is triggered. This post-decisional
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dissonance is then resolved by enhancing the desirable qualities of the chosen alternative and

reducing the unfavorable characteristics of the rejected option.

The greater is the frequency and importance of dissonant cognitions, lesser the

frequency and importance of consonant cognitions, greater is the dissonance experienced by

the individual. Further when the alternative options are in similar in the scale of attraction and

choices have many features that distinguish themselves from each other, dissonance is

greater. Consider this scenario; a person is presented with choices like 2 different type of

sweatshirt. Both the sweatshirts are considered to exceptionally stylish and further the person

has a Prom night the next day. The person is forced to select one of the sweatshirt. The

Brehm’s theory would suggest that the person after selecting the sweatshirt would implore the

positive aspects of his newly selected sweatshirt and would try to view the rejected sweatshirt

in a negative view, focusing on its negative aspects.

Induced Compliance

Dissonance proposes that dissonance will be greater when there reduced and unimportant

reasons when we perform a behaviour incongruent to our attitude. In such a situation a person

wont be able to find sound justification for going against his values and beliefs; thus will find

themselves in a dilemma.

Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) and conducted an experiment in which the

participants were asked to perform a boring task. Then were asked to volunteer to introduce

the activity to set of participants. They were supposed to introduce the activity as an

interesting task and were promised to paid 20$ or 1$. After they had done so, they asked to

provide their own attitude towards the boring task. People who had gotten 20$ had enough

justification in their hand to lie. But on the other hand people who were promised 1$ in return
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for their help don’t have enough justification. Thus as the theory predicted the persons who

lacked enough justification for their behaviour reported the task to be more interesting in

comparison to people who were paid 20$ had sufficient justification for their behaviour

Effort Justification

Imagine this, you are a psychology student. You had classes the whole day and there is a

seminar session for you to compulsory attend at the end of the day. You are already tired after

all the classes and you feel sleepy. Hence you decide to walk to a café in college that’s a bit

far to have coffee in order to reduce your sleepiness. Now that you have done all this, you

attend the seminar. Many of the students who attended the seminar found it to be quite boring

and vague, but you had a more positive review of the seminar. Why would this be the case? Is

it because the you seemed to grasp something that others failed to notice. According to the

theory one probable reason for this could be that the person had put a lot of effort in attending

the seminar and thus justified this effort by giving a more positive review of the seminar. We

call this the justification of effort, the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for

something they have worked hard to attain. If a person chooses to go through a demanding or

an unpleasant experience to attain some goal or object, that goal or object becomes more

attractive.

Practical Use Cases of Cognitive Dissonance

Values Affirmation Writing Exercise

The Values Affirmation Writing Exercise harnesses the principles of cognitive dissonance by

making individuals aware of the inconsistency between their values and their current
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behavior. By reaffirming their values and setting intentions to align their actions with those

values, individuals can experience the motivation and psychological relief necessary for

behavior change. This practical use case illustrates how cognitive dissonance theory can be

applied to promote positive change and personal growth.

Insufficient Punishment

insufficient punishment involves individuals receiving rewards or penalties that are perceived

as too mild or inadequate to justify their actions, leading to cognitive dissonance where their

behavior and consequences don't align. In this context, it can be harnessed for behavior

modification, such as in parenting or management, where mild consequences create

dissonance and motivate individuals to align their actions with their values. Additionally, it's

applicable in marketing and sales, as offering small incentives can induce dissonance in

customers, encouraging them to perceive a product or service as more valuable and

reinforcing brand loyalty.

REFERENCES

 Jones.E.H & Jones.C.H (2007) Cognitive Dissonance Theory After 50 Years of

Development.

 Baron.R.A & Branscombe.N.R (2017) Social Psychology 14ed.

 Aronson.E, Wilson.T.D, & Sommers.S.R (2010) Social Psychology Gobal ed.

 Stevick.R.A, Martin.A.K, & Showalter.L (1991) Importance of Decision and

Postdecision Dissonance: A Return to the Racetrack