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    Cognitive Dissonance Theory 1957

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    KimberlyLadea
    Leon Festinger proposed cognitive dissonance theory in 1957. The theory states that people have a motivation to maintain consistency among their cognitions (beliefs and opinions). When two cognitions are inconsistent or dissonant, it creates psychological discomfort that people are driven to reduce. People may reduce dissonance by changing their beliefs, acquiring new information, or decreasing the importance of certain cognitions. The magnitude of dissonance depends on how important the conflicting cognitions are and the ratio of dissonant to consonant beliefs. Cognitive dissonance plays a role in decision making and evaluations as people strive for consistency.

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    Cognitive Dissonance Theory 1957

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    KimberlyLadea
    229 views4 pages
    Leon Festinger proposed cognitive dissonance theory in 1957. The theory states that people have a motivation to maintain consistency among their cognitions (beliefs and opinions). When two cognitions are inconsistent or dissonant, it creates psychological discomfort that people are driven to reduce. People may reduce dissonance by changing their beliefs, acquiring new information, or decreasing the importance of certain cognitions. The magnitude of dissonance depends on how important the conflicting cognitions are and the ratio of dissonant to consonant beliefs. Cognitive dissonance plays a role in decision making and evaluations as people strive for consistency.

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    Leon Festinger proposed cognitive dissonance theory in 1957. The theory states that people have a motivation to maintain consistency among their cognitions (beliefs and opinions). When two cognitions are inconsistent or dissonant, it creates psychological discomfort that people are driven to reduce. People may reduce dissonance by changing their beliefs, acquiring new information, or decreasing the importance of certain cognitions. The magnitude of dissonance depends on how important the conflicting cognitions are and the ratio of dissonant to consonant beliefs. Cognitive dissonance plays a role in decision making and evaluations as people strive for consistency.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    229 views4 pages

    Cognitive Dissonance Theory 1957

    Uploaded by

    KimberlyLadea
    Leon Festinger proposed cognitive dissonance theory in 1957. The theory states that people have a motivation to maintain consistency among their cognitions (beliefs and opinions). When two cognitions are inconsistent or dissonant, it creates psychological discomfort that people are driven to reduce. People may reduce dissonance by changing their beliefs, acquiring new information, or decreasing the importance of certain cognitions. The magnitude of dissonance depends on how important the conflicting cognitions are and the ratio of dissonant to consonant beliefs. Cognitive dissonance plays a role in decision making and evaluations as people strive for consistency.

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    At a glance
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    The key takeaways are that cognitive dissonance theory proposes that people have a motivaton to reduce inconsistencies between attitudes, beliefs or behaviors, and they will change their cognitions to reduce dissonance and achieve consistency.

    The three relationships are consonant, irrelevant, and dissonant relationships.

    The two factors that determine the magnitude of dissonance are the importance of the cognitions and the ratio of dissonant to consonant elements.

    COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY 1957

    ( LEON FESTINGER )
    Cognitive - can be considered as belief
    Dissonance - an instance of such inconsistency or disagreement
    Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or
    behaviors.
    -

    An uncomfortable mental state resulting from conflicting cognitions,


    usually resolved by changing some of the cognitions.

    Leon Festinger (1957) proposed cognitive dissonance theory, which states that a
    powerful motive to maintain cognitive consistency can give rise to irrational and
    sometimes maladaptive behavior. Maladaptive behavior means study of
    someone's behavior can give an indication of that person's emotions, and how
    those emotions are handled.

    Explanation of Theory:
    This theory of Cognitive Dissonance says that human beings often have
    conflicting beliefs with actions they take, or other beliefs they have. This dissonance a
    tension and tension reduction is automatically sought by changing our evaluations by
    some degree. Cognitive Dissonance is when you have two good choices and you make
    your decision then you find yourself unsure or in doubt about the choice you made. You
    might have to downplay the other choice in order to reassure yourself.
    ( Examples of the Cognitive dissonance theory )
    Here are some examples of the Cognitive dissonance theory:

    Example 1: Knowing that smoking is harmful (First cognition) while liking to


    smoke (second cognition). The Cognitive dissonance theory's conditions were
    met because those cognitions are dissonant
    Example 2: Believing that lying is bad (First cognition) and being forced to lie
    (second cognition)
    Example 3: Liking a friend (first cognition) while knowing that he hates your
    brother (second cognition.

    Relationship between Cognitions


    Individuals can adjust their attitudes or actions in various ways. Adjustments result in
    one of three relationships between two cognitions or between cognition and a behavior.
    Consonant relationship Two cognitions/actions that are consistent with one
    another (Ex: Not wanting to get intoxicated while out, then ordering water instead
    of alcohol)
    Irrelevant relationship Two cognitions/actions that are unrelated to one
    another (Ex: Not wanting to get intoxicated while out, then tying your shoes)
    Dissonant relationship Two cognitions/actions that are inconsistent with one
    another (Ex: Not wanting to get intoxicated while out, then consuming six tequila
    shots)

    Magnitude of Dissonance
    The amount of dissonance produced by two conflicting cognitions or actions
    (as well as the subsequent psychological distress) depends on two factors:
    1. The importance of cognitions: The more elements that are personally
    valued, the greater the magnitude of the dissonant relationship will
    be.
    2. Ratio of cognitions: The proportion of dissonant to consonant
    elements
    The pressure to reduce cognitive dissonance is a function of the magnitude
    of said dissonance.

    How Attitude Change Takes Place


    According to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek
    consistency among their cognitions (i.e., beliefs, opinions). When there is an
    inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to
    eliminate the dissonance.
    1. Change one or more of the attitudes - behavior, beliefs etc. so as to make

    the relationship between the two elements a consonant one. When one of the
    dissonant elements is a behavior, the individual can change or eliminate the
    behavior. However, this mode of dissonance reduction frequently presents
    problems for people, as it is often difficult for people to change well-learned
    behavioral responses (e.g. giving up smoking).
    2. Acquire new information - that outweighs the dissonant beliefs. For example,
    thinking smoking causes lung cancer will cause dissonance if a person
    smokes. However, new information such as research has not proved
    definitely that smoking causes lung cancer may reduce the dissonance.
    3. reduce the importance of the cognitions - (i.e. beliefs, attitudes). A person

    could convince themself that it is better to "live for today" than to "save for
    tomorrow." In other words, he could tell himself that a short life filled with
    smoking and sensual pleasures is better than a long life devoid of such joys.
    In this way, he would be decreasing the importance of the dissonant cognition
    (smoking is bad of ones health).

    Cognitive Dissonance Importance


    Cognitive dissonance plays a role in many value judgments, decisions, and
    evaluations. Becoming aware of how conflicting beliefs impact the decisionmaking process is a great way to improve your ability to make faster and more
    accurate choices.

    Cognitive
    Dissonance
    Theory
    of Leon Festinger
    Written Report of : Jobelle Ann Joven Ladea
    AB-English II-B
    Mrs. Baselisa Palmenco

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