...Cognitive Dissonance Theory According to Myers (2010), cognitive dissonance is a situation that arises bringing tension from ides and actions upon each other. One of the main purposes of cognitive dissonance theory is to change the individual’s attitudes and hold them accountable for their actions. This theory believe that if a person or individuals could take on the responsibility of their negative actions, a change is more likely to happen in their behavior (Cheng & Hsu, 2012). On the other hand, if they are not willing to accept the consequence that comes with the action, the behavior will continue. A situation, such as second-degree murder, Zimmerman could have used cognitive dissonance theory to rationalize his behavior. Murder is a crime, and any one who commits such crime realize that it is not morally correct and the action will have consequences. Zimmerman claim he shot Martin in self-defense, and was acquitted of his charges. In this situation, murder was not understandable or justified. He was thinking about the welfare of himself and no the welfare of Trayvon Martin, an innocent child. Zimmerman believed that he was protecting his community and by all means possible. A person in his situation felt that he needed to do whatever in order change the situation. The decision of Zimmerman did not make it better for either family, his actions made the matter worse. When a person does not rationalize his or her thoughts, his or her behaviors will result inappropriately...
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...compunction. Over the years I have thought about my moral stance on these matters and happily come to the informed conclusion that my consumption and use of animal products sits with my moral values and vice versa. The interview began quite innocuously. As the interview continued I was questioned about my consumption of animal product, then asked if had any companion animals (I have two for my children's sake). As the questioning proceeded I was lead through a faulty path of logic and reason such that the next question not only assaulted my moral stance but appeared to be extraordinarily judgemental. The offending question was, "Would you ever knowingly do something that caused harm to animals when alternatives were readily available?" Dissonance was firmly afoot; my having to answer in the affirmative if I were to be consistent, or answer 'no' in case I be judged as a murderer. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place! So having chosen to be true to myself I chose to don the murderer's mantle. The interview continued by warning me that I may learn information that I have not been exposed to in the past and experience emotional challenges if I elected to proceed. Being the reasonable self-aware psychological adventurer I had nothing to lose so was then set upon by statements about 'unnatural practices'. In the meantime I continued to feel judged - this time the charges of torturer were added to those of murderer, particularly when the question was asked of me; "If you...
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...Cognitive Dissonance What is it? Cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957) happens when we realise there is a big gap between what we are doing and what we think we are doing. When it happens it make us feel uncomfortable (an emotion) but you must remember that it’s actually a good thing because it may just prompt change within us. Once the new change is internalised and practised regularly, it soon requires very little effort to maintain it. Some other experience may then subject you to re-evaluate, reformulate and prompt the cycle change once again. How to use it Cognitive dissonance is central to many forms of persuasion to change beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours. As a facilitator, educator, mentor or friend, you can inject that tension suddenly or allow it to build up over time. People can be moved in many small jumps or one large one. Hopefully, it will lead to a change for the better. In an educational setting, Neighbour (1992) says it’s important for the teacher to make dissonance a major feature of a tutorial and other teaching. It’s the resulting emotion that drives and motivates the learner to learn. Fox et al, 1999, says one must not become complacent to the change which results because it may quickly decay unless reinforced by practice, arising from improved performance, positive feedback and the feeling of gratification. Application • If you have a trainee who doesn’t seem that bothered about bettering himself, talk to them and find...
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...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 Richard is driving along a lonely road late at night after working late that day. He has a 4-year-old daughter who he has not spent much time with the entire week because of the long project that makes him work late. Similarly, he has not been having dinner with his family because he always gets home past dinner time. On this particular day, Richard leaves work a bit earlier in an attempt to get home early enough for dinner and so that he can also spend some time with his year old daughter. After driving on an almost clear road for a few miles, Richard notices little pools of blood along the road. He slows down his car and rolls down the window, as he tries to find out the source of the little pools of blood. After driving for a few meters, he notices a staggering middle-aged man who seems unstable and perhaps hurt. Richard slows down for a while, examines the staggering man from a distance; then he drives away after he remembers that his wife and daughter may be waiting for him...
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...Cognitive Dissonance: Abortion Individuals are social by nature and can be influenced by various factors when making choices. An individual is capable of feeling the pressure from family, peers, and community. An individual may also believe that doing something like cheating is acceptable if in the end one obtains the desire result. An individual may experience an internal exchange of ideas and problems when making a decision how to find the way through a complicated decision. Individuals may also negotiate and barter with their divine beliefs to feel at ease when making a decision to behave in an unpleasant and moral way. Cognitive dissonance theory is extremely active in this stage of disagreement, when an individual is in a state of moral conflict the theory is applied to regulate, find a balance, and to have peace of mind (Benoit, 2012). Individuals come upon countless situations throughout life when a complicated decision must be made; often times a person will even go against spiritual and moral beliefs when sensing external pressure. Moral and cognitive maturity along with a strong sense of self will assist on a logical decision. Identify the Situation Individual Consciously Made in a Behavior that Violated Cognitions Since the beginning of time, man expands all his mental facilities and physical limitations to discover the meaning of life and search to discover, when life begins. Physicians, scholars, theologians, and lay people have spent...
