Cognitive dissonance

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Have you ever been aware that some of your actions contradict your beliefs? This is an example of cognitive dissonance. You might be an animal advocate who serves meat in family meals. Maybe you’re an environmental activist who drives to work or uses air travel for long distances. Sometimes circumstance makes it challenging to align all of your actions with your ideals and Still, these situations likely generate a sense of inner conflict. This uncomfortable feeling is called cognitive dissonance. Contrary to what some people believe, cognitive dissonance isn’t the same thing as hypocrisy, though. Hypocrisy is the voluntary action involved when behaviors contradict beliefs or words, and cognitive dissonance is the unsettling feeling of mental discomfort resulting from this contradiction. Psychologist Cognitive dissonance theory states that related thoughts or behaviors can be consonant (in agreement) or dissonant (in conflict). “Cognitive” refers to knowledge and comprehension, gained through the senses, experiences, or thought processes. When concepts are consonant, the result is internal harmony. You feel you’re acting according to what you believe and think. When concepts are dissonant, this creates internal stress and the drive to make a change. Cognitive dissonance is common. Most people experience it at some time or another. There are many situations where thoughts, concepts, or actions can coexist in conflict. Remember that cognitive dissonance is about how you feel ...

Jump to section We all like to think of ourselves in certain ways. We consider ourselves to be truthful, hard-working, health-conscious, and in control. But our actions don’t always line up with what we think of ourselves. This kind of incongruence — called cognitive dissonance — can cause some serious mental discomfort. That’s because if you’re not self-aware, cognitive dissonance can leave you acting and feeling pretty out of character. Learning what cognitive dissonance is, why it’s so powerful, and how to manage it can put you back in the driver’s seat. What is cognitive dissonance? Cognitive dissonance is a little different than its evil twin, hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when we say one thing and do another. Our thoughts and actions don’t align — and we know it. But because we want the benefits of presenting ourselves a certain way, we don’t mind the inconsistency in our behavior. Cognitive dissonance means that we feel ambivalent — we genuinely have a disconnect between two conflicting beliefs. That disconnect makes us feel uncomfortable, driving us to resolve it. The definition of cognitive dissonance Cognitive dissonance is the psychological tension we feel as we try to reckon with two (or more) opposing pieces of information. We generally try to eliminate this dissonance by taking a new, consonant action or by dismissing the incongruent information. Unlike hypocrisy, cognitive dissonance threatens our identity and sense of self. That’s why it’s important to recognize ...

Recent Examples on the Web The night's themes look set to be an exercise in cognitive dissonance: telling a surly and remonstrative American polity that in fact everything is on the upswing, sunny skies ahead, etc. — Nr Staff, National Review, 7 Feb. 2023 There are ways to reduce cognitive dissonance. — Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 9 Nov. 2022 Psychologists call it cognitive dissonance. — Andy Kessler, WSJ, 11 Sep. 2022 After years of cognitive dissonance, Tyler, the Creator has finally killed his ego and, perhaps, finally found happiness. — Yousef Srour, Variety, 31 Mar. 2023 Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw, in his newsletter, writes about cultural cognitive dissonance. — Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2022 Condo also wanted to express the cognitive dissonance of the current post-Truth era where opinion trumps news, and Trump trumps morality and facts. — Tom Teicholz, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2023 One element is cognitive dissonance. — Cari Shane, Discover Magazine, 16 Aug. 2022 The cognitive dissonance of those heavy themes rendered in the cheerful, splashy language of animation might explain their appeal to young men who are native to loneliness and anonymization and seem to represent a large part of Donnelly’s true believers. — New York Times, 24 Feb. 2021 See More These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cognitive dissonance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam...

