How to explain the theory of cognitive dissonance in simple words?

Cognitive dissonance is a clash in a person’s mind of opposing points of view on the same issue, accompanied by mental discomfort.

Translated from Latin: cognitio - knowledge, dissonantia - inconsistency.

The concept is based on the postulate that

that it is important for the human brain to create a holistic picture of any intellectual object, be it scrambled eggs or a creed. This picture should be coherent, balanced, and logical. At least, it should look like that to the individual himself.

If the idea of ​​an object cannot be made balanced due to the fact that it encounters some contradictions, for example, inconsistencies between theoretical knowledge about the object and the practice of its use, discomfort arises.

And a person does everything possible to reconcile within his head different, and often polar, ideas about the same thing.

The main idea of ​​Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance in simple words

The developer of the concept is Leon Festinger, who studies thought control. In 1957, he published The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, which has become one of the most influential theories in the world of social psychology.

The teaching began with the postulate that

that elements of knowledge can be relevant and irrelevant to each other. And if two elements of cognition are relevant, they can either agree or disagree with each other.

When the elements are coordinated, the second follows from the first. If there is inconsistency, then it is not the second that follows from the first, but its opposite.

The doctrine is aimed at explaining the emergence of motivation for people’s actions

As soon as an individual encounters contradictions in his picture of the world, he does everything possible to get rid of this contradiction. For it is mentally uncomfortable, since human nature is such that he strives to be consistent in his thoughts and actions.

The desire to get rid of the discomfort of contradictions is, according to Festinger, the motivation for action.

The cognitive approach postulates that:

• a person acts based on his knowledge and established ideas;
• Although needs play a certain role in shaping behavior, they are by no means the most significant;
• What matters is how a person explains the state of things to himself (explanations may change).

On the material plane, dissonance of cognitions manifests itself in the fact that people believe in one thing, but behave differently - often not at all in the way that could be expected based on their ideas about reality, which they did not voice.

Such a gap is recognized and causes anxiety and discomfort, which the individual wants to get rid of.

What Causes Cognitive Dissonance?

Let's look at cognitive dissonance and the reasons for this phenomenon. There may be several prerequisites for the occurrence of such a condition:

► The situation occurring at a given time does not coincide with the experience gained earlier;

► The opinion of a particular individual contradicts the ideas and principles of his environment;

► A person finds himself in an unfamiliar cultural environment;

► Logical contradiction in any events or facts.

Cognitive personality dissonance is often underestimated, although it is a serious mental condition. As already noted, it appears due to a lack of information. For example, in order to make a decision, you need to ignore everything that was known and act in a way that is atypical for yourself. This creates a conflict between thoughts and actions. As a result, the pattern breaks, and this is necessary to resolve the conflict.

The state of cognitive dissonance often causes many to make excuses, changing their beliefs and principles in order to exhaust the internal conflict. Dissonance tends to wax and wane. The degree of stress depends on the choices the individual makes. However, the very fact of contradiction prompts the psyche to neutralize it.

Signs of dissonance

• Feeling of discomfort when having to make a decision. Every day we encounter manifestations of such dissonance when choosing goods and services.
• Uncertainty about the decision that has already been made, the correctness of the action taken, forcing us to look for more and more new explanations for why we acted this way and not otherwise.
• Shame and guilt for one's actions, usually accompanied by a clear intention to hide what was done.
• Conformism.
• Actions out of fear of missing out on an opportunity, and not due to the internal desire to do it - “everyone ran, and I ran.”

Examples of cognitive dissonance

Every day we find ourselves in situations where A and B do not agree, and this causes us discomfort. Some inconsistencies are trivial and go almost unnoticed. Some can lead to deep internal conflict.

Here are some simple examples. We experience cognitive dissonance when:

• we listen to statements from politicians that are at odds with their actions;
• we think about getting rid of a bad habit and immediately find a lot of arguments in favor of why such getting rid of it is impossible or pointless;
• We weigh all the pros and cons when choosing any product or service, especially in a high price category for us;
• We learn that our favorite celebrity behaved dishonestly (from our point of view);
• expose the lies of loved ones;
• We observe people whose way of life and habits are completely opposite to ours;
• We try a dish that we have regarded as “disgusting” since childhood and suddenly realize that it is delicious.

If we are shown a yellow circle with the word “green” written on it, we will also fall into dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance: examples from life and literature

An internal conflict of interest can arise for various reasons:

✔️ When we “bend” under the pressure of circumstances to the detriment of our own interests. For example, we wear uncomfortable clothes and shoes and follow strict rules because this is what the dress code requires.

