The cognitive dissonance
The cognitive dissonance(from English words: cognitive - « informative" And dissonance - « lack of harmony"") - a state of an individual, characterized by a collision in his mind of conflicting knowledge, beliefs, behavioral attitudes regarding some object or phenomenon, in which the denial of another follows from the existence of one element, and the feeling of psychological discomfort associated with this discrepancy.
Literally, this means: "lack of harmony in cognition, or in a normal translation - a discrepancy between the received and the expected."
The concept of "cognitive dissonance" was first introduced by Leon Festinger in 1957.
The theory of cognitive dissonance was proposed by Leon Festinger in d. It explains conflict situations, which often arise "in the cognitive structure of one person" . The theory aims to explain and explore the state of cognitive dissonance that occurs in a person as a reaction to a certain situation, the actions of individuals or the whole.
Cognitive dissonance arises from a mismatch between the two "cognitions" (or "knowledge") of the individual. An individual, having information on any issue, is forced to neglect it when making a certain decision. As a result, there is a discrepancy (“dissonance”) between a person’s attitudes and his real actions.
As a result of such behavior, there is a change in certain (which the situation affects in one way or another) attitudes of a person, and this change can be justified on the basis that it is vital for a person to maintain the consistency of his knowledge.
Therefore, people are ready to justify their delusions: a person who has committed a misconduct or a mistake tends to justify himself in his thoughts, gradually shifting his beliefs about what happened in the direction that what happened was actually not so terrible. In this way the individual "regulates" his thinking in order to reduce conflict within himself.
IN different situations that occur in Everyday life, dissonance can increase or decrease - it all depends on the problem that confronts the person.
Thus, the degree of dissonance will be minimal if, for example, a person gives money to a beggar on the street, who (apparently) does not really need alms. On the contrary, the degree of dissonance will increase many times over if a person faces a serious exam, but he does not try to prepare for it.
Dissonance can (and does) arise in any situation where a person has to make a choice. Moreover, the degree of dissonance will grow depending on how important this choice is for the individual ...
It is clear that the existence of dissonance, regardless of the degree of its strength, forces a person to get rid of it completely, and if for some reason this is not yet possible, then significantly reduce it. To reduce dissonance, a person can resort to four methods:
Let's explain this in specific example. For example, a person is a heavy smoker. He receives information about the dangers of smoking - from a doctor, a friend, from a newspaper or from another source. According to the information received, he will either change his behavior - that is, quit smoking, because he was convinced that it was too harmful for his health. Or he can deny that smoking is harmful to his body, try, for example, to find some information that smoking can be “useful” to some extent (for example, while he smokes, he does not gain excess weight, as happens when a person quits smoking), and thereby reduce the importance of negative information. This reduces the dissonance between his knowledge and actions. In the third case, he will try to avoid any information that emphasizes the harm of smoking.
In some cases, an individual can prevent the appearance of dissonance and, as a result, internal discomfort by trying to avoid any negative information regarding his problem. If the dissonance has already arisen, then the individual can avoid its amplification by adding one or more cognitive elements "to the cognitive schema" instead of the existing negative element (which generates the dissonance). Thus, the individual will be interested in finding such information that would approve his choice (his decision) and, in the end, would weaken or completely eliminate dissonance, while avoiding sources of information that will increase it. However, frequent such behavior of an individual can lead to negative consequences: a person may develop a fear of dissonance or prejudice, which is a dangerous factor affecting the individual's worldview.
Between two (or more) cognitive elements there can be relations of inconsistency (dissonance). When dissonance occurs, the individual seeks to reduce its degree, avoid or get rid of it completely. This desire is justified by the fact that a person sets as his goal a change in his behavior, the search for new information regarding the situation or the object that “gave rise to dissonance”.
