Dissonance as a result of decision making

Let's take a textbook situation: a girl bought tickets to the theater, but that same evening her friends are waiting for you to watch football. Regardless of your choice, remorse and regret await you after making a decision. The rejected alternative will equally well poison your life both in the second-tier box and in the chair in front of the TV. After devoting an evening to the theater, you will come to the conclusion that all the performances are rubbish, and the girl becomes obsessive. Having given yourself over to sports passions, you will decide that the game turned out to be boring, and your friends are limited people. This is cognitive dissonance: first we make a choice, after which the positive aspects of the rejected one come into conflict with the negative aspects of the chosen one, leading to psychological discomfort. A similar effect occurs with almost any choice from equivalent options. Without noticing it, you may experience slight dissatisfaction both when you choose a tie in the morning and when you make a purchase. The most clear illustration of such a struggle is the famous monologue about “big ones of five” and “small ones of three.”

Dissonance as a result of forced actions

Participate in the ritual weeding of potatoes, use reliable contraception, pay taxes - we always have to do what we don’t want to do. If you look at it, a person has to force himself not only every day, but several times an hour. Starting in the morning: getting up, exercising, shaving, breakfast. “The collision of two opposing knowledge about the same object” begins from the very moment of awakening. The object, that is, you, is, on the one hand, a physical organism. And he, this body, needs another 2-3 hours of sleep in the morning. On the other hand, you are a social organism that needs to go to work. Typical cognitive dissonance. We will omit the unpleasant moments of the work process; it is enough that we are not allowed to sleep at work. Closer to night, when the body finally wakes up and begins to demand adventure, the mind reminds that it’s time for a treat. We are again dissatisfied and do not know who to be offended at - either our physical self or our social self. At such moments, a collision occurs in our minds of the positive aspects of the desired with the negative aspects of the forced action. We curse the country in which we were born, snap at loved ones, break dishes, in short, we experience disharmony in our inner world.

Disagreement with the beliefs of a social group

Each of us has many social groups. These include family, friends, and work teams. And in each group there are certain rules, beliefs, and norms of behavior. Disagreement with the beliefs of one's social group is another source of cognitive dissonance. For example, all your friends have long ago acquired cars. Cars became the main topic of their conversations, cars entered their lives with rights that not every girl had in your life. And, of course, they, your friends, are offended that you do not share their insanity. Perhaps you don't own a snorting piece of hardware simply because you don't need it. A car ride to work takes 45 minutes, and 20 by metro. You don’t know what a technical inspection is, you don’t face the Saturday dilemma of “to drink or not to drink,” and you’re not haunted by nightmares about engine overhaul. But on the other hand, you also don’t know the special joy of passing a technical inspection. You do not participate in discussions about the advantages of Tavria over Oka; traveling out of town and transporting things is a problem for you. And no, no, and the thought will come: “maybe they are right?” In such situations, an individual, even if he is absolutely sure that he is right, inevitably worries about the discrepancy between his own opinion and the opinions of others. Moreover, resisting the majority can be much more difficult than changing one’s own position.

Dissonance resulting from unexpected consequences of an action

Any action implies a goal. Achieving a goal is the expected result of an action. But sometimes the result deviates from what was planned. You go home with the goal of making everyone happy with your promotion. But instead of joyful exclamations, you hear: “You already spend all your evenings at work, and now, presumably, you are going to move there?” You, remembering your youth, want to return the ball to the guys with a deft blow, but instead you hit the head of a sitting old woman and lose your shoe. Or, for example, in response to the original remark “Girl, can I meet you?” you receive explanations of the route to such distant lands that you forget where and why you were going. It is at this moment that you fall into the trap of two mutually exclusive knowledge. On the one hand, the tactics you used always led you to victory, on the other hand, it was precisely this that caused failure. Any unexpected result carries with it this contradiction between what was expected and what was received. It is not surprising that in the end you get upset, angry, surprised, in general, you find that very state of “psychological discomfort”.

Three ways to effectively combat cognitive dissonance

However, the very fact of the existence of cognitive dissonance is, in essence, of little interest. We already know that the problem of choice or an unpleasant outcome does not bring positive emotions. It is much more interesting to observe how our consciousness copes with such situations. Working in 1957 on the theory of cognitive dissonance, the American psychologist Festinger came to the conclusion that a person cannot remain in a state of stress for a long time and strives to restore internal harmony, as mentioned above. Experiments on patients have shown that there are three main ways to deal with conflicting knowledge.