✔️ Dissonance occurs when reality does not fit into expectations based on knowledge and experience gained. For example, the sight of a reserved and friendly person suddenly losing his temper can cause short-term cognitive dissonance.

✔️ Contradiction arises when making difficult choices or when forming your worldview. For example, when choosing between similar items from different brands, we are forced to enter into an internal conflict, weighing the pros and cons.

Examples of cognitive dissonance are more common than we think. Family quarrels, educational moments, friends who open up from unexpected sides - all this contributes to the emergence of contradictions and the desire to change the situation as quickly as possible.

Cognitive dissonance examples from literature:

✔️ One of the most famous and early literary reflections of this phenomenon is the fairy tale about the Frog Princess. Everything here is permeated with the internal conflict of the main character. Starting with the fact that he shoots an arrow in the hope of finding a girl, but instead gets an amphibian. Further, the newly-made wife continues to surprise her young husband with her actions, constantly putting him in a state of emotional stupor. The only way out that the hero sees is to get used to it, come to terms with the situation and reduce stress to a minimum. This is exactly what he does throughout the tale.

✔️ Another example from folklore is the phrase: “Go there, I don’t know where, bring something, I don’t know what.” And again, the main character tries with all his might to find a way out of the stalemate, using all the previously acquired knowledge and new information.

✔️ Nastenka from the fairy tale “Morozko” is complete cognitive dissonance. The girl is clearly freezing and ready to say goodbye to life, but not wanting to enter into an internal conflict, she does what she was taught. She answers softly and politely, despite all the bullying of the elderly tyrant.

The effect of surprise that he feels awakens feelings of guilt and a desire to correct the situation. Having warmed the girl and showered her with jewelry, Morozko calms his conscience and gets rid of the feeling of guilt, which creates dissonance from what is happening.

Marfushka does not create this cognitive dissonance - everything happens logically and understandably for both parties. Morozko increases his self-esteem by “punishing the shrew,” and Marfushka, in principle, reduces stress to a minimum by acting aggressively and straightforwardly.

✔️ The heroine of the novel “Gone with the Wind,” Scarlett, finds her own way of dealing with those circumstances that destroy the usual picture of the world. She says to herself: “I won’t think about it now, I’ll think about it tomorrow.” This is a vivid example of how a person seeks to get away from a problem, ease emotional stress and direct his energy to survival, postponing solving the problem until a later date.

✔️ And finally, the well-known Raskolnikov also demonstrates the consequences of internal discord. His beliefs conflict with the moral values ​​instilled in him from childhood. After committing a crime, the hero seeks repentance and is ready to be punished in order to reduce the stress into which he plunged himself.

✔️ Sonechka Marmeladova can also serve as an example of this phenomenon. A girl of easy virtue who tries to maintain inner purity and decency. She prefers to go to hard labor, believing that this difficult path will save her from internal contradiction. The cognitive process in this case is not shown so clearly, but the dissonance can still be traced. Similar situations are found in many books and films, because internal struggle is the most interesting thing that writers and directors can reflect in their works.

Causes of mental discomfort

Inability to build a clear, logically verified model

The same phenomenon has detailed, often scientifically based, but contradictory explanations.

We can easily read two new textbooks by different authors on the same topic and find in them diametrically opposed explanations of the same phenomenon.

Or get expert advice that completely contradicts each other on one issue.

Expansion of the information base

Obtaining new information on an issue, even if this information does not refute the previous one, but only expands it, can lead to cognitive dissonance.

After all, new information makes the model of any phenomenon more complex. And the more complex the model, the more difficult it is to give it a complete, complete form in which everything is balanced and understandable.

Opposing Viewpoints

Having an alternative opinion from other people, as well as realizing that other people behave in ways that seem ineffective to us, but achieve success.

Inconsistencies between personal and public views on the problem

The gap between what is commonly thought about a particular problem in the society in which a person lives, and the individual’s own view of it.

Some call this the spirit of contradiction. For some, forced compliance. In any case, this is a situation where a person is forced to follow the lead of the majority, or be beaten.

Discrepancy between personal experience and theoretical data

Each of us has an idea of ​​how something should be. But since these are only our ideas, the real state of affairs often refutes them.

As a result, we are forced to behave differently than we intended. This is where cognitive dissonance arises, which worries us and forces us to find explanations that reconcile opposites.

The main condition for emergence is the presence of choice

We worry only when we can accept one point of view and reject another. When it is in our power to behave one way or another. If there is no choice, then there is no discomfort.