It is quite understandable that it is much easier for a person to agree with the existing state of affairs, correcting his internal installations according to the situation, instead of continuing to wonder if he did the right thing. Often dissonance arises as a consequence of making important decisions. The choice between two equally tempting alternatives is not easy for a person, however, having finally made this choice, a person often begins to feel "dissonant cognitions", that is, positive sides the option that he refused, and not very positive features to which he agreed. In order to suppress (weaken) dissonance, a person tries with all his might to exaggerate the significance of his decision, while at the same time downplaying the importance of the rejected one. As a consequence, the other alternative loses all appeal in his eyes.
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THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE- (English cognitive dissonance) an experience of discomfort arising from actions that run counter to one's own beliefs (attitudes). An internal problem, an intrapersonal conflict, can be resolved if beliefs or interpretations are changed ... ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia
- (lat. dissonans discordantly sounding, cognitio knowledge, cognition) a concept in social psychology that explains the influence of a system of cognitive elements on human behavior, describing the formation of social motivations under their influence ... ... Newest philosophical dictionary
- (cognitive dissonance) A state characterized by a clash in the mind of an individual of conflicting knowledge, beliefs, behavioral attitudes regarding some object or phenomenon. A person seeks to overcome cognitive dissonance by ... ... Glossary of business terms
An intellectual conflict that occurs when existing opinions and ideas are contradicted by new information. The discomfort or tension caused by the conflict can be relieved by one of several defensive actions: the individual ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
English dissonance, cognitive; German cognitive dissonance. According to L. Festinger, a state characterized by a clash in the mind of an individual of conflicting knowledge, beliefs, behavioral attitudes regarding c.l. object or phenomenon that causes ... ... Encyclopedia of Sociology
Exist., number of synonyms: 1 inadequate condition (1) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary
the cognitive dissonance- pažinimo disonansas statusas T sritis švietimas apibrėžtis Asmenybės būsena, atsirandanti dėl žinojimo, įsitikinimų ir veiklos bei elgesio prieštaravimų. Esant pažinimo disonanso būsenai, išgyvenamas vidinis nepatogumas (diskomfortas) arba… … Enciklopedinis edukologijos žodynas
Cognitive dissonance is an exit from the emotional comfort zone, which is provoked by a state of internal contradiction, denial or confusion. It can cause deep depression or severe stress. In itself, the state of dissonance is not dangerous, but the inability to recognize it and cope with it will lead to the accumulation of psycho-emotional stress, which will require treatment.
Psychological discomfort, with the right understanding and attitude, is a kind of brain activity simulator. It teaches the brain loyalty, concentration and trains the ability to quickly assimilate and comprehend new information.
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The theory of cognitive dissonance of personality is based on the belief that every person strives to find and maintain inner harmony. It is also called correspondence theory.
The name of the theory and its postulates were formulated in 1956. The author is a student of Kurt Lewin, the founder of many theories in psychology, the American psychologist Leon Festinger.
Basic provisions of the theory in simple terms can be formulated like this:
Cognitive dissonance can arise in relation to oneself due to the clash of one's own cognitions. And it may appear due to the difference in views and life position with others. This natural process, which accompanies a person throughout life from the moment of the beginning mental activity and until its termination.
To understand the cognitive dissonance caused by the discrepancy between one's own elements of cognition and one's own actions, one should consider examples from life.
A colleague is unpleasant to a person, their views and opinions on the work process are diametrically opposed. Knowledge of the rules good manners dictates that a person should smile at an unpleasant subject and be polite to him. But, since a colleague causes irritation, I want to send negativity to him.
The described situation is a demonstration of the conflict between knowledge and feelings of a person. The choice itself and its justifications look like this:
A person receives a job offer that does not correspond to his worldview, but they offer a large material reward for it. He has a choice:
A person adhering to proper nutrition bought himself something delicious for dinner, but unhealthy. After eating an unsuitable product in his opinion, he feels internal discontent. To eliminate mental discomfort, a person can:
There are cases in history of the mass emergence of a cognitive state.
Christianity came to replace paganism. They took away their habitual way of life from people and imposed a different faith. Cognitive dissonance arose en masse in the souls of people.
Prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko in 988 decided to change his faith on his own. Those people who were ordered to change their faith chose different paths to bring their inner world into line with the new reality:
Another massive cognitive dissonance was provoked by the theory that Earth rotates around its axis. A similar theory was put forward by D. Bruno and G. Galilei. Most of their contemporaries took this suggestion aggressively. It was a cognitive conflict between one's own opinion and that of the majority.
G. Galileo renounced his theory, motivating it with the desire to live and continue to be involved in the world of science. D. Bruno could not harmonize his knowledge and the beliefs of those around him. He did not renounce his statement and look for an excuse for this, but chose the death penalty.
In childhood, when a child learns the world, he inevitably encounters an imbalance between his own feelings and the reaction of others.
A child who sees someone being praised for a cut or sewn thing develops in his mind a sequence of actions necessary to achieve praise. He reproduces these actions from improvised objects. Showing the result to others, the child is sure of their approval. Most often the reaction looks like this:
A child who is instilled with a negative attitude towards lies convicts parents of a deliberate distortion of reality. For him, this is a psychological trauma, since the knowledge he received from his relatives does not correspond to their actions. To get rid of internal inconsistencies, the child makes a decision:
If the child's psyche is not stable, then he may not be able to independently cope with the discrepancy that has arisen. In this case, without qualified assistance, the child will plunge into a state of stress, receive psychological trauma, which in the future will be expressed in complexes.
cognitive dissonance is the result of perceiving or not accepting a rapidly changing reality.
If the state of internal inconsistency is not removed, it is not possible to find a compromise between one's own cognitions and what is happening, then psycho-emotional stress appears. As a result of this, complete frustration develops - a state in which a person experiences only negative emotions which gives rise to an inferiority complex.
Cognitive dissonance is a mental state accompanied by discomfort caused by a discrepancy or inconsistency in the mind of a number of conflicting ideas and concepts. Despite the complexity of the name and definition, every person almost daily encounters something similar. Sometimes we ourselves, without knowing it, plunge ourselves into a similar state, but more often this happens for reasons independent of the person.
Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that is accompanied by the appearance of some inconsistency between two cognitions. So, often in their actions a person has to either neglect social attitudes, or else give up personal principles. Because of this, a certain disagreement arises between action and belief.
As a result of the onset of cognitive dissonance, a person may resort to justifying his own actions or delusions that run counter to generally accepted norms. Otherwise, the individual has to direct his thinking in a new direction, which would correspond to the opinions of others and reduce conflicting sensations.
Many psychological concepts and terms are not so easy to understand and understand their meaning. Sometimes a detailed explanation is required. This also applies to such a phenomenon as cognitive dissonance. What is it in simple words? The explanation of this concept is much simpler than it might seem at first glance.
Each person has some life experience and personal opinion regarding the solution of certain situations. Nevertheless, it is not always possible to solve a particular problem on the basis of one's own ideas. Sometimes a person goes against his own opinion, for example, to please the opinions of others, social values, or the norms of the law. This discrepancy between thoughts and actions is called cognitive dissonance.
Sometimes it happens that an individual consciously or unconsciously violates certain rules (or even commits a crime). In this case, it is important to get justification not only from others, but also from yourself. Thus, a person begins to look for or invent moments that can mitigate guilt in order to weaken the internal contradiction. It is also worth noting that such contradictions can arise not only in one individual, but also at the collective level.
Cognitive dissonance also often occurs when a person has to make an important decision. The individual is overcome by doubts that do not go away even when the final choice is made. Mental activity for some time will be aimed at sorting out in the head possible options and their consequences.
Cognitive dissonance can occur due to several common causes, among which are the following:
The author of the theory of cognitive dissonance is Leon Festinger. This doctrine was presented in 1957 and was intended to explain the essence, causes, and patterns of this phenomenon. The author considered this concept as a phenomenon of discrepancy between the various thoughts and ideas of the individual (or collective).
Watch the video: "Leon Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance"The theory of cognitive dissonance by L. Festinger is based on two main hypotheses, which are as follows:
Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance not only provides an interpretation and clarification of concepts, but also explains the ways out of this state. In addition, the scientist considers a number of real cases, which are the most typical examples in psychology.