O change one of the elements of dissonant relationships

Two knowledge about the same thing turns into two knowledge about different things. For example, after an unsuccessful attempt at dating, an individual tells himself that, on the occasion of a good mood, he just wanted to make fun of the unfortunate girl. After which disappointment gives way to satisfaction - the joke was a success. If you commit a forced act, convince yourself that it was precisely this act that you wanted to do.

O adding new elements consistent with existing ones

It is very easy to introduce a harmonizing element into a theatrical football situation; it is enough to buy tickets for another performance immediately after the match. You've been promoted, but your family isn't happy. What knowledge could be added here to make everything fall into place? Geniuses never found understanding in the family. And getting up early would be simply terrible if it weren’t for the certainty that after a couple of years of hard work you will forever be freed from the need to wake up before one in the afternoon. And in general, when faced with any dilemma, like Ilya-Muromets before a stone, think about whether it is possible to find a compromise solution. For example, go not straight, not to the right, but somehow diagonally, in order to save the horse and stay alive, or, in spite of fate, take some completely fourth option - turn the horse towards the familiar stove.

When reality raises too many questions, discomfort increases in the brain. Or in scientific terms: cognitive dissonance arises. In order not to stress and restore harmony, the brain invents perception tricks: blocks unfavorable information, finds the necessary evidence, calms, lulls. This property of our brain is used by those around us without a twinge of conscience. So knowing the tricks will help you not only understand yourself better, but also resist manipulation.

What is cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental or psychological discomfort caused by the clash of conflicting ideas, behaviors, beliefs, emotions or feelings. Occurs when a person receives unexpected information that is different from his past experience. Or when he witnesses unpredictable actions, inexplicable events. The mechanism of cognitive dissonance is based on a simple but common situation: the presence of two mutually exclusive desires.

Dissonance is the opposite of the balance our brains strive for. According to balance theory, people prefer harmony and consistency in their knowledge of the world. It is difficult for the psyche to be in a state of alarming inconsistency. Therefore, in order to reduce psychological discomfort from internal conflict, a person changes his opinion, comes up with an excuse for the change, and subsequently changes his behavior. This is how he maintains his peace of mind.

The paradox is that the more a person defends his behavior, the more willingly he changes his beliefs when circumstances change. For example, in moments of danger, after disasters, atheists become devout believers. The saying “there are no atheists in trenches” is about this. What else? Irreconcilable macho misogynists become caring husbands after marriage, and patriots, after emigrating to another country, actively stop loving their former neighbors.

How our brain reduces discomfort with cognitive dissonance

Let's say you smoke and receive information about the dangers of smoking. There are 4 ways to maintain peace of mind.

1. Change behavior: “I quit smoking to preserve my health and that of my loved ones.”
2. Justify your habit, add new facts: “I will smoke fewer cigarettes or replace them with less harmful ones.”
3. Change self-esteem or importance of decision-making: “If I quit smoking, I will get better (become angry). This will make it even worse for me and my family.”
4. Ignore data that contradicts beliefs: “I know smokers who lived to be 90 years old. So cigarettes are not that harmful.”

The listed mechanisms help not only to avoid internal tension, but also to avoid interpersonal complications. For example, we complain to strangers about our spouses, thereby relieving internal tension. Having done something bad, we look for allies. We come up with excuses for our spouses to cheat, we don’t notice the ugly actions of our children. Or vice versa – we downplay the career achievements of our competitors, explaining them as mere luck, hypocrisy, or cronyism.

The theory of cognitive dissonance and its evidence

The definition of cognitive dissonance is one of the basic concepts in psychology. The author of the theory and many experiments was the American psychologist Leon Festinger (1919-1989). He formulated a definition and two main hypotheses:

• Hypothesis 1: the mental discomfort experienced by a person in a certain situation will motivate him to avoid similar situations in the future.
• Hypothesis 2: a person experiencing psychological discomfort will strive by any means to reduce mental discomfort.

According to the author of the theory, the causes of cognitive dissonance can be logically incompatible things, cultural customs, the opposition of one person’s opinion to public opinion, and painful past experiences. That is, the proverb “burnt on milk, blows on water” precisely describes a person’s reluctance to repeat a negative or painful past experience.