We may be torn between the desire to eat a bun and the perceived need to lose weight. But if we are in a besieged city, we are unlikely to find ourselves in such a predicament.

What Causes Dissonance

Important! Psychologists warn that cognitive dissonance should not be considered a pathology or mental illness. This is an absolutely normal state, most often encountered by individuals striving for active knowledge, who read a lot and reason about the information received. Psychologists note the presence of readiness to overcome discomfort as intellectual flexibility.

Androphobia - what is it?

To understand the reasons for the discomfort, Festinger conducted an experiment in which participants rated themselves as honest people, but were forced to lie. As a result, the main provisions of the theory became clear:

1. Most often, psychological discomfort occurs where an individual's actions contradict cultural norms.
2. Incompatibility of concepts and ideas is a common reason that an individual’s expectations are not met. For example, a person is determined that those around him are good people. But events occur where he is faced with the betrayal of friends and deception at work. It turns out that there is a mismatch of opinions about others.
3. Contradictory actions in relation to past experiences cause conflict. A striking example is a student who has not prepared for the exam. He knows that he has never been able to respond to a positive assessment without preparation, but he hopes “maybe.” The expectation will conflict with the knowledge that it is impossible to pass the exam without preparation.

For your information. It has been proven that the theory of cognitive dissonance is a motivational theory, since overcoming discomfort determines a person’s behavior and affects his life position.

The Power of Dissonance

The severity of the discomfort we experience depends on several indicators:

• on the value we attach to our belief;
• on the degree of discrepancy between established opinion and new data;
• on the amount of inconsistent data (the more different, contradictory factors that must be taken into account, the higher the stress);
• the proximity of the refuted belief to ourselves (it is easier for us to be disappointed in someone than in ourselves).

The influence of mental discomfort on the psyche

In psychology, cognitive dissonance is always discomfort and anxiety, which can manifest itself as:

• regret, embarrassment, shame, guilt;
• sadness;
• despair;

The consequences of dissonance, which cannot be reconciled in any way, can be:

• general long-term stress;
• deterioration of self-esteem;
• development of depression and/or chronic anxiety;
• refusal of useful activities.

Under the influence of serious cognitive dissonance, affecting aspects of life that are important to us, the algorithms of how we think and act can change. Changes can be both positive and negative.

Principles of Deliverance

To get rid of cognitive dissonance,

we must abandon one of the contradictory elements of knowledge. But which one to choose: A or B?

The element that has less stability will be changed. There are two main factors that influence sustainability:

1. the number of data points disproving the element;
2. emotional importance of an element for a person.

For most people, the second factor is much more important than the first.

If giving up a cognition leads to pain and a sense of loss, we will give it up with great difficulty, even if it is contradicted by a million other elements.

In his textbook 1957 work, Leon Festinger describes this state of affairs with the example of a smoker who skillfully refutes why smoking is not as harmful as people say, and why quitting smoking itself can lead to negative health consequences.

To get rid of the discomfort of cognitive dissonance, we must:

• or add positive reinforcements to our established point of view, a decision made, a stereotype of actions, etc.;
• or reduce the amount of positive data for the dissonant element.

You can also:

• reduce the number of disadvantages of our usual model;
• remove the advantages of the hated oppositionist.

Theory of the phenomenon

The cognitive dissonance

The American psychologist Leon Festinger was the first to lay the foundations of the theory of cognitive dissonance. He correctly noted that the brain needs internal consistency, and an imbalance between consciousness and action causes rejection.

Festinger's teaching was based on two main postulates:

1. two human knowledges can come into irreconcilable contradiction with each other;
2. It is common for a normal psyche to eliminate these contradictions.

Elimination of cognitive dissonance is possible, according to L. Festinger, by several methods:

1. A person adjusts his principles, knowledge, concepts, changes them.
2. Behavior and actions change.
3. Information that leads to antiharmony is not allowed to go deep inside; the person tries to distance himself from it as much as possible.

The psychologist demonstrates his favorite example of getting rid of cognitive dissonance using the example of people who smoke.
Almost all smokers experience dissonance: they are well aware that nicotine is harmful and can lead to serious illness, and yet they continue to smoke. A person is constantly under stress: he does what he is afraid to do. To avoid stressful situations, you can do one of three things:

1. The most logical and correct thing is to get rid of the habit.
2. Convince yourself that smoking is not so dangerous, and all the talk about its dangers is nonsense.
3. Completely ignore commercials, inscriptions on packs, i.e. all “incoming” information about fatal diseases caused by habit.

