Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive Dissonance Theory. Selective Exposure Prevents Dissonance. Postdecision Dissonance and Minimal Justification for Action.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

The Cognitive Dissonance theory was made by Leon Festinger. Cognitive dissonance is described as the incompatibility of two cognitions. Cognition may refer to knowledge, belief, thought, personality, emotion or behavior. It defines the pressure resulting from the conflict of the two cognitions such as two contradicting thoughts, a thought contradicting with a behavior or a belief contradicting with a behavior. When these conflicts arise, the person will be motivated to adjust by creating new beliefs or thoughts or changing behavior or personality in order to reduce the pressure. The person will attempt to harmonize his knowledge, belief, thought, personality, emotion and behavior.

For example, a non-smoking teenager knows that smoking is bad for his health. When he turned 20 years old, he started smoking. He looks back and realizes that his smoking behavior contradicts his past belief that smoking is unhealthy which causes him pressure. He then invents a number of reasons saying that he’s only smoking two cigarettes a day, he doesn’t inhale the smoke, etc. He rationalizes and changes his manner of thinking in order to match his present behavior to reduce the pressure. This is cognitive dissonance.

Reducing the Pressure

Motivation comes in once the person decides to reduce the pressure by trying to reconcile the opposite cognitions. There are a number of ways in which he can achieve this.

1. Change cognitions. Since two cognitions are driving in opposite directions, the best solution is to substitute one cognition with a new one to match the other. For example, the smoker can rationalize and find a reason for his smoking or quit smoking altogether.
2. Adding cognitions. If the conflict between two cognitions is so severe and creates a great amount of pressure, you can add one or more cognitions in order to balance the force and reduce the pressure.
3. Change the importance of a cognition. The conflict and differences of cognitions create pressure depending on their importance. You may consider other cognitions unimportant or irrelevant to reduce the pressure that they make on the others.

The 3 Hypotheses of Dissonance

Here are three ways in which people try to handle dissonant cognitions.

1. Selective Exposure Prevents Dissonance. People avoid circumstances and information that aggravates the conflict. They are motivated to stay with people, materials and situations that coincide with their beliefs.
2. Postdecision Dissonance Creates a Need for Reassurance. People experience tremendous pressure after making a huge decision since they consider the issue important, there is the presence of an equally good alternative and the decision made is final. They are then motivated to seek support and reassurance that they made the right decision.
3. Minimal Justification for Action Induces a Shift in Attitude. People will value minimum incentives more, causing a change in attitude. A person who only experiences a small taste of the expected outcome will be more motivated to behave accordingly in order to fully experience the benefits of the accomplished goal.

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