The first thing worth noting is the fact that the theory of cognitive dissonance belongs to the category of motivational ones. It means that given state is decisive in the behavior of the individual. We can say that it is ideas and beliefs that largely influence the actions of a person, as well as his life position. Thus, it is impossible to interpret knowledge only as a set of certain facts. These are primarily motivational factors that determine human behavior both in everyday life and in non-standard situations.
The concept of cognitive dissonance combines two categories. The first of these is the intellect, which is considered as a set of certain beliefs and knowledge, as well as attitudes towards them. The second is affect, that is, a reaction to pathogens and stimuli. At the very moment when a person ceases to find a connection or feels internal contradictions between these categories, a state of cognitive dissonance sets in.
The process itself is inextricably linked with past events and experiences of the individual. So, having committed a certain act, a person may begin to repent or experience remorse. Moreover, this can happen after a considerable period of time. Then the individual begins to look for an excuse for his act or some facts that can mitigate his guilt.
The state of cognitive dissonance causes psychological discomfort, from which the individual, quite naturally, tries to get rid of (or at least somewhat reduce discomfort). There are several ways that allow you to achieve relief from a contradictory state, namely:
Since the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance is associated with discomfort and psychological stress, many prefer to prevent this condition than to deal with its consequences later. One of the most accessible ways to achieve this is to avoid any negative information that may be contrary to your personal beliefs or current situation. This method fits into the concept of psychological defense, which was developed by Sigmund Freud and later developed by his followers.
In the event that the occurrence of cognitive dissonance could not be avoided, it is possible to deal with it. further development. To do this, the cognitive system is introduced additional elements designed to present the current situation in a positive light. At the same time, you need to ignore or avoid in every possible way those sources of information that can return you to the initial state.
One of the most common and accessible ways to deal with dissonance is to accept reality and adapt to it. In this regard, it is worth convincing yourself that the situation is acceptable. In addition, if the phenomenon is long-term, then psychological work should be aimed at changing one's own beliefs.
In real life, quite often one can encounter such phenomena that cause a feeling of inconsistency or inconsistency of beliefs with the real situation. This is cognitive dissonance. Their examples are quite numerous.
The simplest example is a gold medalist and a C student who entered the university. It is quite logical that teachers expect high results and a decent level of knowledge from the first, and do not place special hopes on the second. Nevertheless, it may turn out that an excellent student will answer a question very mediocre and incomplete, and a C student, on the contrary, will give a competent, meaningful answer. IN this case the teacher experiences cognitive dissonance due to the fact that his beliefs turned out to be inconsistent with the real situation.
Another example given by psychologist A. Leontiev illustrates the desire to reduce discomfort. So, imprisoned revolutionaries were forced to dig holes as a punishment. Naturally, this occupation was unpleasant and even disgusting for the prisoners. To reduce the feeling of psychological discomfort, many gave their action new meaning namely, causing harm to the current regime.
Also, cognitive dissonance can be considered in relation to people who have bad habits (for example, smokers, or those who abuse alcohol. It is quite natural that all of them sooner or later realize the harm of these phenomena for their body. In this case, there are two scenarios. Either the individual tries accessible ways get rid of a bad habit, or he begins to look for excuses for himself, which in his mind can outweigh possible harm to be inflicted on health.
Another example is also related to a typical life situation. So, for example, you see a beggar on the street who is begging, but appearance you can say that he does not quite deserve money or does not need it so much (or maybe he will spend money not on food or medicine, but on alcohol or cigarettes). Nevertheless, under the influence of your life principles or moral standards, you cannot pass by such a person. Thus, under the guidance of social principles, you do what you do not want.
Sometimes it happens that before a responsible exam, a student simply does not prepare for it. This may be due to laziness, health, unforeseen circumstances, and so on. Thus, understanding their responsibility for the result and realizing possible consequences, the individual, however, makes no attempt to learn the synopsis.
