What Is Cognitive Dissonance?
Everyone strives to live in harmony and agreement with themselves, their thoughts, and desires. However, life is complex and full of contradictions and inconsistencies, often leading to a state known as cognitive dissonance. Understanding this phenomenon can help us both in profiling and in lie detection.
The theory of cognitive dissonance was developed by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957 and is described in detail in his book of the same name. It explains the state a person experiences when two conflicting opinions, beliefs, or convictions arise within their cognitive system, as well as the actions they take to resolve this crisis.
Everyday Examples of Cognitive Dissonance
A vivid example is our craving for unhealthy food or bad habits. Imagine a person who is overweight going to the store and buying cakes, donuts, a box of cookies, and chocolate syrup. What thoughts might they have?
- “I shouldn’t eat cookies; they make me gain weight.”
- “I want cookies; they’re delicious and have chocolate chips.”
These thoughts contradict each other and create dissonance.
Why Cognitive Dissonance Happens
Cognitive dissonance is a completely natural state for humans. We all strive to build a clear, logical world according to certain rules—ideally, ones that match our own views. So, it’s no surprise that when our desires and beliefs don’t align with those of others or with established norms, we feel discomfort.
When faced with contradiction, people try to achieve consonance—that is, alignment—and unconsciously seek to get rid of discomfort. To reach a comfortable state and escape dissonance, we typically use one of the following strategies:
1. Changing Our Behavior
In the example above, this could mean giving up sweets, starting a diet, and going to the gym. The person might decide they made a mistake and vow never to touch pastries again.
2. Convincing Ourselves One Belief Is Wrong
We might tell ourselves that sweets aren’t that bad, or even that they’re healthy—after all, the cookie package mentions grains and vitamins. Or maybe, “Grandma always gives me pies; I can’t hurt her feelings.” This is a powerful driving force. There’s no one more passionate and diligent than someone trying to justify themselves.
3. Avoiding Information
This is essentially “burying your head in the sand”—refusing to consume information (“ignorance is bliss”). Since people dislike discomfort, they sometimes prefer to avoid situations that might cause dissonance. Someone might be absolutely convinced that the Sun revolves around the Earth, trees grow upside down, or snails fly in the sky, and no amount of scientific literature or discussion will change their mind.
We simply don’t want to trigger dissonance, because then we’d have to struggle with choices, analyze, and compare facts—which is much harder than being absolutely sure we’re right.
Why Is It So Hard to Overcome Dissonance?
Every time you try to resolve dissonance, you’ll encounter resistance from its elements, and there are several reasons for this:
- Strong emotional discomfort. A sweet tooth will have to endure a lot of pain before getting used to a new lifestyle. Knowing this, people try to avoid pain and continue eating sugar despite their beliefs.
- Actions have both positive and negative sides. If you’re tired after work but friends invite you to the movies, you both want to go and don’t want to go. You dream of sleeping, but also want to enjoy a film with good company.
- Sometimes change is impossible. If you’ve sold your apartment, you can’t get it back. It’s clear a mistake was made—you’d gladly change your behavior, but you can’t, so the dissonance remains.
How We Reduce Dissonance After Making Choices
Sometimes, it seems that making a choice gets rid of dissonance. That’s not entirely true, because even after a decision is made, you’ve given up all the advantages of the other option. Since this is unsatisfying, you start to devalue the alternative. For example, you might tell yourself that the car you chose was the one you wanted all along, and after driving it, you convince yourself it’s even better than expected, while the other car had a worse suspension, a noisy interior, and the wrong color. This calms us down and reduces dissonance.
Is Cognitive Dissonance Always Bad?
Cognitive dissonance is unpleasant and often unhelpful, but it does have positive aspects. Certain people can see contradiction as a challenge, try to understand the problem, piece together the puzzle, and build a complete picture of their thoughts. They can come to terms with themselves—and there’s no one happier than a person who lives in harmony with their feelings and actions.