Cognitive Dissonance

Key Concepts

Attitudes and Behaviors

• People strive for consistency and harmony between attitudes and behaviors.
• Inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviors lead to discomfort.

Cognitive Dissonance

• Discomfort experienced when holding two or more conflicting cognitions.
  • Cognitions: ideas, beliefs, values, emotional reactions.
• Leads to alterations in attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors to reduce discomfort.

Example: Smoker

• Behavior: Smoking
• Attitude: Smoking leads to cancer.
• Contradiction: Smoking (behavior) vs. Smoking causes cancer (attitude).

Ways to Reduce Cognitive Dissonance

1. Modify Cognitions:
   • Example: A smoker may say, "I don't smoke that much."
2. Trivialize:
   • Example: A smoker may say, "The evidence is weak that smoking causes cancer."
3. Add More Cognitions:
   • Example: A smoker may say, "I exercise so much that it doesn't matter that I smoke."
4. Deny Cognitions:
   • Example: A smoker may deny any link between smoking and cancer.

Takeaway Message

• People strive for harmony in thoughts, words, and actions.
• Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is a lack of alignment between attitudes and behaviors.