Leon Festinger's theory is confirmed by experiments and studies of brain activity conducted on a tomograph. During the experiment, conditions were created for the subject to experience simple cognitive dissonance (they were shown a red piece of paper and named another color) and their brain activity was scanned on a tomograph. Tomography results showed that during internal conflict, the cingulate cortex of the brain is activated, which is responsible for controlling certain activities, identifying errors, monitoring conflicts, and switching attention. Then the experimental conditions became more complicated, and the subject was given increasingly contradictory tasks. Studies have shown: the fewer justifications a subject finds for his action, the more tension he experiences, the more excited this area of ​​the brain is.

Cognitive dissonance: examples from life

Cognitive dissonance occurs whenever there is a need to make a choice or express an opinion. That is, dissonance is an everyday, every-minute phenomenon. Any decisions: drinking tea or coffee in the morning, choosing products of one brand or another in a store, marrying a worthy suitor, will provoke discomfort. The degree of inconvenience depends on the significance of its components for a person. The higher the significance, the stronger the person strives to neutralize dissonance.

For example, the most painful cognitive dissonance occurs when when someone finds himself in a different cultural environment. For example, for women who left with their Muslim husband to his homeland. Differences in mentality, clothing, behavior, cuisine, and traditions cause severe discomfort from the very beginning. To reduce tension, women have to change their ideas about their own traditions and accept new rules of the game dictated by local society.

Knowing this feature of the human psyche, politicians, spiritual leaders, advertisers, sellers use it for manipulation. How it works? Cognitive dissonance causes not only discomfort, but also strong emotions. And emotions are motivators that force a person to take a certain action: buy, vote, join an organization, donate. Therefore, social agents in our environment constantly provoke cognitive dissonance in our brain to influence our opinions and behavior.

The most illustrative examples can be seen in advertising:

• Buy our product because you deserve it.
• Loving parents buy chocolate/water/toys/sour cream from our brand for their children.
• Real leaders have already subscribed to our channel/read the new book.
• Good housewives use our floor/stove/glass cleaner.
• This book is a real bestseller, haven't you read it yet?

So, the dissonance is complete. The brain begins to boil from tension and looks for ways to reduce unpleasant sensations, get out of the current situation, and plunge into a state of calm. If the right solution is not found or the situation is resolved destructively, the tension does not go away. And in a state of constant anxiety, you can reach neurosis or very real psychosomatic diseases. Therefore, the manifestation of dissonance cannot be ignored, but it is worth looking for ways to weaken it.

How to Reduce Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is embedded in our subcortex at the genetic level. Moreover, even primates experience discomfort when making decisions. Therefore, there is only one way to completely get rid of it - to completely close yourself off from society. But then the joy of relationships, communication, and learning new things will disappear.

But not everything is so categorical. Playing on emotions, artificially creating discomfort, motivation, influence - all these are not natural phenomena, but technologies invented by people. And what one person came up with can be solved by another. A few helpful tips will help you adjust your psychological “default settings” so that you don’t fall into brain traps so often.

Change the attitudes that prevent us from living

Attitudes are statements that we have adopted from people significant to us. Moreover, they adopted it only on faith, without evidence. For example, parents said: “Only those who are excellent students are worthy of respect. All C and D students are just losers.” When we come to an alumni meeting with such an attitude, we experience a real “brain explosion.” A C student owns his own business, while an A student is content with a modest office position.

What to do with incorrect settings? Learn to change to neutral. Write down on a piece of paper all the attitudes that interfere with your life and cross them out with a bold line. After all, life is unpredictable.

Use common sense

Experienced advertisers know that people are ready to automatically follow authority, so they use popular personalities in advertising: singers, actors, football players. In life, we also willingly obey authorities: parents, teachers, police officers, politicians. Dissonance is felt most painfully when we are confronted with the unsympathetic actions of such people. As soon as we start looking for excuses for such actions, we make the situation even worse.

How not to make excuses for others? Don't trust everything you say or see. Ask questions more often: why? who benefits from this? what's really going on? After all, authorities are people with their own shortcomings and weaknesses.

Add a drop of cynicism

There are truths in life that we refuse to acknowledge and constantly step on the same rake. For example, by constantly helping adult children, we do not allow them to grow up. Or: others need us only when we bring them benefits. Or: a person whom we consider ideal may commit ugly acts. Or: although money will not provide happiness, it is much easier to develop, realize yourself, help your family, and travel with it.

Does cynicism help you be happier? Dosed cynicism, criticality, and a sense of humor are unlikely to make a person a cynic. But they will help remove the rose-colored glasses of trust.

