Cognitive dissonance is a state of psychological discomfort caused by a collision in the mind of a person of conflicting knowledge, beliefs, beliefs, ideas, behavioral attitudes, regarding a certain object or phenomenon. The theory of cognitive dissonance was proposed by Leon Festinger in 1957. According to her, the state of cognitive dissonance does not suit a person, therefore, an unconscious desire arises in him - to harmonize his system of knowledge and beliefs, or, in scientific terms, to achieve cognitive consonance. In this article, friends, I will tell you about cognitive dissonance in a simple language that most people understand, so that you have a complete and clear idea of \u200b\u200bthis negative motivating state.
To begin with, let's find out why the state of cognitive dissonance is negative and what exactly and why it prompts us. Perhaps, dear readers, you have noticed that your brain is constantly striving to put things in order in everything that you see and hear around you. And how often do we see and hear things in our lives that do not agree with our own attitudes? Well, let's say, not often, but this happens periodically, you see. You and I sometimes observe logical inconsistency in the actions of other people, we observe events that, in their structure, may not correspond to our past experience and our ideas about them, that is, we may not understand the pattern of the events we observe, they may seem illogical to us. Also, sometimes we can observe a discrepancy between cognitive elements and cultural patterns, that is, to put it simply, norms. This is when a person does something not the way it should be done - from our point of view. It is supposed to be done this way, but he does it differently, violating certain rules. So, when you see such inconsistencies, illogicality, inconsistency - what feelings do you experience? Negative, right? This is a feeling of discomfort, a feeling of slight irritation, and in some cases a feeling of loss, anxiety and even despair. That's why when we talk about cognitive dissonance, we're talking about a negative arousal state. Now let's see what it prompts us to do.
And it encourages us to bring something in line with established norms, rules, beliefs, knowledge. We need a clear, clear, correct picture of the world, in which everything happens according to the laws we understand and corresponds to our knowledge and beliefs. In such a world we feel comfortable and safe. Therefore, in a state of dissonance, our brain tends to reduce the degree of discrepancy between the settings that we adhere to. That is, he strives to achieve cognitive consonance - mutual consistency, balance of the state of the elements of the cognitive system. This is one of Leon Festinger's hypotheses. According to his second hypothesis, an individual, in an effort to reduce the discomfort that has arisen in him, tries to bypass situations that can increase this discomfort, for example, by avoiding certain information that is uncomfortable for him. I will put it differently - our brain tries to avoid discrepancies between what it perceives through our senses and what it knows. To put it even more simply, our brain tries to achieve a correspondence between the external and internal world in various ways, including by filtering out certain information. Below I will go into more detail about how he does it.
Thus, when there is a discrepancy between two cognitions [knowledge, opinions, concepts], a person experiences cognitive dissonance and experiences psychological discomfort. And this discomfort encourages him to do what I wrote above, that is, to try to bring everything in line with his knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, rules and norms. And this makes some sense. Our brains don't work that way by chance. The fact is that the consistency of our knowledge is necessary for us to understand the reality in which we find ourselves. And this understanding, in turn, is necessary for us to develop an appropriate model of behavior in a given situation that can arise in this reality. Which, in turn, makes the world around us more predictable, and we are more prepared for it, which allows us to feel more secure. The need for security is one of the basic human needs.
We must have an explanation for everything and everything that we observe in our lives. All the phenomena we observe must comply with our logic and be understandable to us. However, it is impossible to understand everything that is in this world, and even more so to coordinate everything with everything. Therefore, the state of cognitive dissonance haunts us constantly. The contradictions between what we knew, know and learn at the present time, and what is happening in reality, will always be. There will be because we live in a world of uncertainty and unpredictability, and this scares us. And since our brain cannot feel comfortable in a state of uncertainty, because its task is to protect us from all sorts of dangers for which we must be prepared, and therefore must be aware of them, it will always try to predict, explain, to justify, to investigate all the phenomena observed by him, with the help of the senses. That is, our brain constantly draws for itself a complete picture of the world, based on the data it has about it, trying to make this picture complete and understandable to itself, which often forces people with superficial knowledge of various things to mistakenly believe that they know everything. But we cannot know everything, no matter how smart we are.
In life, there are always situations that cause dissonance. For example, dissonance occurs whenever we need to make a choice. The need to make a choice plunges us into a state of uncertainty, we do not know exactly where one or another of our decisions can lead us, but we want to know. We want to make the right choice, we want to get the best result from all possible results. But the paradox lies in the fact that often we do not even have an idea of what may be the most important thing for us. the best result. Thus, the more important the choice is for a person, the higher the degree of dissonance, the more restless we feel. Therefore, some people like it when someone else makes a choice for them, and at the same time they want this choice to be as correct as possible. However, such a transfer of responsibility to other people, in the medium and long term, as a rule, does not justify itself.
A person, as we have already found out, does not like to be in a state of dissonance, so he seeks to completely get rid of it. But if this, for one reason or another, cannot be done, then a person seeks to reduce it, by all means available to him. And there are several of these ways. Let's take a closer look at them.
First, in order to bring his attitudes in line, a person can change his behavior in order to make it as correct as possible, primarily in his own eyes. Consider a simple example - a smoker can learn that smoking is harmful to health. A good example, by the way, life. So, after he finds out, he will have a choice - to quit smoking so as not to harm his health, or, to find an excuse for this bad habit of his. Or, he may avoid the topic altogether so as not to think about it. Suppose that a person does not want to change his behavior, that is, does not want to quit smoking. Then he can begin to deny that smoking is harmful to his health, based on the information he dug up somewhere, according to which, smoking is not only not harmful, but even beneficial to human health. Or, as I said, he may avoid information that indicates the harm of smoking in order to feel comfortable. In general, a person will make a decision anyway. After all, our behavior must correspond to our knowledge, our attitudes, rules. We must be sure that we are doing the right thing. Or our knowledge must match our behavior. Of course, it is wiser to change your behavior to bring it into line with common sense. If something harms us, we should avoid it, and not look for an excuse for it. But our brain can deceive itself, and it often does. Comfort is more important to him than objectivity.