Festinger argued that cognitive dissonance can completely change a person’s behavior or internal attitudes and is therefore a stimulant for personality development.
Changes in human behavior according to Festinegr can occur in two ways:

1. To eliminate contradictions, we do things that do not fit into the system of our principles. Then our morality and ethics will suffer, and the personality can thus “roll back” in its development.
2. We can make a difficult decision for ourselves, find ourselves “between two fires.” Any course of action for a person becomes both good and bad and requires sacrifice.

As Festinger’s followers later established experimentally, the decision that a person makes for himself will be justified as the only correct one.
This is how the psyche works! We strive to “whitewash” our choice . Important!

Based on experiments, it was proven that the adopted course of action is ultimately regarded by a person as the only correct one and means “good”.
This was stated by Festinger’s student Brem; after accepting the option, its subjective attractiveness increases significantly and is already regarded as the only correct one. For example, a person always believed that he wanted to live in a private house and saved money to purchase it.
At the time of selecting housing, he read a lot of information about how living in an apartment is much more convenient and easier: less hassle, less financial investment. A person begins to rush around in his choice, but if he buys a city apartment, then for many years he will change his beliefs about which housing he likes best.

How We Typically Deal with Cognitive Dissonance

One of the most common ways to cope with discomfort is

— cognitive distortion “confirmation bias,” when we deliberately seek out only information that confirms our point of view, and reject all other data. And we do it creatively.

So if we need to justify our bad habit, to which we are dearly attached, but information about the negative influences of which is pouring down on us from all sides, we can delve into the study of the problem and find the most intricate evidence of why our habit is not as harmful as it is believed think.

For example, some smokers, having heard that nicotine can help prevent parkinsonism, explain their addiction by saying “I’m protecting myself from parkinsonism.”

Although, if such an effect does occur, it relates specifically to nicotine as an agonist of N-acetylcholine receptors in the brain, but not to carcinogenic tars, which cause the main harm to health.

But smokers deliberately miss this nuance.

Another dysfunctional method of struggle is shifting responsibility.

for their decisions on other people and external circumstances. Sometimes we admit that we were wrong, but we explain this by saying that we were forced to behave this way, for example, we were given a lot of money.

“I did it,” says my memory. “I couldn’t do it,” says my pride and remains adamant. Eventually memory gives way.

This quote from Friedrich Nietzsche describes the option of getting rid of dissonance, which L. Festinger wrote about. The author of the theory believed that some people may actually sincerely believe that they did not do or say something if this action causes too much cognitive discomfort.

If cognitive dissonance is caused by social pressure on us,

we hide from it, hiding our true opinion. Or we retire to the society that agrees with our opinion.

Emotional dissonance

Changes in social well-being are caused not by cognitive but by “emotional dissonance.” He is the mechanism of its expression.

Reducing emotional dissonance is a person’s defensive reaction to a bad (depressive) state. By reducing dissonance, they:

• begin to more soberly assess the conditions of their existence,
• strive to be more critical and meaningful about their actions, actions,
• trying to improve themselves or change current circumstances, thereby preparing the conditions for improving their well-being, and then their entire life and work.

All this once again suggests that social well-being is an important condition for any control and self-control over the development system of society and the people in it.

A productive method of getting rid of justifying efforts

We encounter minor cognitive dissonances almost every day. Many of them do not have a serious impact on our lives. But some are harmful because they do not provide the opportunity to get the desired result, improve health, improve relationships, etc.

This happens primarily when we need to do something unpleasant. In this case, we immediately find explanations why this unpleasant thing should not be done. We inventively prove to ourselves that this can be not only useless, but even dangerous.

• I can't cut down on sweets, because if I don't eat sweets, I'll be stressed. And if I’m stressed, I’ll lose my temper and start eating a lot of sweets and gain weight even more.
• I can't cook healthy food at home. Because for this you need to buy food and spend time preparing it. And if I spend time on this, I won’t have enough time for work. As a result, I will be fired. And then I will have nothing to eat. So, you'll have to eat fast food.

To get rid of cognitive dissonance,

it is necessary to maximize the importance of the result that unpleasant actions give.

So, if the need to lose weight is not obvious to us, we will neither cook healthy food at home nor give up sweets.

To carry out these actions, you need to load the expected positive result from weight loss not just with importance, but with mega-need.

Strengthening the benefits

We need to understand

Why do you need the result that unpleasant actions should bring? And this “why” should be truly important.

If you're going to university just to make your parents happy, you're unlikely to keep them happy for long unless you understand why you really need education. But you can easily find a lot of arguments why you should quit.