When the brain is cleared of old programs and attitudes, stops believing everything that is said and learns to think critically, transformations begin in life. Without unnecessary stress, physical pain goes away, exaggerated emotional reactions to stimuli disappear, and a desire arises to independently evaluate what is happening. But the main thing is that we stop being afraid of making the wrong choices. After all, not everything in life can be measured using the signs “greater than,” “less than,” or “equal to.”

conclusions

• Cognitive dissonance is psychological stress due to a discrepancy between expectations and real life.
• There is no single correct solution. To get rid of the constant torment of choice and the stress associated with it, it is worth developing your own rules of the game and gaining the unique ability to be yourself.
• Any unpleasant tension causes a desire to neutralize the imbalance in the most comfortable or simple way. This is self-justification, a change in beliefs, a change in behavior.
• The social environment deliberately causes an imbalance in us in order to force us to act in the right way. That is, he manipulates.
• Our nature is based on being curious and educated. A little criticism, cynicism and a sense of humor will help you survive.

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People by nature tend to live in harmony with themselves, their worldview, beliefs, principles, philosophy. This is what allows us to feel whole and satisfied. But often in our everyday life we ​​can encounter such a phenomenon when some contradictory ideas, reactions, ideas collide with each other in our minds. This is where we talk about the state of cognitive dissonance. And, despite the periodic appearance of this phenomenon in the lives of each of us, few people wonder what it really is. Nevertheless, every person needs to have the basics, because this will help him to better know, first of all, himself.

So, what is cognitive dissonance and how does it manifest itself in our lives?

Concept "the cognitive dissonance" comes from two Latin words - “cognitio”, meaning “cognition” and “dissonanita”, meaning “lack of harmony”, and is a special state during which a person feels mental discomfort caused by a clash in his mind of conflicting beliefs and ideas , reactions in relation to some phenomenon or object.

As an example, we can give the following situation: you are standing on the street and see two people - a respectable man and a tramp. You have your own idea about each of them: a respectable man seems to be an intelligent, well-mannered, gentleman, and a tramp is rather his complete opposite. But then a nice man’s phone rings, he answers the call and starts talking loudly, using a lot of obscene language, spitting on the sidewalk and completely not paying attention to those around him. At the same time, the tramp comes up to you and, in a tone worthy of a real intelligent person, asks you what time it is and how he can get to such and such an address. At a minimum, you will be surprised and discouraged by this state of affairs - opposing ideas and beliefs have just collided in your mind. This is cognitive dissonance.

The theory of cognitive dissonance was first proposed by an American psychologist. Leon Festinger in 1957. With the help of it, he tried to explain conflict situations in the cognitive sphere of the individual caused by events, phenomena or actions of other people. This theory is due two hypotheses:

• In a state of cognitive dissonance, a person will invariably strive to eliminate the inconsistencies that caused it. This is influenced mainly by the state of psychological discomfort accompanying dissonance.
• To neutralize this discomfort, a person will strive to avoid situations that may aggravate it.

Causes for the occurrence of cognitive dissonance can be different:

• Any situation from the present does not correspond to the experience from the past
• One person's opinion contradicts the opinions of others
• Traditions and customs of other nations unfamiliar to humans
• Logical inconsistency of any facts

The impact of cognitive dissonance is often underestimated, when in fact it is very serious. As already mentioned, this condition itself arises when a person’s knowledge does not correspond. Therefore, for example, in order to make a decision, a person sometimes must leave aside his knowledge and do something differently, which, in turn, creates a discrepancy between what he thinks and what he does. The result of this is a change in attitudes, which is simply necessary and inevitable for a person’s knowledge to be consistent. This is what serves as a catalyst for the fact that many people often justify some of their actions, thoughts, mistakes and actions, changing their beliefs to please them, because this neutralizes intrapersonal conflict.

Cognitive dissonance, depending on the situation, tends to become stronger or weaker. For example, in a situation where a person helps a person who does not particularly need it, the degree of dissonance is minimal, but if a person understands that he must urgently start important work, but is doing something unrelated, the degree will be higher. The intensity of the state of dissonance directly depends on the importance of the choice facing the person. However, any fact of dissonance motivates a person to his elimination. There are several ways to do this:

• Change your tactics
• Change your beliefs
• Evaluate new information critically

An example situation: a person strives to acquire an athletic physique. It’s beautiful, pleasant, makes you feel good, and your health will be stronger. So that he must start working out, go to the gym, go to training regularly, eat right, follow a regime, etc. If a person has not done this before, he must, by all means, start, or find many reasons why he does not need it, and he will not do it: no time or money, poor (supposedly) health, and So the physique is, in principle, normal. Thus, any actions of a person will be aimed at reducing dissonance - getting rid of contradictions within himself.

