The cognitive dissonance Is a phenomenon that is based on having two opposing ideas or Incompatible on the same aspect. P May cause states of tension, discomfort or discomfort by not being able to harmonize what we think and what we do.
In this article we will talk about its characteristics, we will show examples and we will review how we have to manage it when it appears.
Theory of cognitive dissonance
The term of dissonance was coined by Leon Festinger In 1957 through the publication of his theory of cognitive dissonance.
The central point of the work consisted in affirming that human beings seek a state of harmony in their cognitions, that is, in their thoughts, Opinions or Beliefs About the world and about themselves.
Thus, according to Festinger, people tend to acquire a uniform and harmonious way of thinking, in such a way that we try not to possess Thoughts that contradict each other, and try to be able to behave according to our thoughts.
However, people do not always get this cognitive harmony, that is, often we are faced with aspects or situations that originate us Disparate thoughts difficult to harmonize, produce cognitive dissonance.
This phenomenon inaugurated by Festinger and replicated by many more authors, highlighted how all people can be exposed to thoughts Contradictory with relative ease.
However, in the majority of cases, with the aim of acquiring an optimal mental and behavioral functioning, humans tend to incline towards a Of the alternative options.
Thus, in the face of cognitive dissonance, we tend to lean toward one of our thoughts and tend to emphasize all the characteristics Of the chosen option.
Likewise, when we are inclined to one of the options, we also tend to devalue the option that we have rejected, in order to reaffirm The thought we have cataloged as valid.
This explanation about cognitive dissonance is probably very easy to understand, but it may be more complicated to translate it into your everyday life. Identify if you have ever had this phenomenon or not.
Example of a case of cognitive dissonance
Let's look at an example to make it clearer how cognitive dissonance can work.
A person may know that smoking tobacco is bad for health, knowing that doing so can lead to physical problems in the future and yet continue Smoking several cigarettes every day.
In this case, we see inconsistencies and contradictions exist between certain thoughts of the smoker and their smoking behavior.
In a case like this, the person usually tries to deal with more or less luck to rationalize his contradictory thoughts, with the Purpose of preventing cognitive dissonance from causing discomfort.
In this way, the person who continues to smoke despite knowing that doing so is harmful to health, is likely to think things like:
He likes smoking a lot and the pleasure that comes with the moment he lights a cigarette has more value in his life than the exhaustive care Of your health.
That the chances that tobacco causes health problems are not so important.
That people can not avoid all the elements that can be dangerous to health, so nothing happens if it does not with the tobacco.
That if you quit smoking you would eat more and worse, gain weight and could cause other health problems, so it is as harmful to smoke as Stop doing it.
Thus, as we see, these four thoughts that a smoker may have, are contradictory with their knowledge about the harm of tobacco on health.
However, at the same time, these four thoughts get to become the most consistent within your ideas, so the smoker leans By one of its two options (smoking), giving it the necessary validity to continue smoking.
Thus, despite the fact that the option chosen does not contain enough evidence to be classified as the most appropriate of the two, the smoker Attributes them in a more or less coherent way.
The choice that the smoker makes when choosing the option of smoking and the thoughts that support it, prevents dissonance that causes discomfort or Psychological discomfort, as it adapts his actions to his prevailing thoughts.
However, not all people in all situations have the same fate as the smoker who is convinced of smoking, which, despite Harm his health, he lives happily without his cognitive dissonance causing him discomfort.
And it is that in a situation of cognitive dissonance people, for one reason or another, we may not be able to eliminate the disparity of thoughts and Not being able to opt for one, cataloging it as valid.
In these cases, there is a psychological discomfort and a feeling of discomfort when not knowing which of our thoughts are valid.
How does cognitive dissonance arise?
Cognitive dissonance and the reasons why people can hold two opposing thoughts at the same time or think and do one thing Different a phenomenon at least curious.
We often fall into the error of interpreting people as flat beings that are developed through a fixed pattern of functioning and that they acquire A series of determined thoughts.
However, people are much more complex beings that, in addition, we are in constant contact with external factors and we carry out processes of Adaptation to the environment on an ongoing basis.
In this way, cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon that can be explained through the very workings of human thought.
People are in constant contact with factors outside our own person, so we do not always have to get a single thought And true about anything quickly and effectively.
Thus, the following explanations could be made about the occurrence of cognitive dissonance in human thought.
1. Analysis of information
People can happen to us or we can receive new information about something that can make it difficult to obtain a single opinion, since No one can have complete and perfect control over the information that comes to him.
For example, a person may plan to go skiing on the weekend, check the weather, and predictions say that throughout the weekend Week will be good weather, without risk of precipitation, so you decide you do not need to pick up the chains for the tires.