Secondly, in order to reduce dissonance or get rid of it, a person can change his knowledge about something without changing, as we have already found out above, his behavior. That is, having information that does not suit him, a person who does not want to change his behavior in order to get rid of dissonance can convince himself of the opposite, in order to thus save himself from contradictions. For example, the same smoker can change his beliefs about the dangers of smoking, with the help of the information he found, according to which - at least smoking is not harmful. Or harmful, but not much to worry about because of it. In life, they usually say this - you can’t change the situation - change your attitude towards it in order to feel comfortable. And you know what, that's really wise advice. We know too little about this world to judge the correctness or incorrectness of certain things and phenomena. Sometimes, it is not superfluous for us to think about why we hold the beliefs that we hold, and also it will not be superfluous to doubt the correctness of the knowledge we have. It will be especially useful to do this in situations where this knowledge does not allow us to explain what is happening in real life. But if we talk about the example of smoking, then in my opinion, it is still better to adhere to those beliefs that indicate its harm than to look for evidence to the contrary. Tobacco companies will find the right words for those who want to continue to poison themselves, but at the same time not feel psychological discomfort due to the wrong behavior. So in this case, it is better to change your behavior, rather than change your knowledge.
Thirdly, if necessary, we can filter the information that comes to us that is related to a particular issue, problem, the solution of which, which we do not want to deal with. That is, the smoker can only hear what he wants to hear and see what he wants to see. If he hears that smoking is harmful to his health, he will miss this information. And if he hears out of the corner of his ear about the benefits of smoking, he will catch on to this information and use it as evidence of the correctness of his actions. In other words, we can selectively approach the information we receive, weeding out facts that cause us discomfort and exaggerating the importance of those facts that justify our position in life.
Thus, you and I see the clear need of our brain to immerse us in a state of certainty and security, in which all our thoughts and actions will have a logical explanation. Therefore, by the way, we do not like to revise our views on certain things when we come to the conclusion that they are wrong. We are trying to protect our beliefs through logical explanations of their regularity and correctness, so as not to radically change our picture of the world. A rare person can afford to change his beliefs, based on objective information and common sense, and not on his need for psychological comfort. But personally, I do not welcome the desire of a person to avoid or prevent the appearance of dissonance. I believe that avoiding information that is relevant to a particular problem of a person and conflicts with the information he already has on it is fraught with negative consequences. Say, avoiding information that smoking is harmful to health, a person will not solve this problem for himself, while accepting this information will allow him to take a broader look at his life in order to see himself in it as a non-smoker and at the same time the same, or even happier. , like now. It is my deep conviction that a person always needs a slight state of discomfort and even anxiety.
The world should not seem to us logical, understandable, problem-free, safe, predictable, because it is not. There will always be something in it that does not correspond to our knowledge and beliefs, and it is unlikely that we will ever be able to learn everything, understand and make ends meet. The world in which we live is an eternal riddle for our mind, and it will be better if it constantly solves it than if it decides everything for itself once and for all and plunges us into a state of unsafe comfort for us. This state of comfort and safety, based on the certainty and consistency of our attitudes, will reduce our survival skills.
THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
(English) cognitive dissonance) - the experience of discomfort arising from actions that go against one's own beliefs(attitudes). An internal problem, an intrapersonal conflict, can be resolved if one changes one's beliefs or interpretation of the situation. Cm. , .
Big psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK. Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003 .
The cognitive dissonance
THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (With. 303) - a negative motivating state that occurs in a situation where a person has two opposite ideas, judgments, intentions, etc., related to one object; the central concept of socio-psychological theory developed by the American psychologist Leon Festinger.
Festinger, in his research, relied on the principle of balance, using it in the analysis of a person's attitude to the world. He himself begins the presentation of his theory with the following reasoning: it is noticed that people strive for some consistency as a desired internal state. If there is a conflict between what a person knows, and the fact that he does, then they try to somehow explain this contradiction and, most likely, present it as non-contradiction in order to regain a state of internal cognitive coherence. Further, Festinger proposes to replace the term "contradiction" with "dissonance", and "consistency" with "consonance", since this last pair of terms seems to him more neutral, and now formulate the main provisions of the theory. It can be summarized in three main points: a) Dissonance can arise between cognitive elements; b) the existence of dissonance causes a desire to reduce it or prevent its growth; c) the manifestation of this desire includes: or, or a change in knowledge, or a cautious, selective attitude to new information. An example of a smoker, which has already become a household name, is given as an illustration: a person smokes, but at the same time he knows that smoking is harmful; he has a dissonance, out of which there are three ways: a) change behavior, that is, stop smoking; b) to change knowledge, in this case - to convince yourself that all the arguments about the dangers of smoking at least exaggerate the danger, if not completely unreliable; c) carefully perceive new information about the dangers of smoking, that is, simply ignore it.
The main practical conclusion that follows from Festinger's theory is that any psychological element of the subject can be changed: by questioning what a person thinks about himself, you can cause changes in his behavior, and by changing behavior, a person changes his opinion about himself. . Subjecting oneself to self-control and introspection, working on self-esteem, a person develops, grows personally. Otherwise, he gives his mental work to others, becoming a victim (or instrument) of someone else's influence. This is what the results of superbly designed experiments and his colleagues say.
One of the first experiments to test the theory of cognitive dissonance was carried out by J. Brem. He suggested that the subjects first evaluate several household electrical appliances - a toaster, a hair dryer, etc. Then Brehm showed the subjects two items from those that they carefully examined, and said that they were allowed to take any of them to choose from. Later, when subjects were asked to re-evaluate the same items, they were more positive about the product they chose and less about the rejected product. In light of Festinger's theory, the reason for this behavior is clear. Having made a difficult choice, people experience dissonance: knowledge of the negative characteristics of the chosen subject is dissonant with the fact of its choice; knowledge of the positive characteristics of the rejected subject is discordant with the fact that the subject was not chosen. To reduce dissonance, people emphasize the positive aspects and downplay the negative aspects of the selected items, and, conversely, emphasize the negative sides and downplay the positive aspects of the unselected item.