Cognitive dissonance is often experienced by girls who strive to lose weight and torture themselves with diets. If at this time they want to eat, for example, a cake, then this will be contrary to their goals and general ideas O proper nutrition. There are several possible solutions to the problem here. You can continue to insist on your own and deny yourself sweets, or you can stop the diet altogether, making sure that you already look good. You can also make a one-time indulgence for yourself, which will later be reimbursed by fasting or physical activity.
Consideration of the problem of cognitive dissonance was carried out by many scientists and psychologists. Particular attention should be paid to the work of Leon Festinger, as well as Sigmund Freud and his followers. Their theories are the most complete and contain not only information about the phenomenon itself and its causes, but also about ways to solve the problem.
It is worth noting that the theory that describes the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance refers to motivational. The contradiction that arises as a result of the inconsistency of beliefs and desires with real actions largely affects how the individual's behavior will be in the future. He may come to terms with the situation and try to revise his ideas, which will somewhat reduce the state of dissonance, or he may resort to attempts to explain or justify his behavior, avoiding real data and facts (protecting himself from the outside world).
To avoid a state of cognitive dissonance, you should avoid conflicting states and information that contradicts your beliefs. In this way, you can protect yourself from internal contradictions that have arisen due to the need to act contrary to your desires and beliefs.
Cognitive dissonance: how to recognize the problem and cope with it A harmonious perception of the world around us and one's own personality is considered an essential quality of a happy person. One of the most common psychological problems is the occurrence of cognitive dissonance, which is accompanied by severe moral and emotional discomfort. This term was introduced to the world by Fritz Heider in 1944, and later Leon Festinger developed a theory explaining the causes and mechanism of dissonance.
Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person has multiple conflicting cognitions. Cognition is understood as any ideas, knowledge, conclusions, moral values and even emotional reactions to what is happening around. When conflicting cognitive elements appear, a person experiences severe psychological discomfort and, on a subconscious level, seeks ways to solve this problem.
The causes of cognitive dissonance are best explained by the eponymous theory proposed by Leon Festinger in 1957. To better understand the meaning of the term “cognitive dissonance”, one should know that dissonance is a violation of harmony, the emergence of contradictions in a certain well-coordinated structure, in this case, cognitive, that is, associated with the processes of cognition.
There are several main causes of cognitive dissonance, which include:
An internal contradiction that has arisen for the first time or continues for some time - this is what cognitive dissonance means for common man. Every person has experienced cognitive dissonance to some extent at least once in their life, and the reaction to the onset of this condition can be very different. However, common to all is the search for an excuse for contradiction and inconsistency in order to restore balance to the system of their knowledge and beliefs.
In addition to highlighting the main causes of cognitive dissonance in his theory, Festinger formulated two main hypotheses of how a person can act to eliminate the psychological discomfort that has arisen. According to the first hypothesis, a person will direct his efforts towards the complete elimination or reduction of the discrepancy between cognitions. He will search Additional information, confirming his correctness or refuting new information. The second hypothesis suggests that a person avoids situations that increase cognitive dissonance, and even their own memories and thoughts about it.
If you ask a person what cognitive dissonance meant to him and what emotions he associated it with, then most people will remember awkwardness and a decrease in self-confidence. Such a state as a whole negatively affects not only the state of the psycho-emotional sphere, but over time can lead to the development of serious health problems. Therefore, with cognitive dissonance, a person’s defense mechanisms work, which consist in justifying their thoughts and actions or completely ignoring them.
Cognitive dissonance may be due to insufficiently attentive perception of the surrounding world, inability to identify cause-and-effect relationships in a given situation, ignorance of any issues. All these problems are solved by training on the BrainApps resource, where a large number of games and useful articles for personal development.
To better understand what cognitive dissonance is, real life examples are the best. A person can experience cognitive dissonance at any age, but not everyone can recognize this unpleasant phenomenon. One of the simplest and most understandable examples is people who smoke or abuse alcohol. Information about the dangers of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages comes to a person literally at every step, but he is in no hurry to change his habits.