But the appearance of cognitive dissonance can be avoided. Most often, this is helped by simply ignoring any information regarding the problem, which may differ from the existing one. And in the case of a state of dissonance that has already arisen, you can neutralize the further development of this process by adding new ones to your system of beliefs, replacing the old ones with them. It turns out that you need to find information that “justifies” existing thoughts or behavior, and try to avoid information that is contrary. But often this strategy leads to fear of dissonance, prejudice, personality disorders and even neuroses.

In order not to perceive cognitive dissonance painfully, you just need to accept the fact that this phenomenon occurs at all. It is important to understand that the discrepancy between some elements of a person’s belief system and the actual state of affairs will always be reflected in life. In fact, it is much easier to accept the facts as they are and try to adapt to the circumstances, without wasting your energy on thoughts that maybe something was done wrong, some decision was made incorrectly, some the choice was not made entirely correctly. If something has already happened, then so be it. In one of the books of the famous writer Carlos Castaneda, in which he describes the process of his training with an Indian shaman, his teacher tells him about one very effective way to live - to be a Warrior. Here it is not worth going into details of the philosophy of this path, but you just need to say that one of its main features is that a person can doubt and think until the moment he makes a decision. But having made his choice, he must cast aside all his doubts and thoughts, do what is necessary, and calmly accept the result, whatever it may be.

As for the worldview as a whole, a state of cognitive dissonance most often arises only because we are firmly convinced that something should be this way and no other way. Many people believe that their opinion is the only correct one, that only the way they think is correct, everything should be the way they want. This position is the least effective for a harmonious and happy life. The best option would be to accept that everything can be completely different from our thoughts, views and beliefs. The world is full of not just different people and facts, but also all sorts of mysteries and unusual phenomena. And our task is to learn to look at it from different angles, taking into account any possibilities, and not to be “narrow-minded”, stubborn people and fixated on themselves and their knowledge. Cognitive dissonance is a condition that is inherent, to varying degrees, in every person. It is important to know about it and be able to identify and neutralize it. But it is equally important to take it for granted.

What is your opinion on this issue? Surely, when reading the article, you remembered several interesting examples of cognitive dissonance from your personal life. Tell us about your experience, because nothing generates such interest as real stories. In addition, many will be interested in reading about how someone else comes out of this state. So we are waiting for your stories and comments.

“It is not the strongest or the smartest who survive, but those who best adapt to change.”
Charles Darwin

Psychologists call the state of an individual caused by contradictions in his mind between several ideas and concepts, accompanied by a feeling of internal discomfort, cognitive dissonance.

This term was coined in 1944, it was first voiced by Fritz Heider, and the author of the theory of the same name, formulated later, was the American Leon Festinger. In his work devoted to the study of this phenomenon, the psychologist defined a person’s state of mind, outlined ways out of a psychological crisis, and also examined the most common examples of behavioral reactions associated with cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is a condition characterized by a collision in a person’s mind of conflicting knowledge, beliefs, and behavioral attitudes regarding some object or phenomenon.

The essence of the theory boils down to the following: a person’s beliefs largely determine his actions in life situations and determine his position on most significant issues. Thus, it is impossible to interpret them only as a sum of knowledge, since they are motivational factors. Festinger took two behavioral hypotheses as a basis, according to which an individual will always be strive to overcome psychological discomfort caused by a discrepancy between his own beliefs and personal experience and information received from the outside. Moreover, in the future a person will try in every possible way to avoid situations that cause such a state.

An experiment to test the theory in action was conducted by J. Brehm, who invited a group of subjects to evaluate various household appliances. After this, participants were allowed to take any item of their choice as a reward. A repeated survey showed that people spoke highly of the products they had chosen, while they tried to find shortcomings in the rejected ones. From Brem's point of view, this behavior well illustrates the theory of cognitive scientists. The subjects, having made their choice, tried in every possible way to justify it. The positive aspects of the chosen subject were exaggerated, while the negative ones, on the contrary, were smoothed out.

To people far from science, the theory of cognitive dissonance seems to be something not very clear. In fact, behind the complex terms lies a phenomenon that each of us, without knowing it, encounters almost every day. Let's try to explain what this is in simple words, using clear examples.

