The Validity of Cognitive Dissonance Theory Essay

event. While deciding to go to the party instead, it leads me in a state of tension as the party time can be well spent on studying for the final exam next morning. This state of uneasiness or tension is easily understood as Cognitive Dissonance. Cognitive Dissonance Theory, developed by Leon Festinger (1957), is concerned with the relationships among cognitions (Festinger, 1957). In this context, cognition can be perceived as a piece of knowledge that may inscribe an element of an attitude, an…

Cognitive Dissonance Theory Paper 1 Cognitive Dissonance Theory Paper Psy 400 Axia Online Cognitive Dissonance Theory Paper 2 Introduction The cognitive dissonance theory has many possible scenarios and examples chosen throughout life. The theory will be either enhanced or decreased depending on a number of factors such as the person’s moral values, social upbringing, and social status at work, religious…

Introduction This paper applies the principles of the cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) to the potential racial motivations of homegrown terrorists. Generally, the CDT rests on the premise that in a situation where one is faced with conflicting attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors, there is a need to restore harmony, with his or her pre-existing thoughts and ideas. In addition, this need for harmony can give rise to irrational and sometimes maladaptive behaviors in order to reinstate that balance (Mcleod…

     The theory of Cognitive Dissonance states that when individuals are presented with information that implies we act in a way that contradicts our moral standards, we experience discomfort (Aronson, Wilson, and Akert, 1998, P. 191). This is considered Cognitive Dissonance, A psychological term used to describe mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information; arouses unease or tension; relieved by one of several defensive maneuvers:…

CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1.1. What is Cognitive Dissonance? 1.2. Cognitive Dissonance Phenomena 1.3. Ways to address Cognitive Dissonance 1.4. Significance 2. Project Statement 3. Methodology 3.1. Sample 3.2. Material 3.3. Procedure 4. Results 5. Conclusion 6. References 1. Introduction 1.1. What is Cognitive Dissonance? The cognitive dissonance theory was proposed by a famous psychologist Leon Festinger in the 1950’s. The theory states that if a person holds two inconsistent…

The theory of cognitive dissonance started as a very simple observation by Leon Festinger that people do not like to deal with inconsistency. This simple observation led to the development of a theory that became very controversial, and it would be this controversy that propelled the theory forward. Many years of research has led to many different ideas of what cognitive dissonance really is and why it actually occurs. Festinger developed the term cognitions while developing his theory on cognitive…

Psych Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive dissonance theory has been around since the late fifties. It has inspired many psychologists to figure out the murky depths of people’s minds. The theory relates strongly to decision making, social phenomenons and mental angst. Many paradigms exist within cognitive dissonance. Two important paradigms are the Belief Disconfirmation paradigm and the Free Choice paradigm. There are several experiments that have been studied that relate to cognitive dissonance, including…

Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance or mental stress which is primarily caused by contradictory beliefs, can be a common part of some peoples life’s however we are psychologically motivated to avoid situations which cause mental stress. This paper will discuss a situation and the behavior using attribution theory, the reciprocal relationship between behavior and attitudes as well as how cognitive dissonance theory could be used to rationalize the behavior. Situation and Subsequent Behavior…

Cognitive Dissonance Theory Leon Festinger shared his brilliance with the world when he, opposing all previous psychological behaviorist work, created the Cognitive Dissonance Theory. In his own words, he quickly sums up this quite complex theory: "If you change a person’s behavior, his thoughts and feelings will change to minimize the dissonance" (Groenveld, 1999, p.1). In order to decode this dense statement, we must first be aware that Festinger held to be true that humans have a deep abiding…

Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance Consistency, the absence of contradictions, has sometimes been called the hallmark of ethics. Ethics is supposed to provide an individual with a guide for moral living, and to do so it must be rational, and to be rational it must be free of contradictions. When consistency and ethics are compromised, this is known as cognitive dissonance. Leon Festinger shared his brilliance with the world when he created the Cognitive Dissonance theory…