Cognitive Dissonance Theory
According to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (beliefs, expectations, or opinions of a particular individual).
When inconsistency does exist between these beliefs or attitudes, psychological tension (dissonance) occurs and must be resolved through some action. This tension most often results when an individual must choose between two incompatible beliefs or actions and is heightened when alternatives are equally attractive to the individual. This tension state has drive-like properties. If dissonance is experienced as an unpleasant drive state, the individual is motivated to reduce it. However, it is not an easy state to reduce. Dissonance can be eliminated by reducing the importance of the conflicting beliefs, by acquiring new beliefs that change the balance, or removing the conflicting attitude or behavior. In theory, cognitive dissonance suggests that actions have a causal relationship upon cognitions. My personal example of cognitive dissonance is the purchase of a 1966 Mustang I made over the summer. This car was my dream car; it was all original, in good shape, and had all of the features I could ever want. I didn’t have much money but I was so excited that I took out my first loan to buy this beautiful car. However, when it came time for school in the fall, I discovered that it was not the ideal vehicle to drive over the mountains. It was an older car, it didn’t have seatbelts, and was very sluggish traveling over the mountain pass. I was extremely frustrated. Dissonance existed between my belief that I had bought a dream car and that a dream car should have seatbelts and have enough power to make it over a mountain pass. To eliminate this dissonance, I decided to store the car at my parents house and only drive the car infrequently. I decided that it didn’t really matter that it couldn’t drive over the pass; It was still a nice car and didn’t want to put a whole bunch of mileage on
When inconsistency does exist between these beliefs or attitudes, psychological tension (dissonance) occurs and must be resolved through some action. This tension most often results when an individual must choose between two incompatible beliefs or actions and is heightened when alternatives are equally attractive to the individual. This tension state has drive-like properties. If dissonance is experienced as an unpleasant drive state, the individual is motivated to reduce it. However, it is not an easy state to reduce. Dissonance can be eliminated by reducing the importance of the conflicting beliefs, by acquiring new beliefs that change the balance, or removing the conflicting attitude or behavior. In theory, cognitive dissonance suggests that actions have a causal relationship upon cognitions. My personal example of cognitive dissonance is the purchase of a 1966 Mustang I made over the summer. This car was my dream car; it was all original, in good shape, and had all of the features I could ever want. I didn’t have much money but I was so excited that I took out my first loan to buy this beautiful car. However, when it came time for school in the fall, I discovered that it was not the ideal vehicle to drive over the mountains. It was an older car, it didn’t have seatbelts, and was very sluggish traveling over the mountain pass. I was extremely frustrated. Dissonance existed between my belief that I had bought a dream car and that a dream car should have seatbelts and have enough power to make it over a mountain pass. To eliminate this dissonance, I decided to store the car at my parents house and only drive the car infrequently. I decided that it didn’t really matter that it couldn’t drive over the pass; It was still a nice car and didn’t want to put a whole bunch of mileage on
References: : Journal of advertisements. Journal of marketing research. Internet : http://uts.cc.texas.edu/~chaekm/dissonance.htm http://ciadvertising.org/studies/student/99_spring/interactive/tai/theory3/purchase.html Why do human beings make the decisions that they do, and what triggers a person to take action at any given point? These questions can be answered by evaluating the Cognitive Dissonance Theory. Leon Festinger developed this theory in order to explain why people attempt to reduce dissonance and try to maintain constant relationships. A dissonant relationship exists between elements that are in disequilibria with one another. Cognitive dissonance can occur interpersonally as well as between two or more people. With individual cognitive dissonance the individual longs for consistency within his or her own mind. Second, there exists dissonance between two or more people. This occurs when two people have differing opinions about a particular issue. According to this theory individuals will make decisions that will promote consistency in their cognitions. Thus, individuals employ several different coping strategies to deal with dissonance. Every person experiences some type of dissonance almost everyday. My experience to dissonance for this paper will examine the different reactions that my friend had to my different opinions concerning smoking. I have attempted to persuade my friends to stop smoking. While attempting the momentous task I observed Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance at work. For example, I told one of my friends that I was concerned about how much they had been smoking recently. He quickly told me that, “my grandfather smoked for nearly all his life and he is in good health.” In this particular instance we can see the basic premise of the consistency theories at work. The guy who said this statement likes me and is my friend. He also enjoys smoking. When I made the statement that I was concerned with the levels of tobacco consumption he disregarded my opinion by using past experiences as evidence to back his point....