E. Aronson and J. Mills suggested that if people spend a lot of effort, and even more so make some sacrifices in order to gain access to a group that later turns out to be boring and uninteresting, then they will experience dissonance. Knowing what they have endured will be dissonant with knowing the negative aspects of the group. It is unpleasant for people to waste efforts in vain and make unpaid sacrifices. To remove dissonance, they try to change the perception of the group in a positive way. In Aronson and Mills' experiment, college girls had to pass an entrance test in order to become members of a debating club to discuss the psychology of sex. For some of the girls, these tests were very unpleasant - they were required to frankly demonstrate their sexual emancipation in the presence of a male experimenter. Even those who agreed to this (and not all agreed) were embarrassed and, that is, were forced to overpower themselves. For others, the test was easier - they were allowed, at their discretion, to perform the procedure incompletely and remain within the bounds of traditional propriety. Still others were completely spared entrance test. Then all the subjects listened to a tape recording of one of the discussions held in the club to which they were accepted. As expected, the girls who went through the most difficult and humiliating test rated the material they listened to as very interesting and informative, and this rating was much higher than that given by the other two groups of subjects.
Another experiment that Aronson did with employees a few years later was based on the assumption that if a threat is used to stop people from doing what they love, then the less the threat, the more those people will tend to belittle it in their eyes. case. If a person abstains from a favorite activity, he experiences dissonance. The knowledge that he loves this activity is dissonant with the knowledge that he is forced not to do it. One way to reduce dissonance is to diminish the value of the activity in your eyes. Thus, there is an excuse why a person does not do what he loves. Moreover, a weak threat causes less self-justification. This leads to adding your own arguments to convince yourself that a person does not like doing what he loves at all. In Aronson's experiment, it was found that children who were subjected to symbolic punishment for using their favorite toy decreased their love for that toy to a much greater extent than those who were subjected to serious punishment.
Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005 .
The cognitive dissonance
An unpleasant feeling arising from the inconsistency of a set of attitudes or beliefs about one object. There are the following causes of cognitive dissonance:
When two attitudes somehow disagree with each other, such as "I like this person" and "I don't like this person's political views."
When people do things that they did not intend to do, or behave in opposition to the stated attitudes. For example, a person promotes the benefits of
The less reason a person has for such behavior, the stronger will be the feeling of dissonance and motivation to change the basic attitude in order to restore the correspondence between attitude and behavior. Eg. our vegetarian could have had a wide choice of food, but chose a steak (weak argument). or was forced to eat a steak at gunpoint (strong argument). In the first case, the occurrence of cognitive dissonance is much more likely than in the second. The theory of cognitive dissonance implies that behavior that does not correspond to our installations forces us to change them in order to get rid of negative feelings.
Psychology. AND I. Dictionary-reference book / Per. from English. K. S. Tkachenko. - M.: FAIR-PRESS. Mike Cordwell. 2000 .
See what "COGNITIVE DISSONANCE" is in other dictionaries:
THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE- (lat. dissonans dissonant sounding, cognitio knowledge, cognition) concept in social psychology, explaining the influence of a system of cognitive elements on human behavior, describing the formation of social motivations under their influence ... ... The latest philosophical dictionary
THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE- (cognitive dissonance) A state characterized by a clash in the mind of an individual of conflicting knowledge, beliefs, behavioral attitudes regarding some object or phenomenon. A person seeks to overcome cognitive dissonance by ... ... Glossary of business terms
THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE- intellectual conflict that occurs when existing opinions and ideas are contradicted by new information. The discomfort or tension caused by the conflict can be relieved by one of several defensive actions: the individual ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE- English. dissonance, cognitive; German cognitive dissonance. According to L. Festinger, a state characterized by a clash in the mind of an individual of conflicting knowledge, beliefs, behavioral attitudes regarding c.l. object or phenomenon that causes ... ... Encyclopedia of Sociology
the cognitive dissonance- noun, number of synonyms: 1 inadequate condition (1) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary
The cognitive dissonance- (from the English words: cognitive "cognitive" and dissonance "lack of harmony") the state of the individual, characterized by a collision in his mind of conflicting knowledge, beliefs, behavioral attitudes regarding some ... ... Wikipedia
the cognitive dissonance- pažinimo disonansas statusas T sritis švietimas apibrėžtis Asmenybės būsena, atsirandanti dėl žinojimo, įsitikinimų ir veiklos bei elgesio prieštaravimų. Esant pažinimo disonanso būsenai, išgyvenamas vidinis nepatogumas (diskomfortas) arba… … Enciklopedinis edukologijos žodynas
THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE- (cognitive dissonance) a case of discrepancy, opposition or contradiction of thoughts, attitudes or actions, leading to a feeling of tension and the need to reach agreement. The term was coined by Festinger (1957). According to his definition... Big explanatory sociological dictionary
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Cognitive dissonance is a negative condition in which individuals experience mental discomfort caused by a confrontation in their minds of conflicting ideas, values, knowledge, worldviews, ideas, beliefs, behavioral attitudes or emotional reactions.
The concept of cognitive dissonance was first proposed by L. Festinger, a specialist in the field of psychology of thought control. In his research in the course of the analysis of the attitude of the individual, he was based on the principles of balance. He began his theory with the postulate that individuals strive for a certain coherence as a necessary internal state. When contradictions arise among individuals between the baggage of knowledge and actions, they seek to somehow explain such a contradiction, as a result of which they present it as a “non-contradiction” in order to achieve a sense of internal cognitive coherence.
Causes of cognitive dissonance
There are the following factors that cause a state of cognitive dissonance, as a result of which individuals often feel internal dissatisfaction:
Logical inconsistency;
The dissimilarity of the opinion of one person with the generally accepted;
Unwillingness to follow the norms of culture, established in a certain territory, where traditions are sometimes guided more than legislation;
The conflict of already experienced experience with a similar new situation.
Cognitive dissonance of the individual arises due to the inadequacy of the two cognitions of the individual. A person, having information on some problem, is forced to ignore it when making a decision, and as a result, there is a discrepancy or dissonance between the individual's ideas and his real actions. As a result of such behavior, a change in certain ideas of the individual is observed. Such a change is justified, based on the vital need of a person to maintain the consistency of one's own knowledge.
That is why humanity is ready to justify its own delusions, because an individual who has committed a misdemeanor tends to look for excuses for himself in his thoughts, while gradually shifting his own attitudes regarding what happened in the direction that what happened in reality is not so terrible. In this way, the individual "manages" his own thinking in order to minimize confrontation within himself.
Festinger's modern theory of cognitive dissonance reveals its purpose in the study and interpretation of contradictions that arise both in individual human individuals and in a group of people.