The term “cognitive” in psychology is usually understood as knowledge, and the term “dissonance” is used by musicians to denote a discordant sound. Thus, cognitive dissonance is the discrepancy between two ideas in the mind of an individual. To eliminate the emotional distress caused by such a situation, it is necessary for the cognitions to sound in unison. This can only be achieved by eliminating contradictions.

Smokers serve as a clear illustration. Any reasonable person understands that a bad habit causes irreparable harm to health. Awareness of this fact undoubtedly has a depressing effect on the psyche. But at the same time, one is doing everything possible to get rid of the addiction, while the other chooses the path of least resistance, convincing himself that nothing bad will happen to him.

In support, examples of famous people are given: Fidel Castro, who did not let a cigar out of his mouth, lived to a ripe old age. Based on this, it is concluded that the harm from smoking is greatly exaggerated. Inner peace is achieved without much effort, by simply eliminating “extra” information.

Of particular interest is the fact that people are ready to go far in justifying their actions and this is much easier for them than admitting they are wrong. Festinger quickly realized that most of the mysterious behavior patterns of people are nothing more than a consequence of cognitive dissonance and the desire to deal with it. The practical implication that follows from Festinger's theory is that most of us are easily manipulated by other people or the media. This can only be avoided by working on oneself, careful introspection, and developing willpower.

What are the causes of cognitive dissonance?

A state of cognitive dissonance can occur in any of us and, unfortunately, this happens more often than we would like. By building psychological defense, a person filters out information that does not fit into the framework of his worldview. Everything you don’t want to hear automatically goes into the category: “this can’t be true.”

Perhaps, in some cases, maintaining peace of mind at the expense of ignoring the truth is acceptable. But in general, such behavior leads to moral degradation, since a person becomes easily controlled. Logical thinking and analysis are replaced by an emotional component, under the influence of which decisions are made. For the sake of preserving his beliefs and peace of mind, an individual easily refuses knowledge that does not fit into his value system.

Often, cognitive dissonance is associated with certain obligations that we place on ourselves, guided by personal beliefs or public morality. A woman living with a tyrant husband convinces herself that she is doing this for the sake of her children, who should have a father. The wife of an alcoholic or reveler endures infidelity and binges for the sake of the status of a married lady, believing that society’s attitude towards “divorced women” is negative.

In fact, the reason lies much deeper, unwillingness and inability to make independent decisions, bear responsibility for them. Many people prefer to deny obvious facts in order to comply with imposed standards. People deceive themselves, often becoming victims of other people's manipulations.

How to get rid of cognitive dissonance?

Psychological discomfort causes unpleasant sensations, which can result in nervousness, loss of appetite, and loss of interest in life. A person’s first reaction will be a desire to reduce tension or get rid of it altogether. What needs to be done to find peace of mind?

Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance offers several options for overcoming a psychological crisis:

1. A radical change in behavior. This may include, among other things, refusal of actions or intentions that contradict moral principles and beliefs;
2. Changing your personal attitude to what is happening, for cases when circumstances do not depend on you;
3. Using dosed information to create a positive attitude. There is no need to accumulate negative emotions; try to find as many positives as possible in the situation.

Example

Let’s imagine an ordinary life situation: you have a great job, but you’re unlucky with your boss. This person’s behavior can hardly be called correct. His rudeness infuriates him, but it is impossible to change his superiors without changing his place of service.

You have three options:

• quit;
• stop paying attention to offensive attacks;
• convince yourself that a good team and a big salary outweigh the “minus” of an unbalanced boss.

Each of them solves your problem in its own way. However, the first one creates difficulties in finding a new job, so it is not always acceptable. The second and third are softer, you don’t lose anything, you even gain. But in this case, you will have to work on yourself to change your attitude towards what is happening.

How to deal with the problem?

One of the most accessible ways to cope with the phenomenon of dissonance and the consequences associated with it is to accept the current circumstances and adapt to them. “If life gives you a sour lemon, make delicious lemonade,” advised Dale Carnegie. There is no point in digesting what has already happened over and over again, worrying, asking the question: “Did I do the right thing?” It would be wiser to make the most of the current situation for yourself or consider it as a lesson for the future.