Misha and Masha also studied, but they never found an interesting, well-paid job. They get three kopecks, they pull the strap. I can pull such a burden even without education. Why bother?

Exaggerating the harm

The answer to the question “why?” does not necessarily have to be related to the potential benefit of the desired outcome.

The prospect of avoiding negative developments

often turns out to be more significant than waiting for some goodies. The stick always works better than the carrot.

This is clearly noticeable in people who have already harmed their health with bad habits.

So many smokers can talk at length and at length about why there is no need to quit smoking. But as soon as obliterating endarteritis turns the prospect of limb amputation from illusory to real, all explanations as to why one should not quit smoking evaporate.

The answer to the question “why do you need to do this?” becomes obvious. Cognitive dissonance disappears.

How to get rid of cognitive dissonance?

Impact on workflow

Cognitive dissonance cannot be regarded as a disease or mental pathology. But this condition can lead a person to anxiety and stress disorders. At a minimum, discomfort and confusion in making a decision are guaranteed.

To get out of dissonance and enter a psychological comfort zone, you can take the following measures:

1. If a contradiction appears when two cognitions (knowledge about an object or phenomenon) collide, then one of them needs to be excluded or modified.
   Accept as truth that which of the beliefs is not correct or is not of decisive importance. For example, if a person likes to drink alcohol and does not like to look bad in the morning, then it is advisable to leave only one belief. Either I like to drink, or I don’t care how my appearance changes. One cognition was retained: “It’s good for me to feel good and look great in the morning and not suffer from a hangover.”
2. You can put a filter on all information from the outside world that violates established principles.
   If you can’t say goodbye to the craving for cigarettes, you shouldn’t read scary messages on packs and articles about lung cancer. Save yourself from unnecessary suffering. Otherwise, the problem will become frightening and may lead to psychosomatic diseases.
3. When the choice has already been made in favor of one of the alternatives, you should not look for the positive aspects of what was not accepted.
   The greater the number of advantages of the chosen option, the sooner psychological comfort will come. You bought a sedan, not a convertible, don’t look for positive reviews about the latter.

The listed methods are available to a thinking person, and they are guaranteed to help overcome the consequences of cognitive dissonance.

Using discomfort to your advantage

You may get the impression that cognitive dissonance causes a lot of harm - irritation, depression, refusal to perform activities. But that's not true.

A state of discomfort can push a person to productive activity; it is not for nothing that the theory of dissonance itself is a motivational theory.

Back in 1980, Princeton University professor Joel Cooper noted that all psychotherapeutic practices - from psychoanalysis to cognitive behavioral therapy -

They use a state of dissonance to motivate the patient to action, force him to change his worldview and improve his quality of life.

Today, cognitive dissonance is actively used in practices aimed at:

• ridding patients of various addictions;
• correction of eating behavior;
• obesity treatment,
• therapy for depression and anxiety-phobic disorders.

Essentially, what a psychologist or psychotherapist does is

This is the immersion of the patient in a state of severe cognitive discomfort, from which he (if there is a desire to get rid of problems and competent management of therapy by a specialist) emerges refreshed and can improve the quality of his life.

For example, people with a tendency to overeat and are significantly overweight skillfully justify their behavior with a whole bunch of explanations, many of which are supposedly scientific in nature.

A doctor (in this case, it is better that it is a person with a higher medical education, and not just a psychologist) can authoritatively refute these false explanations, placing a person in an unpleasant state of mental discomfort, which can push him to change his worldview, and, consequently, to normalization of eating behavior and weight loss.

It works similarly for any other neurotic disorder, for example, panic.

Every person with panic disorder believes that panic is dangerous. Some consider it a heart attack and are sure that they will die from it.

Someone has already realized that this condition has nothing to do with heart disease, but is afraid that the motor may not withstand such severe anxiety. After all, the hero of Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “The Hound of the Baskervilles” died of fright.

Someone fears that it is not the heart or blood vessels that will not be able to withstand it, but the “roof” itself – it will go away completely.

In any case, a person is afraid of a panic attack and considers it dangerous, otherwise he would have been healthy a long time ago.

The specialist’s task is to parry the patient’s arguments explaining the risk of panic and putting forward counterarguments that prove the subjective unpleasantness, but at the same time harmlessness, of this condition.

The greater the cognitive discomfort created by such a discussion, the more likely it is that the patient will stop panicking because he actually realizes that his fears are groundless.

You can benefit from cognitive dissonance yourself.

No one bothers us to collect reliable facts that refute our usual train of thought if this move does not lead to success.