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. But you can feel caught off guard when those values and beliefs are shaken by social pressures, the presence of new information or having to make a rushed last-minute decision. Sometimes, we can even get caught up in behaving or reacting a certain way that doesn’t necessarily align with how we really feel — and then we end up feeling lost. Psychologist What is cognitive dissonance? When you do something or behave a certain way that goes against your values, you may experience cognitive dissonance. This clash of beliefs and disruption of thought can also occur if you have two or more conflicting beliefs and you’re torn between them. “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. Cognitive dissonance is that mental space of discomfort, angst, guilt or shame associated with the decisions you’re making or the beliefs you’re questioning. And it can occur with something as simple as recycling to more complicated behaviors and beliefs you’re struggling with such as “When you’re consistently making choices that go against your beliefs, it can cause a lot of stress and unhappiness,” notes Dr. Prewitt. “You’...

“Tomorrow I will start my diet,” I reflected, while munching a doughnut. If this has ever happened to you, you have experienced first-hand what this article is about: what happens when we act in a way that does not align with who we believe we are. That slight feeling of discomfort we perceive when noticing this mismatch is called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is powerful because we are highly driven to eliminate it. The way we do that can be transformative or destructive. Interestingly, we often do so without being aware of it. Before you continue, we thought you might like to This Article Contains: • • • • • • • • • • • • Cognitive Dissonance: Festinger’s Theory A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point. Leon Festinger, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance Over 60 years ago, Leon Festinger (1957) postulated one of the most well-known theories of psychology: cognitive dissonance theory. The theory is based on the idea that two cognitions can be relevant or irrelevant to each other (Festinger, 1957). Such cognitions can be about behaviors, perceptions, attitudes, emotions, and beliefs. Often, one of the cognitions in question is about our behavior. If the cognitions are relevant, they can be in agreement (consistent) or disagreement (inconsistent) with one another (Festinger, 1957). Discrepancy between an attitude ...

• Feeling uncomfortable before doing something or • Trying to justify or rationalize a decision you've made or action you have taken • Feeling embarrassed or ashamed about something you've done and trying to hide your actions from other people • Experiencing guilt or regret about something you've done in the past • Doing things because of social pressure or a • You want to be healthy, but you don't exercise regularly or eat a • You know that • You'd like to build up your savings but tend to spend extra cash as soon as you get it. You regret this decision later, such as when facing an unexpected expense that you don't have the money to cover. • You have a long to-do list but spend the day watching your favorite shows instead. You don't want your spouse to know, so you try to make it look like you've worked hard all day. Several television shows and movies contain characters experiencing cognitive dissonance. Examples to consider include: • Mean Girls • Friends • The Truman Show • Irresistible • Stand By Me Causes of Cognitive Dissonance There are a number of different situations that can create conflicts that lead to cognitive dissonance. New Information Sometimes learning new information can lead to feelings of cognitive dissonance. For example, if you engage in a behavior that you later learn is harmful, it can lead to feelings of discomfort. People sometimes deal with this by finding ways to justify their behaviors or findings ways to discredit or ignore new information....

The fluidity of our performance, no matter how unique, depends on the cross-brain integration of our two hemispheres. The synchronicity of some cognitive and some spatial skills, incorporated in time and in situ, yields a successful performance. Consider the last time you had an unexplainable breakdown in your performance. It may have been a spatial demand that was unmet because you were in your head too much. Or, it may have been a cognitive processing demand that was challenged and not met. Highly regarded musical performers have confessed to at times demonstrating anomalies of atonality that seem to come from nowhere. A similar pattern of unexplained performances has haunted golfer Bruce Koepka, who won four major tournaments in two years and has been failing to make cuts on the tour ever since. What are the reasons for such disparities in performance? Is there something happening within the performer that even the performer is oblivious to? How might they get this awareness back into focus and improve their performance? Dissonance “Life is a desert of shifting sand dunes. Unpredictable. Erratic. Harmony changes into dissonance, the immediate outlives the profound, esoteric becomes cliched. And, vice versa.”—Ella Leya Dissonance is usually referenced to be about So, why not performance dissonance? Surely, we can see detriments to performance as being related to some form of dissonance or incongruity in the performer. We even say, “I was out of sync.” Or, in a team setti...