However, when approaching the mountainous area you see how the indicator of your car marks a really low temperature (-5º), the sky is very Cloudy and starts to snow slightly.
In this case, the knowledge that it is bad weather and is beginning to snow is dissonant with the confidence he had in that he was going to make good weather During the weekend and it was not going to snow.
2. Complexity of the world
It is not always necessary for new and incompatible things to happen in the world, as in the previous case, for a person to experience dissonance Cognitive
In fact, there are few things that are completely white or black, so that the broad shade of gray from which many aspects of life are dyed, May be sufficient for a person to experience cognitive dissonance.
For example, a person who wants to buy a car probably prefers one if he is driven by the economic costs of his new vehicle, and another if he Is governed by the qualities, design or performance you want in the car.
In this way, whenever an opinion has to be formed and a decision has to be taken, it is almost inevitable that conflicting opinions will emerge, and At times, dissonance between what he thinks and what he does.
So, the person who buys a new car and finally chooses to buy the expensive car of the brand and the design he wanted, surely experience Dissonance between the action of buying that car and his thoughts of not wanting to spend so much money.
How should cognitive dissonance be managed?
From what has been explained above, we extract that cognitive dissonance is an inherent phenomenon of human thought, that is, the way of thinking itself We have people require the experimentation of cognitive dissonance on many occasions.
In fact, cognitive dissonance plays an important role in our thinking, for it forces us to seek reliable evidence and data before we give An option for good.
So, thanks to the disparity of thoughts that we can have at a given moment, we can make a more rational analysis about the situation Before opting for an option.
In other words, cognitive dissonance is that phenomenon of thought that prevents us from obtaining opinions automatically without thinking of others Options.
Thus, if we analyze it in this way, cognitive dissonance plays an important role in the cognitive development of people.
However, as we have remarked, cognitive dissonance usually causes psychological distress, so people try to decant us By an option, granting it as valid or as"the best"so as not to suffer psychological discomfort.
In this way, when we have a cognitive dissonance and we can not choose an option, we experience high levels of tension and discomfort For the simple fact of not being able to harmonize our thoughts.
In addition, this happens more frequently when what is dissociated is the thought with the behavior.
Thought-behavior dissociation
So when we want to go to the gym and lie on the couch because we are lazy to go to train, we usually feel bad for having made a Something that does not match our desire to improve our physical form.
The same can happen when we are on a diet and we eat a chocolate cake or when we have an important exam and we are aware of not having Studied enough.
In these cases, the cognitive dissonance causes us feelings of tension and discomfort that, to some extent, are justified, since we have not Done those things that we had proposed.
So, although the discomfort that dissonance produces us has an adaptive value since we are aware of those things that we have not done as We wanted to keep this discomfort for a long time does not usually bring benefits.
In this way, it is important to know how to manage the dissonance well so that it appears to the extent that it corresponds to it, but it does not contribute more effects Negative than it should.
For example, in the case of the person who starts a training plan and does not go to the gym because he prefers to watch TV, it is Evident that the fact that would eliminate dissonance would be to have gone to the gym.
However, if your decision has already been made you will not have the option to go, so the only way you will eliminate your dissonance will be through your cognition.
Thoughts such as"I should have gone","I'm not taking it seriously""I'll never get in shape"or"I have no willpower"will keep the Cognitive dissonance, but at the same time, will not help increase the motivation to go to the gym.
So it is important that these thoughts do not eternalize, and can be replaced by others as:"for one day nothing happens","tomorrow I will recover what Of today,""the rest of the week will do better,"which will reduce tension and discomfort.
Thus, what we are doing is removing negative value from the selected option of not going to the gym but, at the same time, we are maintaining the Final objective, so that the option to go to the gym next day will not be harmed.
And what case of cognitive dissonance do you recognize in your life?
References
- Delclaux, I. (1982). Introduction to the processing of information in psychology. In I. Delclaux and J. Seoane (eds.), Cognitive Psychology and
Processing of information (pp. 21-38). Madrid: Pyramid. - Eiser, J.R. (1980). Cognitive social psychology. A guidebook to theory and research. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
- Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Garratt, G., Ingram, R. E., Rand, K.L., and Sawalani, G. (2007). Cognitive processes in cognitive therapy: Evaluation of the mechanisms of change in
The treatment of depression. Clinical Psychology: Science & Practice, 14, 224-239 Jones, Edward, Gerard, Horold:"Feuf! Dalions of Social Psychalagy"Jahn Wille & Sons, Ine. New Yerk, etc., 1967.