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...Cognitive dissonance is the realization of contradictions in one’s own attitude and behavior. A type of cognitive dissonance is the change of thought. An example can be smoking cigarettes but then you realize that smoking is not bad for you. You can also change your behavior by not smoking anymore because it is unhealthy and knows it can harm your lungs. Sometimes you can add a thought, you know that smoking is bad and you some a lot by on the other hand you can tell yourself that you healthy and exercise daily. The last one is trivializing the inconsistency, you know that you smoke a lot and it's bad for you but you just don’t care about your health. They may say YOLO meaning you only live once so do whatever you want with your life. A social...
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...Cognitive Dissonance Paper Psy: 400 July 11, 2011 Professor Adrian Fletcher, M.A. Cognitive Dissonance Paper The scenario of this paper is a young girl is living in a good Christian home. Her current boyfriend is trying to push her to have sex before she believes she is ready for this type of commitment or intensity. She has been taught to wait until marriage to have sex with her new husband. Because of her boyfriends intense pressure she believes she is being pulled to give in to him before they marry. She does not want to disappoint her family by breaking the rules of the household but she truly does love the boyfriend. Does she give into the boyfriend or obey the family ground rules this she has to decide. She also has to realize that if she gives in, there is that underlying chance she could become pregnant from it. The family thinks she is too young to be making these types of decisions. They understand her desire to be with her boyfriend but they encourage her to hold on to her values. She has the opportunity to decide what to do before it is too late. She also understands that her faith is strong but sometimes desires can overtake the reasoning of the faith. She is afraid to make the commitment to her boyfriend because she believes if she does give in, then it would not be right spiritually, and she will be committing a sin not only against herself but also against her God as well. She is torn and cannot seem to get her boyfriend to understand they need to wait...
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...Thomas Powers and Eric Jack look into, “The Influence of Cognitive Dissonance on Retail Product Returns” in their research. The researchers specify two parts of cognitive dissonance used in their study: product and emotional dissonance. These dimensions are defined by the scholars in their article as follows, “Product related cognitions related to dissonance are based on unknown outcomes different from the actual purchase (Powers & Jack, 2013)” and “The emotional dimension of dissonance has been described as a sense of disappointment or sadness due to the choice made with the possibility that the outcome would have been better if the customer had acted differently (Powers & Jack, 2013).” The three variables that influence cognitive dissonance resulting in product returns as defined Powers & Jack are the consideration of liberal return policies, customer opportunism, and switching barriers. The researchers look into these three influencers and two moderators in their study. Gender and the store brand are established as the moderators of the study and used to look more in depth at the results of the study. Overall the researchers want to learn about how the actions retailers take can impact customer’s decisions to return products. Eight hypotheses are made by Powers & Jack to be tested in their study. The first three hypotheses delve into the three variables of cognitive dissonance: liberal return policies, customer opportunism, and switching barriers. Three...
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...Cognitive Dissonance PSY/400 Cognitive Dissonance What is doing the right thing? Is doing the right thing always going to be the right thing to do ? Are there limits on doing what is right? Are there exceptions on what is right? When looking at cognitive dissonance, one has to understand what cognitive dissonance is. Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of when a person holds two conflicting thoughts in their mind at the same time. According to ITS psychology dictionary, Cognitive dissonance is define as, “a state of tension created when there are conflicts between an individual's behavior and beliefs, or between two beliefs.” (ITS Tutorial School, 2005) In this paper, the reader will look at a situation, and will automatically be able to see cognitive dissonance. We will then analyze the social, cultural, and spiritual influences on the individual’s behavior and his or her ethics. Describe the reciprocal relationship between behavior and attitudes, and explain how the individual could have used cognitive dissonance theory to rationalize his or her behavior. The Situation A man, Bob, meets a girl, Sarah, and starts to get to know her. Bob and Sarah start to click, then decide to take their relationship to another level. Bob and Sarah made the decision to become a couple and even talk about marriage. The relationship becomes serious but is still extremely new. Bob and Sarah really did not give each other a chance to get to know each other and start...