Everyone during a certain period of time acquires a certain amount of life experience, but overcoming the time limit, he must function according to the circumstances in which he exists, contrary to the knowledge gained. This will cause psychological discomfort. And in order to ease such discomfort of the individual, a compromise has to be found.
Cognitive dissonance in psychology is an attempt to explain the motivation of human actions, their actions in a variety of everyday situations. And emotions are the main motive for the corresponding behavior and actions.
In the concept of cognitive dissonance, logically contradictory knowledge is assigned the status of motivation, which is designed to ensure the elimination of the emerging feeling of discomfort when confronted with inconsistencies through the transformation of existing knowledge or social prescriptions.
The author of the theory of cognitive dissonance, L. Festinger, argued that this state is the strongest motivation. According to the classical formulation of L. Festinger, the dissonance of cognitions is a discrepancy between thoughts, attitudes, information, etc., while the denial of one concept comes from the existence of another.
The concept of cognitive dissonance characterizes methods for eliminating or smoothing out such contradictions and demonstrates how an individual does this in typical cases.
Cognitive dissonance - examples from life: two individuals entered the institute, one of which is a medalist, and the second is a C student. Naturally, the teaching staff expects excellent knowledge from a medalist, but nothing is expected from a C grade student. Dissonance occurs when such a three-year-old answers more competently, more fully and fully to a question than a medalist.
Theory of cognitive dissonance
Most motivational theories are first discovered in the writings of ancient philosophers. Today, there are already several dozen such theories. In modern psychological doctrines of motivation, which claim to explain human behavior, the cognitive approach to the motivational sphere of the personality is considered to be prevailing today, in the direction of which the phenomena associated with the understanding and knowledge of the individual are of particular importance. The main postulate of the authors of cognitive concepts was the point of view that the behavioral reactions of subjects direct knowledge, judgments, attitudes, ideas, views about what is happening in the world, opinions about causes and their consequences. Knowledge is not a simple collection of data. The ideas of the individual about the world predetermine, construct future behavior. Everything that an individual does and how he does it depends not so much on fixed needs, deep aspirations and eternal desires, but on relatively changeable ideas about reality.
Cognitive dissonance in psychology is a state of discomfort in the psyche of a person, provoked by a confrontation of conflicting ideas in his mind. The socio-psychological doctrine of cognitions was developed to explain changes in cognitions (opinions, attitudes, attitudes) as a method of eliminating logical conflict situations.
Cognitive dissonance of personality is characterized by a specific feature, which consists in linking together and, in other words, the emotional and cognitive components of attitudes.
The state of cognitive dissonance arises as a result of the realization by the individual that his actions do not have sufficient grounds, that is, he acts in confrontation with his own attitudes and attitudes, when the personal meaning of behavior is unclear or unacceptable for individuals.
The concept of cognitive dissonance argues that of the likely methods of interpreting and evaluating such a situation (objects) and their own actions in it, the individual prefers those that generate a minimum of anxiety and remorse.
Cognitive dissonance - examples from life were given by A. Leontiev: revolutionary prisoners who were forced to dig holes, of course, perceived such actions as meaningless and unpleasant, a decrease in cognitive dissonance occurred after the prisoners reinterpreted their own actions - they began to think that they were digging the grave of tsarism. This idea contributed to the emergence of an acceptable personal meaning for the activity.
Dissonance of cognitions can arise as a result of past actions. For example, when an individual in a particular situation has committed an act, which then provokes remorse in him, as a result of which amendments can be made to the interpretation of circumstances and their assessment, which eliminate the grounds for experiencing this state. In most cases, this comes out simply, since life circumstances are often ambiguous. So, for example, when a smoker learns about the discovery of a causal investigative connection between the occurrence of cancerous tumors and smoking, he has a lot of tools aimed at reducing cognitive dissonance. Thus, in accordance with cognitive theories about motivation, the behavior of a person depends on his worldviews and cognitive assessment of the situation.
How to get rid of cognitive dissonance? Often, external attribution or justification is used to eliminate cognitive dissonance. Responsibility for actions can be removed by recognizing them as forced measures (forced, ordered) or justification can be based on self-interest (well paid). In cases where there are few reasons for external justification, then another method is used - changing attitudes. For example, if an individual was forced to lie, then unconsciously he makes adjustments to his initial judgment about reality, adjusting it to a “false statement”, as a result of which it is subjectively transformed into “truth”.
According to a number of postulates, this concept converges with the provisions of the theories of cognitive balance and attribution introduced by the Austrian-American psychologist F. Haider, who based his theories on the principles of Gestalt psychology.
In a variety of situations that arise in everyday life, dissonance can increase or decrease. The degree of its severity depends on the problematic tasks that confront the individual.
Dissonance arises under any conditions, if an individual needs to make a choice. At the same time, its level will increase depending on the degree of importance of this choice for a person.
The presence of dissonance, regardless of the level of its intensity, forces the individual to get rid of it one hundred percent or significantly reduce it, if for some reason this is not yet possible.
To reduce dissonance, an individual can use four methods:
Change your own behavior;
To transform one of the cognitions, in other words to assure oneself of the opposite;
Filter incoming information regarding a specific problem;
Apply the criterion of truth to the information received, admit mistakes and act according to a new, more specific and clear understanding of the problem.
Sometimes an individual can prevent the occurrence of this condition and its consequences of internal discomfort by trying to avoid information about his problem that comes into confrontation with the data already available.
The filtering mechanisms of personally significant information for individuals are well spelled out in the theory of Sigmund and Anna Freud on psychological "defenses". The contradiction that arises in the minds of subjects regarding significant deep-personal topics is, according to Z. Freud, a key mechanism in the formation of neuroses.
If dissonance has already arisen, the subject can prevent its multiplication by adding one or more cognition elements to the cognitive schema to replace the existing negative element that provokes dissonance. Therefore, the subject will be interested in finding such information that will approve his choice and weaken or eliminate this condition completely, while avoiding sources of information that can provoke its increase. Often, such actions of subjects can lead to negative results - the individual may develop a prejudice or fear of dissonance, which is a dangerous factor affecting the views of the individual.
Between several cognitive components there may be contradictory relations. When dissonance occurs, individuals tend to reduce its intensity, avoid it or completely get rid of it. Such aspiration is justified by the fact that the subject sets as his goal the transformation of his own behavior, finding new information that would relate to the situation or phenomenon that gave rise to dissonance.
