🥸intro to psychology review

key term - Cognitive Dissonance

Definition

Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort experienced when an individual holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time. It describes the tension that arises when a person's behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs are inconsistent with one another.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

  1. Cognitive dissonance can arise when a person's behavior is inconsistent with their beliefs or values, such as when someone who values health and fitness continues to smoke cigarettes.
  2. Individuals often engage in rationalization or confirmation bias to reduce the discomfort of cognitive dissonance, selectively seeking out information that supports their existing beliefs and ignoring contradictory evidence.
  3. Cognitive dissonance can motivate individuals to change their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors in order to achieve a more consistent and comfortable psychological state.
  4. The intensity of cognitive dissonance experienced by an individual is influenced by the importance of the beliefs or behaviors in question, as well as the degree of inconsistency between them.
  5. Cognitive dissonance plays a significant role in understanding human decision-making, persuasion, and the formation and change of attitudes, as people often seek to maintain a sense of coherence and consistency in their thoughts and actions.

Review Questions

  • Explain how cognitive dissonance can influence an individual's motivation in the context of 10.1 Motivation.
    • Cognitive dissonance can serve as a powerful motivator for individuals, as the mental discomfort experienced when their behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs are inconsistent can drive them to take action to reduce this dissonance. For example, in the context of motivation (10.1), an individual who values being healthy but engages in unhealthy behaviors, such as overeating or sedentary habits, may experience cognitive dissonance. This dissonance can then motivate the individual to change their behaviors, such as adopting a healthier diet or exercise routine, in order to align their actions with their values and beliefs and alleviate the discomfort of the inconsistency.
  • Describe how cognitive dissonance can influence attitudes and persuasion in the context of 12.3 Attitudes and Persuasion.
    • Cognitive dissonance plays a significant role in the formation and change of attitudes, as well as in the process of persuasion (12.3). When an individual's beliefs or behaviors are inconsistent with their attitudes, they may experience cognitive dissonance. This dissonance can then motivate the individual to either change their attitudes to align with their behaviors, or to engage in rationalization or confirmation bias to justify their actions. Persuasive messages that highlight this dissonance and provide a path for the individual to resolve it can be particularly effective in influencing attitude change. Additionally, individuals may be more susceptible to persuasive messages that reinforce their existing attitudes and beliefs, as this helps to maintain a sense of consistency and reduce cognitive dissonance.
  • Analyze how cognitive dissonance can contribute to conformity, compliance, and obedience in the context of 12.4 Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience.
    • Cognitive dissonance can play a significant role in shaping conformity, compliance, and obedience (12.4). When an individual's beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors are inconsistent with the norms or expectations of a group, they may experience cognitive dissonance. This dissonance can then motivate the individual to conform to the group's standards, even if they do not fully agree with them, in order to reduce the discomfort of the inconsistency. Similarly, individuals may comply with requests or obey authority figures, even if their actions go against their personal beliefs, in order to maintain a sense of consistency and avoid the psychological discomfort of cognitive dissonance. The desire to reduce cognitive dissonance can lead individuals to engage in behaviors that they may not fully endorse, as they seek to align their actions with the perceived expectations of their social context.