On the Characteristics of the Cognitive Dissonance State: Exploration Within the Pleasure Arousal Dominance Model PMC

You start going to bed earlier and get up with enough time to work out. It’s hard at first, but instead of feeling guilty when you see the gym keychain, you feel proud of yourself. Every time you see the membership tag on your keychain, it reminds you of that pesky truth — that exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle.

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The effects may relate to the discomfort of the dissonance itself or the defense mechanisms a person adopts to deal with it. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ occurs when a person holds two related but contradictory cognitions, or thoughts. Understanding our mechanisms with which we reduce dissonance and recognizing when it occurs are key to making informed and constructive decisions. Self-awareness and mindfulness practice empower us to notice inconsistencies in our thinking and find the space between dissonance triggers and our reaction so we can choose a response we are truly happy with. Psychologist Joel Cooper recently published a comprehensive update of cognitive dissonance theory after more than 50 years of research.

Relations among cognitions

If you took the job you would miss your loved ones; if you turned the job down, you would pine for the beautiful streams, mountains, and valleys. Life is filled with decisions, and decisions (as a general rule) arouse cognitive dissonance and addiction dissonance. When someone is forced to do (publicly) something they (privately) really don’t want to do, dissonance is created between their cognition (I didn’t want to do this) and their behavior (I did it).

Who May Experience Cognitive Dissonance?

• However, despite its popularity, this scale seems to present several flaws.
• We induced cognitive dissonance in 52 participants by having them rate two wallpapers.
• And feeling like you made a good decision — one you’re proud to stand by — is always a good thing.
• In fact, it can prompt you to make positive changes when you realize your beliefs and actions are at odds.
• A man who learns that his eating habits raise his risk of illness feels the tension between his preferred behavior and the idea that he could be in danger.

While they also chose not to play with the toy, they may have needed to justify, to themselves, why they did not play with the forbidden toy. The degree of punishment was insufficiently strong to resolve their cognitive dissonance; the children had to convince themselves that playing with the forbidden toy was not worth the effort. Although people may think cognitive dissonance is a bad thing, it actually helps to keep us mentally healthy and happy. It may make us feel satisfied with our choices—or at least lets us justify them—especially when they cannot be easily reversed.

• In this context, further studies investigating the nature and characteristics of the CDS will be informative and will help understanding the processes behind cognitive dissonance.
• Once participants signed the consent form, they began writing their essay.
• And recognizing and addressing those negative thoughts or emotions is important.
• Cognitive dissonance is a theory in social psychology first proposed by Leon Festinger.
• For instance, could the affect assessed with Elliot and Devine’s three items (1994; uneasy, uncomfortable and bothered) and Matz and Wood’s five items (2005; uneasy, uncomfortable, bothered, tense and concerned) be considered the same?
• 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.

Since cognitive dissonance often naturally occurs after a decision such as a purchase, this is what questionnaires have focused on. We may perceive dissonance when we engage in a new behavior (e.g., when we decline an invitation to an event we usually attend in order to protect our leisure time). While this can feel uncomfortable at first, it’s helpful to reflect on the reasons behind our behavior. In fact, it is a psychological mechanism that helps us perceive our world (and our place in it) consistently.

• Rather than trying to reduce dissonance after it occurs, we may attempt to avoid dissonance through selective exposure.
• It’s not unusual to feel that one or more of your teachers may be wrong or maybe even turn some of the blame on yourself.
• Here’s a look at some everyday examples of cognitive dissonance and how you might come to terms with them.

Once you’ve rationalized your decision, you’re now very likely to stick by and protect that belief – even if someone uses evidence to prove you wrong. Cognitive dissonance can also be described as a situation where you change your beliefs to rationalize your previous beliefs. The whole goal of this rationalizing is so that you can say you were technically never wrong. Shifting either your belief or your behavior will help you find balance and reduce the tension, Leikam says. “Something has to give — either the belief system or the action,” Johnson says.

They committed to a belief in the prophecy but new information, the aliens not coming, caused them to question their commitment. The children had a choice to make–play with the toy that they really wanted and face punishment, or ignore their desire for the toy. For the children threatened with severe punishment, the choice was easy–do not play with the toy. Their desire for the toy was great, but the risk of severe punishment was not worth it. However, for the mild punishment children, it was a more difficult decision. Their desire for the toy was great and their concern for the mild punishment was small.

If left unchecked, it could lead to anxiety and mental tension, and you might even try to rationalize harmful actions. In fact, recent research has suggested that while a discrepancy between cognitions drives individuals to crave attitude-consistent information, the experience of negative emotions drives individuals to avoid counter attitudinal information. In other words, it is the psychological discomfort that activates selective exposure as a dissonance-reduction strategy.

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