Cognitive Dissonance Theory Essay

created the cognitive dissonance theory as an attempt to explain why people desire to have consistency between their behaviors and actions. Cognitive dissonance is the distressing mental state people feel when they find themselves doing things that don’t fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold (Festinger, 1957; as cited in Griffin, 2009). Thus, people are motivated to change either their behavior or their belief when feelings of dissonance arise.

segregation and international liberation. For the world of the communication researchers, it also brought about the birth of one of the most notable behavioral theories known to date — the Cognitive Dissonance Theory. As mentioned by Bryant & Smith in their Historical Overview of Research in Communication Science (2010, p. 13), majority of the theories and research that supported the communication discipline was heavily borrowed and translated from other fields of study. Such is the case of Leon Festinger

     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:

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

disapproval of my family that the dissonance began to weigh more. Things only progressively got worst when I was medically diagnosed with mild obesity. It was only then that the cognitive dissonance made me begin to change my behavior. Cognitive dissonance theory explains the contradictions we have with our behaviors and beliefs but it can also be used to get us to have positive behaviors. Cognitive dissonance theory was created by Leon Festinger and to better explain his theory he used the topic of smoking

In the 1950s, Leon Festinger had come up with this theory of Cognitive Dissonance when a cult leader had persuaded his followers to believe that life on earth was going to end, and that those who were believers would be rescued by aliens. When this did not occur, they rationalized their beliefs by instead coming to the conclusion that aliens, rather, had saved the entire world. Cognitive Dissonance occurs when we hold a strong belief about something and then do something else that contradicts that

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

it’s pretty difficult. Luckily there are theories that propose many ideas that help me define myself. Theories such as the Symbolic Interaction theory, cognitive dissonance theory, expectancy violations theory, and temperament. These four theories are each very different but they can all be used to help define who a person is. They propose reasoning and thought behind the ways we behave, communicate, and feel. What we might think to be

said “just try, okay it will help you”. Then I answered, “I will opine about it”. In the end, I stated “yes”. I do not understand, I had many doubts actually at that time there was a conflict between what I believed and I did. 3 hypotheses Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Description of Theory The term dissonance refers to when one cognitive element is inconsistent with another cognitive element according to the lecture notes of Professor Soreno. Cognitive elements can be categorized in four groups called beliefs, attitudes, values, and perceptions of behavior. Beliefs can be defined as a perception that something exists or not. This perception can range from a central or peripheral type of belief. The more central a belief is, the harder it is to change that belief

This essay will evaluate the presentation of Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance in the world of social psychology. Throughout I will discuss the establishment of his theory, it’s supporting evidence and any limitations of this. I will also deliberate what it can explain and the alternative explanations presented by other psychologists; how they differ from Festinger’s, how they add to Festinger’s original theory and finally how they extend the knowledge in understanding the interaction

way by theories like the Attribution theory and its Fundamental Attribution error, along with Cognitive Dissonance theory all of which involve one's actions and attitudes. One of the theories is the Attribution theory. Attribution theory is when individuals discover the causes of behavior as part of the one in observation. This theory suggests that people are motivated to discover the deep meaning of their behavior as that person makes sense of other's behavior. The Attribution theory has three

Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Notable Modifications Sometimes the greatest test of a theory is its longevity. Over time, some theories will be disproved, some will be modified, and some will become the basis for a whole new group of theories. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance has stood up to challenge for over forty years, and is considered by many to be the single most important theory of social psychology. Though there have been modifications to the theory after

behavior, showcasing the aspect of cognitive dissonance where a feeling of disharmony arises when one is aware of two inconsistent elements such as behaving contrary to an individual’s attitudes (Chaiklin, 2011). Consistency theory maintains when the inconsistencies occur, individuals are encouraged to restore harmony through changing their behavior to reflect a position or finding justifications to explain the behavior. The cognitive dissonance theory indicates the cognitive and affective components of

The cognitive dissonance theory specifies that inconsistencies in an individual’s thoughts and actions lead to mental tension, dissonance, and cause us to take actions to reduce this dissonance. Actions include either changing the way you think about something or the way you action. The amount of dissonance can vary depending on justification; an unjustifiable causes more dissonance in comparison to acting with a good enough reason, depends how the individual’s morals. In Festinger and Carlsmith’s

environment. They know that smoking causes cancer but they still smoke. When people smoke that’s their behavior and they know that smoking cause’s cancer is cognition. Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and beliefs in harmony and avoid disharmony or dissonance (Mcleod, 2016). College campuses have become a place where students and teachers have to think twice before they speak. Our speech can be offensive to some students from different

then they placed the “dropped remainder” in an account they own. By using the Cognitive Dissonance Theory, I will analyze this artifact and incorporate how this theory is intertwined within the conversation between the characters Joanna and Peter. I will show how Peter uses selective exposure, post-decision dissonance, and two of the three parts of the state-of-the-art revisions to reduce his dissonance. Cognitive Dissonance is a distressing mental state caused by inconsistency between a person’s two

Cognitive Dissonance Theory, or CDT for short, is an objective communication theory that was developed by Leon Festinger. Cognitive Dissonance is defined as “The distressing mental state caused by inconsistency between a person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action.” (Griffin, Ledbetter, et al). An example of cognitive dissonance would be a health conscious smoker, this person knows that smoking is bad for them, but they still smoke because they enjoy it. Their desire to be healthy conflicts with

His theory asserts people have different views about the world around them; however, when these cognitions clash, an inconsistency arises which results in a state known as cognitive dissonance. People are then motivated to reduce the disharmony by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors or justify and rationalize them. His theory continues to be essential in psychology, communication, and other areas of theoretical study. Cognitive dissonance addresses the inescapable

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