Cognitive Dissonance Theory Paradigm and Its Resolution Psychology Paper Example

However, it was found that smokers had more distorted thinking about smoking and attempted to rationalize their smoking behavior compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers. In this situation, she can either choose to follow her morals and find an alternative that would align with her beliefs. Or she could choose to justify her behavior by emphasizing the criticality of her situation or she could choose to accommodate a new belief that engaging in such an attitude-discrepant behavior for a do or die the situation is not so wrong after all. Many a time we find ourselves stuck in between a belief and behavior; both of which seem convincing. We may experience the intense urge to do a certain thing, but that behavior might be contrary to our morals and values.

However, if a person finds that they have difficulty stopping a behavior or thinking pattern that is causing them distress, they can seek support from a doctor or therapist. They might decide that they value smoking more than they value health, deeming the behavior “worth it” in terms of risks versus rewards. According to Festinger, there are a few ways that a person might resolve this dissonance.

Adding More Beliefs to Outweigh Dissonant Beliefs

This article is a comparative study between predictive processing and https://ecosoberhouse.com/. The theory of CD, one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology, is shown to be highly compatible with recent developments in PP. This is particularly evident in the notion that both theories deal with strategies to reduce perceived error signals. However, reasons exist to update the theory of CD to one of “predictive dissonance.” First, the hierarchical PP framework can be helpful in understanding varying nested levels of CD.

• Signs of cognitive dissonance can include anxiety and general discomfort.
• It provides an introduction to the theory and covers the topics of cognitive dissonance following decisions, the effects of forced compliance, the impacts of voluntary and involuntary exposure to information, and the role of social support.
• But in Aronson’s view, this was not the source of the participants’ dissonance.

Elliot Aronson was the first to propose a revision of Festinger’s theory. He argued that dissonance theory was really a theory about the self. In his view, dissonance does not result from a discrepancy between any two important cognitions, but is most likely to occur when these cognitions relate to a person’s self-concept. In other words, dissonance is triggered primarily when we behave in ways that are inconsistent with our self-image. As the foregoing discussion highlights, cognitive dissonance is an unpleasant state that motivates individuals to take steps to reduce it. Recall that Festinger viewed dissonance as a drive comparable to hunger.

Effects of cognitive dissonance

The expectation of shared beliefs, values, and attitudes from family members can additionally influence romantic relationships. If these don’t align, we might consider justifying our relationship or breaking up. An extreme example of the negative consequences of cognitive dissonance is when we justify our partner’s harmful behavior cognitive dissonance theory toward us and get stuck in a toxic relationship. The theory is based on the idea that two cognitions can be relevant or irrelevant to each other . Such cognitions can be about behaviors, perceptions, attitudes, emotions, and beliefs. If the cognitions are relevant, they can be in agreement or disagreement with one another .

• In that vein, social psychology proposed that the mental health of the patient is positively influenced by his and her action in freely choosing a specific therapy and in exerting the required, therapeutic effort to overcome cognitive dissonance.
• People attempt to relieve this tension in different ways, such as by rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding new information.
• Another sign of cognitive dissonance is justification of your actions.
• Participants in the high-dissonance condition spread apart the alternatives significantly more than the participants in the other two conditions.
• These factors likely arouse dissonance, which the client can alleviate by increasing the attractiveness of therapy in their minds.
• A portion of the participants was aware of the negative traits their partner possessed; however, the remaining participants were unaware.

Cisek (2007, p. 1568) “affordance competition hypothesis” can also be read to support this view. Selecting two contradictory actions would simply be very inefficient and impractical. Therefore, accordingly with the predictive dissonance narrative proposed in this text, any dissonant relations between competitive action hypotheses or attitudinal or intentional states pertaining to action should be reduced as quickly as possible.

Articles Related to Cognitive Dissonance

They tried to get orders and messages from the “spacemen” for a future reality that would be consistent with their original beliefs. This effect was studied over the 6 presidential elections of the United States between 1972 and 1996, and it was found that the opinion differential between the candidates changed more before and after the election than the opinion differential of non-voters. In addition, elections where the voter had a favorable attitude toward both candidates, making the choice more difficult, had the opinion differential of the candidates change more dramatically than those who only had a favorable opinion of one candidate. What wasn’t studied were the cognitive dissonance effects in cases where the person had unfavorable attitudes toward both candidates. The 2016 U.S. election held historically high unfavorable ratings for both candidates.