It occurs in all of us frequently, not just when planning to diet and justifying a doughnut with a delayed diet start. Coping mechanisms can include justifying their behavior (and our relationship with them), trivializing their behavior or the importance of it, attempting to change their behavior, or changing our own behavior. Koller and Salzberger (2007) developed an eight-item consumer behavior scale. Their questionnaire includes items regarding the decision-making process before and after the purchase. The full text can be requested from the authors free of charge via the ResearchGate website.

She says that reaching more consistency in your thoughts and behaviors will create a world that’s less harmful, less likely to trigger negative emotions, and therefore, less problematic. Resolving or reducing cognitive dissonance is not always an easy task — but it’s worth it. “It takes constant attention to work on ourselves, to continue to push to create better interactions with each other and more self-awareness,” Curry says. Recognizing when your beliefs and behaviors are in conflict — or recognizing when two beliefs seem to oppose one another — can help you parse out and better understand your values and what you stand for.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

During this decision-rationalizing process, we tend to ‘ascribe positive attributes’ to our choice and amplify the negative features of the rejected option. To fully participate in this journey, we need to actively participate in shedding the habits and limiting beliefs that have kept us running on the hamster wheel of life without any point of arrival. The more we use the discomfort of cognitive dissonance as a sharpening stone to hone our core cognitive dissonance treatment values, beliefs and truths, the more we will experience inner peace, regardless of the outer challenges we face. One of the methods of reducing cognitive dissonance is to alter the importance of the original cognitions so as to reduce the psychological discomfort. Altering the importance of original cognitions could either mean that you increase the attractiveness of the chosen alternative, or decrease the attractiveness of your cognitions.

“It depends on the immediacy of the situation and whether or not there’s any way to resolve it, but sometimes, new information can lead to action,” says Dr. Prewitt. “If you believe in the power of recycling but you don’t have access to a recycling program in your community, this can cause you distress or discomfort because you have this value that’s important to you but you’re not participating in it,” says Dr. Prewitt. We benefit, though, from approaching these inconsistencies with curiosity and grace, even when we want to change them. In one study, researchers asked participants to give speeches that would encourage the audience to take a certain positive action. But not all emotions are created equal, and some are far easier to grasp than others. In other words, he could tell himself that a short life filled with smoking and sensual pleasures is better than a long life devoid of such joys.

How to Reduce Cognitive Dissonance: A Bit Difficult, But Possible

I am a seasoned kinesiologist, transformational life coach and pastoral counselor with extensive clinical experience internationally. I use an integrated approach and holistic therapies to help clients navigate life transitions, overcome health challenges and enjoy personal growth. We can learn to harness our cognitive dissonance as a tool for growth instead of seeing it as a threat to comfort. One of the ways to turn perceived threats into opportunities, is to ask ourselves about a challenge, “How can this be useful?

• The theory introduced in the late 1950s suggests that when people are confronted with facts that contradict their beliefs, values and ideas, they will feel psychological discomfort, likely followed by the need to resolve that contradiction and reduce their uneasiness.
• Researchers focusing on induced compliance assume that dissonance reduction is a function of the importance of the dissonant cognitions (e.g., Hardyck and Kardush, 1968; Leippe and Eisenstadt, 1999).
• This creates a conflict between the group’s shared belief and the behavior of the individual, leading to feelings of discomfort and stress.
• Related to this, flexibility in the use of reduction strategies and change over time, and feedback loops enabling new interpretations of the dissonant situation, are further novel concepts generated from our model.

We also don’t like to second-guess our choices, even if later they are proven wrong or unwise. By second-guessing ourselves, we suggest we may not be as wise or as right as we’ve led ourselves to believe. This may lead us to commit to a particular course of action and become insensitive to and reject alternative, perhaps better, courses that come to light.

Acquire new information that outweighs the dissonant beliefs.

The narcissist will actively add to this cognitive dissonance by blaming you for their abuse and claim that you are the only one who has ever had this problem with them. Ever had a feeling of uneasiness after you’ve behaved in a manner that didn’t align with your beliefs and thoughts? Cognitive dissonance is the psychological discomfort we experience when our belief clashes with contradictory information. This unsettling state of anguish, in turn, motivates us to reconcile the difference, either by changing our behavior or altering the importance of conflicting/dissonant beliefs. Psychologist Leon Festinger coined the term ‘cognitive dissonance’ to describe the uncomfortable tension we feel when we experience conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) within ourselves, or when we encounter behavior that is opposed to our beliefs.

• Dissonance is experienced when the behavior we practice is conflicting with our beliefs, as is known.
• To illustrate, assuming that dissonance emerges when self-integrity is threatened, and the subsequent reduction strategies assist in restoring the self-concept, the reduction process would be based on an emotional reaction to a perceived threat to the self.
• Recognizing and reconciling cognitive dissonance is not always a feel-good experience.
• Note that Sheppes’ model deals with situations in which people make more or less conscious cost-benefit analyses when deciding how to regulate emotions (see also Sheppes et al., 2011).
• The usual effect is that people begin to value the goal more, the more unpleasant the behavior–to guard against post-behavioral regret (Aronson and Mills, 1959).

These justifications and leniency are subconscious attempts to resolve cognitive dissonance and tend to make the victim more tolerant of the abuse over time in more committed relationships due to the higher levels of investment. It is also clear that narcissistic abusers use gaslighting tactics to blameshift and to evade accountability for their abuse, which can instill or exacerbate self-blame. Resolution of cognitive dissonance enables the mind to protect its beliefs, ideas, and habits. We always try to support our beliefs with reasons so that we can justify their presence in our mind. Whether or not these reasons have any basis, in reality, is another matter. But once he does, once a belief knocks out its opponent, the mind becomes stable again.

Predicting Reduction Strategies: Some Ideas

While this can feel uncomfortable at first, it’s helpful to reflect on the reasons behind our behavior. This can be a difficult and uncomfortable process and involves getting additional information. In that sense, the experience of cognitive dissonance is an opportunity to learn and grow, as long as we deal with it constructively and respond in a way that we choose and is beneficial. The problem is for those pig-heads who refuse to change their attitudes, actions, or opinions. These people remain inflexible in the face of our world’s constant change with new information.

People recognized the cognitive dissonance and made necessary changes to better align society’s values with our actions. The expectation of shared beliefs, values, and attitudes from family members can additionally influence romantic relationships. If these don’t align, we might consider justifying our relationship or breaking up.

Cognitive Dissonance

They could only overcome that dissonance by coming to believe that the tasks really were interesting and enjoyable. Being paid $20 provides a reason for turning pegs, and there is, therefore, no dissonance. https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/alcohol-intervention-how-to-do-an-intervention-for-an-alcoholic/ 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).