It is quite understandable that it is easier for an individual to agree with the existing state of affairs, adjusting his own internal ideas in accordance with the current situation, instead of prolonged reflection on the problem of the correctness of his actions. Often this negative state appears as a result of making serious decisions. The preference for one of the alternatives (equally tempting) is not easy for the individual, but having finally made such a choice, the individual often begins to realize "opposed cognitions", in other words, the positive aspects of the version from which he turned away, and the not entirely positive aspects of that alternative, with which he agreed.
To weaken or completely suppress dissonance, the individual seeks to exaggerate the importance of the judgment he has accepted, at the same time, downplaying the significance of the rejected one. As a result of this behavior, the other alternative loses all attractiveness in his eyes.
Cognitive dissonance and complete dissonance (a state of burdensome tension, feelings of hopelessness, anxiety) have the same adaptive strategies for getting rid of a problematic situation, since both dissonance and frustration cause a sense of disharmony in subjects, which they do their best to avoid. However, along with this dissonance and the situation that provoked it, can be both frustration.
Festinger's cognitive dissonance
Cognitive motivational theories, which are being intensively developed today, originate from the well-known works of L. Festinger.
The theory of cognitive dissonance in Festinger's work has two fundamental advantages that distinguish the scientific concept from the non-scientific one. The first merit lies, to use Einstein's formulation, in its reliance on the most general grounds. From such general grounds, Festinger deduced consequences that could be subjected to experimental verification. This is the second merit of Festinger's teaching.
Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance implies some kind of confrontation between several cognitions. He treats cognition quite broadly. In his understanding, cognition is any knowledge, belief, opinion about the environment, one's own behavioral reactions or oneself. The negative state is experienced by the subject as a feeling of discomfort, from which he seeks to get rid of and restore inner harmony. It is this desire that is considered the most powerful motivating factor in human behavior and his worldview.
The state of contradiction between cognition X and cognition Y arises if cognition Y does not come out of cognition X. Consonance between X and Y, in turn, is observed when Y comes out of X. consonance. So, for example, an individual who is disposed towards fullness has decided to stick to a diet (X-cognition), but is not able to deny himself a chocolate bar (Y-cognition). An individual who wants to lose weight is not recommended to consume chocolate. This is where the dissonance lies. Its origin motivates the subject to reduce, in other words, to eliminate, reduce dissonance. To solve this problem, the individual has three main ways:
Transform one of the cognitions (in a specific example, stop eating chocolate or complete the diet);
Minimize the significance of the cognitions involved in the confrontation relationship (decide that being overweight is not a big sin or that eating chocolate does not lead to a significant increase in body weight);
Add new cognition (a bar of chocolate increases weight, but at the same time, it has a beneficial effect on intellectual sphere).
The last two methods are a kind of adaptive strategy, that is, the individual adapts while maintaining the problem.
Cognitive dissonance requires reduction and motivates it, leads to a modification of attitudes, and then behavior.
Below are two of the most famous effects associated with the appearance and elimination of cognitive dissonance.
The first one occurs in a situation of behavior that conflicts with the individual's evaluative attitude towards something. If the subject agrees to do something, without coercion, in any way inconsistent with his attitudes, point of view, and if such behavior does not have a convincing external justification (monetary reward), then subsequently attitudes and views are transformed in the direction of greater conformity of behavior. In the case when the subject agrees to actions that are slightly contrary to his moral values or moral guidelines, the result of this will be the appearance of a dissonance between moral beliefs and knowledge about behavior, and in the future, beliefs will change in the direction of lowering morality.
The second effect, obtained in the course of research on cognition dissonance, is called dissonance after making a difficult decision. A decision is called difficult when alternative phenomena or objects from which one has to make a choice are equally attractive. In such cases, most often, after making a choice, that is, after making a decision, the individual experiences cognitive dissonance, which is a consequence of the ensuing contradictions. After all, in the chosen version, on the one hand, there are negative aspects, and in the rejected version, on the other hand, positive features are found. In other words, the accepted alternative is somewhat bad, but still accepted. The rejected version is partly good, but rejected. In the course of an experimental analysis of the results of a difficult decision, it was found that over time, after making such a decision, the subjective attractiveness of the chosen alternative increases and the subjective attractiveness of the rejected alternative decreases.
The individual is thus freed from cognitive dissonance. In other words, the person convinces himself about the chosen option that such an option is not just slightly better than the rejected one, but significantly better. By such actions, the subject, as it were, expands the alternatives. From this, we can conclude that complex decisions increase the likelihood of behavioral responses corresponding to the chosen option.
For example, when an individual has been tormented for a long time by the choice between cars of brand A and B, but in the end give preference to brand B, then in the future the chance of choosing cars of brand B will be slightly higher than before its acquisition. This is due to the increase in the relative attractiveness of brand "B" cars.
Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance is a specific variation of problem situations. Therefore, it is necessary to determine with the help of what protective mechanisms and non-protective adaptive tools an adaptive strategy is carried out, if it is used to rid the individual of dissonances. Such a strategy may be unsuccessful and cause an increase in dissonance, giving rise to new frustrations.
There are also forces that resist the reduction of dissonance. For example, a change in behavior and judgments about such behavior often change, but sometimes it is difficult or lossy. It is difficult, for example, to abandon habitual actions, since they please the individual. New cognitive dissonance and complete frustration may arise as a result of the transformation of other variations of habitual behavior, which entails material and financial losses. There are forms of behavior that generate dissonance, which the individual is not able to modify (phobic reactions).
In conclusion, we can say that Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance is quite simple and, in summary, looks like this:
There may be inconsistency relations between cognitive elements;
The emergence of dissonance contributes to the emergence of a desire to reduce its impact and avoid its further growth;
Manifestations of this desire are the transformation of behavioral responses, the modification of attitudes, or the conscious search for new opinions and information about the judgment or phenomenon that gave rise to dissonance.
Examples of cognitive dissonance
What is cognitive dissonance? The definition of this concept lies in the understanding that every action of an individual that goes against his knowledge or beliefs will provoke the emergence of dissonance. It does not matter whether such actions are forced or not.