The famous Soviet actor Vaclav Dvorzhetsky spent part of his adult life in Stalin's camps. When asked how he managed to survive in such difficult conditions, maintaining health and love of life, he replied that he remembers his time in prison as the best years of his life. Despite everyday difficulties, backbreaking work and lack of normal nutrition, there he was surrounded by people close in their way of thinking, that is, in a state of mental comfort. In his memoirs, Dvorzhetsky wrote that his rich imagination helped him cope with the situation. Every time he went to work or fell asleep in a barracks, he imagined himself in a completely different environment, carried away in his dreams away from the surrounding reality.

Learn to admit your own mistakes

The state of cognitive dissonance in most cases arises due to a person’s reluctance to admit his own mistakes. Many consider their rightness to be undeniable, they are sure that everything should be only the way they imagine it. Such a life position does little to promote happiness and spiritual harmony.

The task of the individual is comprehensive development, which is impossible without broadening one’s horizons. The world around us is full of various phenomena, events and facts that may contradict our beliefs. The only right decision will be to accept it this way, to learn to look from different angles, without focusing only on your knowledge.

Other examples of cognitive dissonance

One of the most common cases is unexpected changes in weather conditions. And it’s true, very often people make plans for the weekend, confident that the weather will be sunny and clear. But waking up in the morning, they find a cloudy, cloudy sky, or even rain or downpour. And the dissonance that arises is completely justified - the person was firmly confident in the future, but the unexpected happened. It’s easy to get out of this situation - you just need to not change your plans and accept that a great trip is possible even in cloudy weather.

Also a very common situation arises regarding people different social levels. It happens that a dirty tramp gets thoughtful and throws the wrapper in the trash, but a respectable young man does not attach any importance to this and throws it at his feet. Why not dissonance?

A person of full physique may develop a desire to lose weight and get his body in good shape, but he will come to the realization that he will have to completely change his lifestyle, start systematically exercising and eating normally. This will do at odds with his beliefs, lifestyle. And the way out of this situation is to change life principles, because for the sake of some goals you have to change your own foundations.

May experience cognitive dissonance and ideas about some people. For example, a person whom you know very well - quiet and modest, in some situation shows you his other side - violent and aggressive. This will greatly affect awareness, and cognitive dissonance will arise. But we should still accept that people are versatile and, if we do not know some of their characteristics, this does not mean that they do not exist at all.

Emotions

28.10.2017

Snezhana Ivanova

What does cognitive dissonance mean? When encountering this concept, most people are confused because they do not understand its meaning.

What does cognitive dissonance mean? When encountering this concept, most people are confused because they do not understand its meaning. However, it is quite common in our everyday life. In most cases, so often that we don’t even notice it. Let's take a closer look at this issue.

Cognitive dissonance theory

The theory of cognitive dissonance is called Festinger's theory. This scientist was the first to describe the psychological state of an individual who is faced with some inconsistency in his idea of ​​an object or phenomenon. Festinger called the theory of cognitive dissonance a condition in which the usual idea of ​​​​an object collapses. The individual remains at a loss because he does not know what to do with the new information, how to apply it and what should be done.

Cognitive dissonance as a phenomenon develops for several reasons. These reasons are simple and understandable for those who think about the origin of certain concepts. The theory of cognitive dissonance is a topic that deserves detailed consideration and comprehensive study. As a rule, it interests people close to psychology, involved in personal development and self-improvement. A sufficient number of examples from life can be given.

Mismatch of expectations

This is the first and most important reason for the appearance of cognitive dissonance. The discrepancy between expectations leads to the fact that a person begins to build in his head a search for understanding of some issue, to look for an appropriate explanation. And this cannot always be done in a rational way. If the phenomenon or event that occurs does not correspond to the expectations placed by the participants in the action or simply observers, then cognitive dissonance occurs. This phenomenon is also called mental shock. An example can be given as follows: in an exam, teachers always expect a better answer from a stronger student. If a mediocre student suddenly begins to show bright, extraordinary abilities, while an excellent student, for some unknown reason, cannot put two words together, then the certification commission is, to put it mildly, very surprised. This is how cognitive dissonance forms. His theory implies the presence of some kind of mental inconsistency, a disagreement in understanding the essence of things.

Difference of opinions

Such a phenomenon as a difference of opinion can also cause the formation of cognitive dissonance. The fact is that in a dispute situation, every person is inclined to consider himself right. This is why an opponent's theories are often perceived as incorrect and, in some cases, even unworthy of attention. In this way, people protect their personal space and preserve their individuality. Being true to your own opinion allows you to remain yourself and not adapt to your partner. The theory of cognitive dissonance includes many examples that show how difficult it is for people to come to terms with the presence of an opposing judgment.