A heavy smoker or alcohol lover with cognitive dissonance can justify himself with difficult life circumstances, the need for relaxation and removal from everyday problems, however, despite all this, he knows perfectly well that he is causing irreparable harm to his health. Subsequently, he may begin to study information that confirms that nicotine or alcohol are not such dangerous substances, and in some cases even useful. Also, most likely, he will begin to avoid any talk about his bad habits and react negatively to any attempts to remind him of the harm to his health. It is this situation that vividly illustrates cognitive dissonance and the natural reaction of a person to it.
In the case of smoking or alcohol, cognitive dissonance is very pronounced due to the psychological and physical dependence on drugs. However, the problem may appear due to other life circumstances. Very often, cognitive dissonance is encountered when it is necessary to make a specific choice. Also, communication and interaction with other people causes cognitive dissonance, usually any person from his own life experience can give examples of such dissonance.
For example, let's say you were asked for a loan by an acquaintance who is famous for his careless attitude to money and addiction to gambling. You know very well that he has great financial difficulties, and he has several times failed to repay you and other people. However, you lend him a certain amount of money and begin to experience severe psychological discomfort due to cognitive dissonance, because the experience and information gained earlier indicate that you made the wrong decision. To numb the cognitive dissonance that has arisen, you can begin to justify your act with faith in the best, pity or generosity, and also try to avoid talking about this situation with family and friends.
Another striking example of cognitive dissonance is a popular experiment illustrating the influence of public opinion on a person. One participant is selected from the group in advance and shown to him, for example, a red object. Then they ask what color this item is for the selected participant and the rest of the group. The majority, following a preliminary agreement, insist that the item shown of blue color. If a person who has seen red with his own eyes agrees with the opinion of the majority, then he will experience a strong cognitive dissonance and will feel mentally and psychologically bad.
Having analyzed the concepts of cognitive dissonance on ordinary, everyday examples, it is easier to analyze your own behavior and the behavior of other people, as well as choose the right tactics for further actions. Each person in most cases can cope with this problem if he recognizes its existence. Therefore, if you suspect cognitive dissonance in yourself, examples from the lives of other people or past experiences will help you quickly get rid of unpleasant sensations and find inner harmony.
The emergence of cognitive dissonance should not be taken as something terrible and irreparable. Each person has the right to make erroneous judgments and actions, and information coming from outside is not always absolutely correct. Therefore, if you are faced with the problem of cognitive dissonance, it is better to choose one of the following tactics of behavior:
It is also desirable to prevent the occurrence of cognitive dissonance. To do this, you should try to act in accordance with previous experience and knowledge and not deviate from your beliefs and ideas. However, focusing on your own rightness will also not help, you should always be ready to revise or supplement the information you already have about a phenomenon or situation. No need to categorically reject the opinions or actions of other people, always try to get more information about different points of view.
The presence of cognitive dissonance often implies getting into an extraordinary and, at first glance, hopeless situation. In this case, you need to quickly analyze the problem and find a completely new solution. This will allow you not to dwell on the phenomenon of dissonance and successfully cope with it. The acceleration of thinking and its creativity are key factors in similar situation, and games on the BrainApps website will help develop them.
Cognitive dissonance is not always a completely negative factor. Sometimes it is due to the emergence of cognitive dissonance that a person receives a powerful incentive to develop, work on himself and improve himself. In everyday life, it is almost impossible to avoid the appearance of conflicting feelings, actions and knowledge, but you can always find a way to look at the situation from different angles and restore harmony.
When reality raises too many questions, discomfort builds in the brain. Or scientifically: there is cognitive dissonance. In order not to strain and restore harmony, the brain invents tricks of perception: it blocks unfavorable information, finds the necessary evidence, soothes, lulls. This property of our brain without a twinge of conscience is used by others. So knowing the tricks will help not only to understand yourself better, but also to resist manipulation.
Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental or psychological discomfort caused by conflicting ideas, behaviors, beliefs, emotions, or feelings. Occurs when a person receives unexpected information that is different from his past experience. Or when he becomes a witness to unpredictable actions, inexplicable events. The mechanism of cognitive dissonance is based on a simple but common situation: the presence of two mutually exclusive desires.
Dissonance is the opposite of the balance our brain strives for. According to the theory of balance, people prefer harmony and consistency in their knowledge of the world. It is difficult for the psyche to be in a state of disturbing inconsistency. Therefore, in order to reduce the psychological discomfort from internal conflict, a person changes his mind, comes up with an excuse for the change, and subsequently changes his behavior. This is how he maintains his peace of mind.
The paradox is that what more people defends his behavior, the more willingly changes his beliefs when circumstances change. For example, in moments of danger, after catastrophes, atheists become devout believers. The saying “there are no atheists in the trenches” is about this. What else? Irreconcilable macho misogynists become caring husbands after marriage, and patriots actively stop loving their former neighbors after emigrating to another country.
Let's say you smoke and receive information about the dangers of smoking. There are 4 ways to keep your peace of mind.
These mechanisms help not only to avoid internal tension, but also to avoid interpersonal complications. So, for example, we complain strangers on spouses, thereby relieving internal tension. Having acted badly, we are looking for allies. We come up with excuses for the betrayal of spouses, we do not notice the ugly actions of children. Or vice versa - we underestimate the career achievements of competitors, explaining them by banal luck, hypocrisy, blasphemy.
The definition of cognitive dissonance is one of the basic concepts in psychology. The author of the theory and many experiments was the American psychologist Leon Festinger (1919-1989). He formulated a definition and two main hypotheses:
According to the author of the theory, the causes of cognitive dissonance can be logically incompatible things, cultural customs, opposition of the opinion of one person public opinion and painful past experiences. That is, the proverb “burnt in milk, blowing on water” just describes a person’s unwillingness to repeat a negative or painful past experience.
Leon Festinger's theory is confirmed by experiments and studies of brain activity carried out on a tomograph. During the experiment, the subject was created conditions for the simplest cognitive dissonance (they showed a red sheet and called another color) and scanned brain activity on a tomograph. The tomography results showed that internal conflict the cingular cortex of the brain is activated, which is responsible for controlling certain activities, identifying errors, monitoring conflicts, switching attention. Then the conditions of the experiment became more complicated, the subject was given more and more contradictory tasks. Studies have shown that the less justification for his action the subject finds, the more stress he experiences, the more excited this area of the brain.
Cognitive dissonance occurs every time there is a need to make a choice or express an opinion. That is, dissonance is an ordinary, every minute phenomenon. Any decisions: to drink tea or coffee in the morning, to choose goods of one brand or another in the store, to marry a worthy applicant, will provoke discomfort. The degree of inconvenience depends on the significance of its components for a person. The higher the significance, the stronger man seeks to neutralize dissonance.
For example, the most painful cognitive dissonance occurs when when someone enters a different cultural environment. For example, among women who left with a Muslim husband for his homeland. Differences in mentality, clothing, behavior, cuisine, traditions from the very beginning cause severe discomfort. To reduce tension, women have to change their ideas about their own traditions and accept new rules of the game dictated by the local society.
Knowing this feature of the human psyche, politicians, spiritual leaders, advertisers, sellers use it to manipulate. How it works? Cognitive dissonance causes not only discomfort, but also strong emotions. And emotions are motivators that force a person to take a certain action: buy, vote, join an organization, donate. Therefore, social agents from our environment constantly provoke cognitive dissonance in our brain in order to influence our opinion and behavior.
The most illustrative examples can be seen in advertising:
So the dissonance is over. The brain boils with tension and looks for ways to reduce unpleasant sensations, get out of the current situation, plunge into a state of calm. If the desired solution is not found or the situation is resolved destructively, the tension does not go away. And in a state of constant anxiety, you can reach neurosis or very real psychosomatic diseases. Therefore, the manifestation of dissonance cannot be ignored, but it is worth looking for ways to weaken it.