How to get rid of cognitive dissonance? In order to understand this, we can consider behavioral strategies with examples. This condition can cause the simplest daily life situations. For example, an individual stands at a bus stop and sees two subjects in front of him, one of which gives the impression of a respectable and successful man, and the second resembles a homeless person. These two people are eating something in a wrapper. According to the knowledge of the individual, the first subject must throw the wrapper into the urn, which is located at the same stop three steps away from him, and the second subject, in his opinion, will most likely throw the paper away in the same place, that is, he will not bother to to come and throw the trash in the bin. Dissonance occurs when an individual sees the behavior of subjects that is contrary to his ideas. In other words, when a respectable man throws a wrapper at his feet and when a homeless person overcomes a distance of three steps to throw a piece of paper into the trash, a contradiction sets in - opposite ideas collide in the mind of an individual.
Another example. The individual desires to acquire an athletic physique. After all, it is beautiful, attracts the views of the opposite sex, allows you to feel good, improves health. To achieve the goal, he needs to start exercising regularly, normalize his diet, try to keep the regime and adhere to a certain daily routine, or find a bunch of excuses that indicate that he doesn’t really need it (not enough money or free time, allegedly bad well-being, physique within the normal range). Any actions of the individual, therefore, will be directed towards reducing dissonance - liberation from confrontation within himself.
In this case, it is almost always possible to avoid the appearance of cognitive dissonance. Often this is facilitated by the elementary ignoring of any information regarding the problematic issue, which may differ from the available one. In the case of an already emerging state of dissonance, its further development and strengthening should be neutralized by adding new beliefs to the system of one's own ideas, replacing the old ones with them. An example of this is the behavior of a smoker who understands that smoking is harmful to the health of him and those around him. The smoker is in a state of dissonance. He can get out of it:
Behavioral change - quit smoking;
By changing knowledge (to convince yourself of the exaggerated danger of smoking or to convince yourself that all information about the dangers of smoking is completely unreliable);
Taking any messages about the dangers of smoking with caution, in other words, simply ignore them.
However, often such a strategy can lead to fear of dissonance, prejudices, personality disorders, and sometimes neurosis.
What does cognitive dissonance mean? In simple terms, its definition is as follows. Dissonance is a state in which a person feels discomfort caused by the presence of two or more conflicting knowledge (beliefs, ideas) about one phenomenon. Therefore, in order not to feel painfully cognitive dissonance, one should simply accept the fact that such a phenomenon simply takes place. It must be understood that the contradictions between some elements of a person's belief system and the real state of things will invariably be reflected in being. And the acceptance and realization that absolutely everything can be completely different from one’s own thoughts, positions, ideas and beliefs allows one to avoid dissonances.
Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"
Cognitive dissonance is a mental state accompanied by discomfort caused by a discrepancy or inconsistency in the mind of a number of conflicting ideas and concepts. Despite the complexity of the name and definition, every person almost daily encounters something similar. Sometimes we ourselves, without knowing it, plunge ourselves into a similar state, but more often this happens for reasons independent of the person.
The meaning of the concept
Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that is accompanied by the appearance of some inconsistency between two cognitions. So, often in their actions a person has to either neglect social attitudes, or to give up personal principles. Because of this, a certain disagreement arises between action and belief.
As a result of the onset of cognitive dissonance, a person may resort to justifying his own actions or delusions that run counter to generally accepted norms. Otherwise, the individual has to direct his thinking in a new direction, which would correspond to the opinions of others and reduce conflicting sensations.
Cognitive dissonance - what is it in simple words?
Many psychological concepts and the terms are not so easy to understand and understand their meaning. Sometimes a detailed explanation is required. This also applies to such a phenomenon as cognitive dissonance. What is this in simple words? The explanation of this concept is much simpler than it might seem at first glance.
Each person has some life experience and personal opinion regarding the solution of certain situations. Nevertheless, it is not always possible to solve a particular problem on the basis of one's own ideas. Sometimes a person goes against his own opinion, for example, to please the opinions of others, social values, or the norms of the law. This discrepancy between thoughts and actions is called cognitive dissonance.
Sometimes it happens that an individual consciously or unconsciously violates certain rules (or even commits a crime). In this case, it is important to get justification not only from others, but also from yourself. Thus, a person begins to look for or invent moments that can mitigate guilt in order to weaken the internal contradiction. It is also worth noting that such contradictions can arise not only in one individual, but also at the collective level.
Cognitive dissonance also often occurs when a person has to make an important decision. The individual is overcome by doubts that do not go away even when the final choice is made. Mental activity for some time will be aimed at sorting out in my head the possible options and their consequences.
Causes of Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance can occur due to several common causes, among which are the following:
- inconsistency of ideas and concepts that a person is guided by when making certain decisions;
- discrepancy between life beliefs and generally accepted norms in society or in a certain circle;
- the spirit of contradiction caused by the unwillingness to follow generally accepted cultural and ethical norms, and especially when they go against the law;
- inconsistency of information obtained as a result of this or that experience with new conditions or situations.
Author of the theory
The author of the theory of cognitive dissonance is Leon Festinger. This doctrine was presented in 1957 and was intended to explain the essence, causes, and patterns of this phenomenon. The author considered this concept as a phenomenon of inconsistency between various thoughts and ideas of an individual (or a collective).
Watch the video: "Leon Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance"Hypotheses of the theory
The theory of cognitive dissonance by L. Festinger is based on two main hypotheses, which are as follows:
- in view of the fact that the occurrence of cognitive dissonance is accompanied by psychological discomfort, the individual will try in every possible way to overcome this discrepancy;
- from the first point, the second can be deduced, which says that a person will in every possible way avoid situations that can plunge him into a similar state.
Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance not only provides an interpretation and clarification of concepts, but also explains the ways out of this state. In addition, the scientist considers a number of real cases, which are the most typical examples in psychology.
The essence of the theory
The first thing worth noting is the fact that the theory of cognitive dissonance belongs to the category of motivational ones. This means that this state is decisive in the behavior of the individual. We can say that it is ideas and beliefs that largely influence a person’s actions, as well as his life position. Thus, it is impossible to interpret knowledge only as a set of certain facts. These are primarily motivational factors that determine human behavior as in Everyday life as well as in unusual situations.
The concept of cognitive dissonance combines two categories. The first of these is the intellect, which is considered as a set of certain beliefs and knowledge, as well as attitudes towards them. The second is affect, that is, a reaction to pathogens and stimuli. At the very moment when a person ceases to find a connection or feels internal contradictions between these categories, a state of cognitive dissonance sets in.