The theory of cognitive dissonance itself implies some disagreement with the views and judgments of the opponent. That is, a person intentionally or unwittingly begins to speak out against his interlocutor. Even if there is no open conflict between them, tension in the interaction will still be felt. Some people for years do not express to each other the complaints that they carry in their hearts. This position allows them not to openly conflict and not express accumulated discontent until the last moment. Of course, this approach cannot be called correct. Rather, it helps to lose trust, relationships become dry and formal. An example would be a situation where partners protect their personal space and at the same time learn something completely unexpected about each other. Here the cognitive dissonance is manifested very clearly.

Deviation from generally accepted norms

In the public consciousness, moral standards are of great importance. When someone tries to speak out against social attitudes, people around them usually get shocked. It’s just that people’s consciousness is structured in such a way that it perceives only that information that it is able to comprehend, understand and accept. Any deviation from generally accepted norms is often perceived not just with hostility, but as something dangerous. People in most cases try to avoid unknown concepts. Subconsciously, their internal psychological defense mechanism is triggered. An example of cognitive dissonance in this case is the perception of homosexual behavior by others. Most people simply cannot perceive this phenomenon adequately. If this concerns their relatives, for many this circumstance is a reason for shame. People do not dare share such details about their relatives among their colleagues, fearing expressed misunderstanding and condemnation.

Social conflict

The theory of cognitive dissonance is extremely interesting to researchers in the field of self-improvement and personal growth. Modern psychological science examines this phenomenon from different angles, trying to understand its nature. Cognitive dissonance occurs due to social differences. Social inequality gives rise to many misunderstandings and open discontent. In an effort to take care of their own well-being, people sometimes easily forget about those around them.

Cognitive dissonance manifests itself in a certain way in everyday reality. This phenomenon occurs quite often in our lives. If people were more attentive even to their own feelings, they would be able to detect manifestations of some discrepancy between their own and other people’s expectations. What are the ways of expressing the theory of cognitive dissonance?

Psychological discomfort

This phenomenon is a prerequisite for the appearance of cognitive dissonance. Psychological discomfort appears when a person is unable to satisfy his significant needs. The fact is that a person simply does not know how to cope with growing anxiety and despair. He makes some attempts to feel better, but this is not always successful. Psychological discomfort becomes a clear manifestation of the discrepancy between internal expectations and the efforts made. People most often do not even try to analyze what is really happening to them and do not understand their own feelings. Psychological discomfort often forces a person to look for some kind of justification for his actions, to rely on strangers. In difficult situations, almost everyone feels extremely insecure.

Feeling confused

Cognitive dissonance is one of those phenomena that often begins to control a person’s life. A person experiences a feeling of confusion when he is faced with a situation that is incomprehensible to him. Trying to solve it in his usual way, he often fails. That is why in a state of confusion it is so difficult to find the right solution. There may be a way out for everyone in their own direction. But when expectations do not meet, it is human nature to get lost. In some cases, faith in one's own prospects and capabilities is lost. The feeling of confusion in many cases does not allow achieving significant results. A person begins to feel a sense of self-doubt. Prospects and opportunities seem very vague, uncertain and even unrealistic. If every person learned to maintain a sense of inner balance, he would be able to feel better under any circumstances. A feeling of confusion often prevents us from experiencing the wonderful moments of life and getting closer to understanding the essence of our being.

Negative feelings

Not all feelings bring joy and happiness to a person. The emotional sphere is a system that has not yet been fully studied by leading experts in the field of psychology. It is known that positive emotions help prolong life, while negative feelings contribute to a deterioration in the quality of life. A person's state changes depending on the emotions he experiences. Negative feelings often create cognitive dissonance. This happens because emotions greatly influence the ability of people to hear and understand each other. There are enough examples in life of the great influence feelings have on the state of mind. A personality can fully develop only when it is not limited by its own emotions. Rejecting and rejecting something prevents you from getting closer to the desired result. The discrepancy between one's own expectations leads to internal conflict and does not allow the individual to feel happy and self-sufficient. The more a person tends to dwell on his own shortcomings, the more susceptible he is to the negative effects of stress.

Thus, cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon in which a person cannot feel whole and self-sufficient. The more surprise and negative impressions we experience at the moment of emotional shock, the more difficult it becomes to believe in what is happening and to try to find the right solution.