The process itself is inextricably linked with past events and experiences of the individual. So, having committed a certain act, a person may begin to repent or experience remorse. Moreover, this can happen after a considerable period of time. Then the individual begins to look for an excuse for his act or some facts that can mitigate his guilt.
How to reduce dissonance?
The state of cognitive dissonance causes psychological discomfort, from which the individual, quite naturally, tries to get rid of (or at least somewhat reduce discomfort). There are several ways that allow you to achieve relief from a contradictory state, namely:
- change the line of your behavior (if you feel that you are doing wrong, or acting contrary to your convictions, it is worth directing your efforts in the opposite direction, if this is possible in this particular case);
- to convince oneself (meaning the search for justification for one's actions in order to reduce their guilt or even make them correct in their understanding);
- filter information (in order not to feel internal contradictions, it is worth taking only positive data, and not taking all the negative seriously or even bypassing it altogether);
- take into account all the information and facts about the current situation, get an idea about it, and then build a new line of behavior, which will be considered the only correct one.
How to avoid dissonance
Since the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance is associated with discomfort and psychological stress, many prefer to prevent this condition than to deal with its consequences later. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to avoid any negative information, which may be contrary to your personal beliefs or the current situation. This method fits into the concept of psychological defense, which was developed by Sigmund Freud and later developed by his followers.
In the event that the occurrence of cognitive dissonance could not be avoided, it is possible to deal with its further development. To do this, additional elements are introduced into the cognitive system, which are designed to present the current situation in a positive light. At the same time, you need to ignore or avoid in every possible way those sources of information that can return you to the initial state.
One of the most common and accessible ways to deal with dissonance is to accept reality and adapt to it. In this regard, it is worth convincing yourself that the situation is acceptable. In addition, if the phenomenon is long-term, then psychological work should be aimed at changing one's own beliefs.
Cognitive dissonance: real life examples
In real life, quite often one can encounter such phenomena that cause a feeling of inconsistency or inconsistency of beliefs with the real situation. This is cognitive dissonance. Their examples are quite numerous.
The simplest example is a gold medalist and a C student who entered the university. It is quite logical that teachers expect high results and a decent level of knowledge from the first, and do not place special hopes on the second. Nevertheless, it may turn out that an excellent student will answer a question very mediocre and incomplete, and a C student, on the contrary, will give a competent, meaningful answer. In this case, the teacher experiences cognitive dissonance due to the fact that his beliefs turned out to be inconsistent with the real situation.
Another example given by psychologist A. Leontiev illustrates the desire to reduce discomfort. So, imprisoned revolutionaries were forced to dig holes as a punishment. Naturally, this occupation was unpleasant and even disgusting for the prisoners. To reduce the feeling of psychological discomfort, many gave their action a new meaning, namely, harm to the current regime.
Also, cognitive dissonance can be considered in relation to people who have bad habits (for example, smokers, or those who abuse alcohol. It is quite natural that all of them sooner or later realize the harm of these phenomena for their body. In this case, there are two scenarios. Either the individual tries by all available means to get rid of the bad habit, or he begins to look for excuses for himself, which in his mind can outweigh the possible harm that will be done to health.
Another example is also related to a typical life situation. So, for example, you see a beggar on the street who is begging, but appearance you can say that he does not quite deserve money or does not need it so much (or maybe he will spend money not on food or medicine, but on alcohol or cigarettes). Nevertheless, under the influence of your life principles or moral standards, you cannot pass by such a person. Thus, under the guidance of social principles, you do what you do not want.
Sometimes it happens that before a responsible exam, a student simply does not prepare for it. This may be due to laziness, health, unforeseen circumstances, and so on. Thus, understanding his responsibility for the result and realizing the possible consequences, the individual, nevertheless, does not make any attempts to learn the notes.
Cognitive dissonance is often experienced by girls who strive to lose weight and torture themselves with diets. If at this time they want to eat, for example, a cake, then this will be contrary to their goals and general ideas about proper nutrition. There are several possible solutions to the problem here. You can continue to insist on your own and deny yourself sweets, or you can stop the diet altogether, making sure that you already look good. You can also make a one-time indulgence for yourself, which will later be reimbursed by fasting or physical activity.
Conclusion
Consideration of the problem of cognitive dissonance was carried out by many scientists and psychologists. Particular attention should be paid to the work of Leon Festinger, as well as Sigmund Freud and his followers. Their theories are the most complete and contain not only information about the phenomenon itself and its causes, but also about ways to solve the problem.
It is worth noting that the theory that describes the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance refers to motivational. The contradiction that arises as a result of the inconsistency of beliefs and desires with real actions largely affects how the individual's behavior will be in the future. He may come to terms with the situation and try to revise his ideas, which will somewhat reduce the state of dissonance, or he may resort to attempts to explain or justify his behavior, avoiding real data and facts (protecting himself from the outside world).
To avoid a state of cognitive dissonance, you should avoid conflicting states and information that contradicts your beliefs. In this way, you can protect yourself from internal contradictions that have arisen due to the need to act contrary to your desires and beliefs.
Cognitive dissonance: how to recognize the problem and cope with it A harmonious perception of the world around us and one's own personality is considered an essential quality of a happy person. One of the most common psychological problems is the occurrence of cognitive dissonance, which is accompanied by severe moral and emotional discomfort. This term was introduced to the world by Fritz Heider in 1944, and later Leon Festinger developed a theory explaining the causes and mechanism of dissonance.
Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person has multiple conflicting cognitions. Cognition is understood as any ideas, knowledge, conclusions, moral values and even emotional reactions to what is happening around. When conflicting cognitive elements appear, a person experiences severe psychological discomfort and, on a subconscious level, seeks ways to solve this problem.
Cognitive dissonance: causes
The causes of cognitive dissonance are best explained by the eponymous theory proposed by Leon Festinger in 1957. To better understand the meaning of the term “cognitive dissonance”, one should know that dissonance is a violation of harmony, the emergence of contradictions in a certain well-coordinated structure, in this case, cognitive, that is, associated with the processes of cognition.
There are several main causes of cognitive dissonance, which include:
- Logical inconsistency between a certain process or phenomenon with knowledge and ideas about it;
- The discrepancy between the individual opinion of a person and the opinions of the majority of the people around him;
- Discrepancy between previously acquired experience and a repeated situation;
- Following cultural customs or traditionally established patterns of behavior contrary to one's own opinion about them;
An internal contradiction that has arisen for the first time or continues for some time - this is what cognitive dissonance means for common man. Every person has experienced cognitive dissonance to some extent at least once in their life, and the reaction to the onset of this condition can be very different. However, common to all is the search for an excuse for contradiction and inconsistency in order to restore balance to the system of their knowledge and beliefs.
In addition to highlighting the main causes of cognitive dissonance in his theory, Festinger formulated two main hypotheses of how a person can act to eliminate the psychological discomfort that has arisen. According to the first hypothesis, a person will direct his efforts towards the complete elimination or reduction of the discrepancy between cognitions. He will look for additional information confirming his correctness or refuting new information. The second hypothesis suggests that a person avoids situations that increase cognitive dissonance, and even their own memories and thoughts about it.
If you ask a person what cognitive dissonance meant to him and what emotions he associated it with, then most people will remember awkwardness and a decrease in self-confidence. Such a state as a whole negatively affects not only the state of the psycho-emotional sphere, but over time can lead to the development of serious health problems. Therefore, with cognitive dissonance, a person’s defense mechanisms work, which consist in justifying their thoughts and actions or completely ignoring them.
Cognitive dissonance may be due to insufficiently attentive perception of the surrounding world, inability to identify cause-and-effect relationships in a given situation, ignorance of any issues. All these problems are solved by training on the BrainApps resource, where a large number of games and useful articles for personal development.
Cognitive dissonance: examples
To better understand what cognitive dissonance is, real life examples are the best. A person can experience cognitive dissonance at any age, but not everyone can recognize this unpleasant phenomenon. One of the simplest and most understandable examples is people who smoke or abuse alcohol. Information about the dangers of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages comes to a person literally at every step, but he is in no hurry to change his habits.
A heavy smoker or alcohol lover with cognitive dissonance can justify himself with difficult life circumstances, the need for relaxation and removal from everyday problems, however, despite all this, he knows perfectly well that he is causing irreparable harm to his health. Subsequently, he may begin to study information that confirms that nicotine or alcohol are not such dangerous substances, and in some cases even useful. Also, most likely, he will begin to avoid any talk about his bad habits and react negatively to any attempts to remind about the harm to his health. It is this situation that vividly illustrates cognitive dissonance and the natural reaction of a person to it.
In the case of smoking or alcohol, cognitive dissonance is very pronounced due to the psychological and physical dependence on drugs. However, the problem may appear due to other life circumstances. Very often, cognitive dissonance is encountered when it is necessary to make a specific choice. Also, communication and interaction with other people causes cognitive dissonance, usually any person from his own life experience can give examples of such dissonance.
For example, let's say you were asked for a loan by an acquaintance who is famous for his careless attitude to money and addiction to gambling. You know very well that he has great financial difficulties, and he has several times failed to repay you and other people. However, you lend him a certain amount of money and begin to experience severe psychological discomfort due to cognitive dissonance, because the experience and information gained earlier indicate that you made the wrong decision. To numb the cognitive dissonance that has arisen, you can begin to justify your act with faith in the best, pity or generosity, and also try to avoid talking about this situation with family and friends.
Another striking example of cognitive dissonance is a popular experiment illustrating the influence of public opinion on a person. One participant is selected from the group in advance and shown to him, for example, a red object. Then they ask what color this item is for the selected participant and the rest of the group. The majority, following a preliminary agreement, insist that the item shown of blue color. If a person who has seen red with his own eyes agrees with the opinion of the majority, then he will experience a strong cognitive dissonance and will feel mentally and psychologically bad.
Having analyzed the concepts of cognitive dissonance on ordinary, everyday examples, it is easier to analyze your own behavior and the behavior of other people, as well as choose the right tactics for further actions. Each person in most cases can cope with this problem if he recognizes its existence. Therefore, if you suspect cognitive dissonance in yourself, examples from the lives of other people or past experiences will help you quickly get rid of unpleasant sensations and find inner harmony.
How to deal with cognitive dissonance
The emergence of cognitive dissonance should not be taken as something terrible and irreparable. Each person has the right to make erroneous judgments and actions, and information coming from outside is not always absolutely correct. Therefore, if you are faced with the problem of cognitive dissonance, it is better to choose one of the following tactics of behavior:
- Consider the situation from a different perspective. This tactic is suitable for overconfident people who can hardly come to terms with their own wrong. It is very important to recognize the possibility of error or delusion on your part, and in this case, cognitive dissonance disappears on its own. For example, the negative consequences of your action are explained by your mistake. In this case, the situation is logical and psychological discomfort is significantly reduced;
- Change the pattern of behavior. This is necessary if you know for sure that by your actions or inaction you are harming yourself or your loved ones. For example, a woman has been suffering from headaches and insomnia for a long time and knows what the consequences of ignoring the problem can be, but constantly postpones a visit to the doctor due to fear or lack of free time. In this situation, signs of cognitive dissonance are added to the symptoms of the disease, and the general condition of the woman only worsens. As soon as she visits the doctor, psychological discomfort will disappear, because she did what she considered right;
- Don't dwell on the past. If in the past you have committed any act that went against your own beliefs and principles, then you should not constantly resurrect this event in your memory. Treat the effects of cognitive dissonance as an experience and try not to make the same mistake again;
It is also desirable to prevent the occurrence of cognitive dissonance. To do this, you should try to act in accordance with previous experience and knowledge and not deviate from your beliefs and ideas. However, focusing on your own rightness will also not help, you should always be ready to revise or supplement the information you already have about a phenomenon or situation. No need to categorically reject the opinions or actions of other people, always try to get more information about different points of view.
The presence of cognitive dissonance often implies getting into an extraordinary and, at first glance, a hopeless situation. In this case, you need to quickly analyze the problem and find a completely new solution. This will allow you not to dwell on the phenomenon of dissonance and successfully cope with it. The acceleration of thinking and its creativity are key factors in such a situation, and the games on the BrainApps website will help to develop them.
Cognitive dissonance is not always a completely negative factor. Sometimes it is due to the emergence of cognitive dissonance that a person receives a powerful incentive to develop, work on himself and improve himself. In everyday life, it is almost impossible to avoid the appearance of conflicting feelings, actions and knowledge, but you can always find a way to look at the situation from different angles and restore harmony.