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...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. Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors (McLeod, 2008). Cognitive dissonance produces an uncomfortable tension of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance. Situation In the United States, over two-thirds of the workers who call in sick are not physically ill (Perman, 2011). So why do employees jeopardize his or her job? A survey performed in 2007 found that absences were divided between personal issues, family issues, mental entitlement, and stress (Wolter Kluwer Law & Business, 2007). Employees are asked to give 110% to his or her employment and yet most supervisors and coworkers cannot empathize with personal and family issues. An employee may need an hour or two for a doctor appointment or to take a parent to an appointment. Perhaps there is a school function that a single parent would like to...
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...Used By The Marketers To Overcome The Cognitive Dissonance Of Customers Subject : OB Submission Date : 25th October Class : B-1(Shift-I) Submitted To : No. Submitted By : Group members Shaikh Mo.Farhan Solanki Snehal Vasani Tushar Parmar Paras Dhanani Nilesh Rana Vinus Safiwala Sanjay Timbadiya Viren Roll No. 82 87 95 61 102 110 114 98 Roshni Singh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cognitive Dissonance No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Introduction Theory & Research Applications of Research Overcoming Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance in Advertisement Five Advertisements which shows overcomes of CD by Marketers How to sale more with Cognitive Dissonance Particulars Page No. Introduction In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the discomfort experienced when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions: ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions. In a state of dissonance, people may sometimes feel "disequilibrium": frustration, hunger, dread, guilt, anger, embarrassment, anxiety, etc. The phrase was coined by Leon Festinger in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, which chronicled the followers of a UFO cult as reality clashed with their fervent belief in an impending apocalypse. Festinger subsequently (1957) published a book called A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance in which he outlines the theory. Cognitive dissonance is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology. The theory of cognitive dissonance in social psychology proposes that...
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...In 1957, scientist Leon Festinger proposed “Cognitive Dissonance Theory”, which states that a powerful motive to maintain cognitive consistency can give rise to irrational and sometimes maladaptive behavior. Cognitive Dissonance affects the person's ability to make decisions and allows for them to escape the guilt. Lord of the Flies is an example of “Cognitive Dissonance” in humans, in that both the novel and the psychological theory illustrate the premise that humans tend to justify their actions by lying to themselves. William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys whose plane crashes, leaving them stranded on an island. Throughout the book the boys lose their sanity and begin to fight. As the boys struggle to find a balance in power between Ralph, a young boy who was originally elected as leader, and Jack, a wild, ill tempered, boy who challenges Ralph; the two shy intelligent boys, Piggy and Simon, are ostracised and viewed as unreliable and suspicious.Subsequently Simon is brutally murdered after trying to alert the group that the monster they have feared is really just a dead military parachutist (Golding, 138-139). Later Piggy also dies as an effect of Roger, Jack’s second in command, crushing him with a boulder (Golding, 164-165). “Cognitive Dissonance Theory” is the theory that humans justify our actions by...
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...Cognitive Dissonance and Jenny McCarthy’s Death Toll Candace Stamper PSY/400 Russell Sempell June 4, 2014 Abstract Humans are great at rationalizing their behavior and actions. This is especially true when a group of people or a high status citizen supports an individual’s beliefs, even when there is no valid authority contributed to their stance. Individuals raised in the modern first-world are educated to believe in the science and efficiency of vaccinations to ensure public health and decrease infant and childhood mortality rates. A wealth of evidence exists to prove that vaccinations are safe, effective, and increase public health. The scientific and medical communities, by a vast majority, support the use of vaccinations and are desperately attempting to get vaccines to third world countries and end massive generations-long death tolls attributed to preventable diseases. The diseases that these vaccines prevent had been eradicated in the United States and Western Europe for decades. Why, then, are people willing to allow their children to go unvaccinated in first world nations? Cognitive dissonance may hold the answer to this question. Ian and Linda Williams are educated parents in Auckland, New Zealand, who refused to vaccinate their son, Alijah. This decision would be life-altering. The family was caught up in the recent anti-vaccine movement, promoted heavily by celebrities like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Jim Carrey, and Jenny McCarthy - one of the most famous opponents...
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...Issue Analysis: Cognitive Dissonance PSYCH/555 April 22, 2013 Dr. Keisha Anthony Issue Analysis: Cognitive Dissonance “Festinger's (1957) 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, 2008). Issue 5: Does Cognitive Dissonance Explain Why Behavior Can Change Attitudes debates the cognitive dissonance theory with one of the authors challenging the theory by claiming that self-perception is a better explanation as to why people behave differently once they have acted outside of their norm as most people try to find some sort of consistency between their actions and their attitudes. Consonant and dissonant cognitions both affect the attitude on opposite ends of a spectrum. As with consonant cognitions the behavior matches the attitude and with dissonant cognitions have behaviors that conflict with their attitudes. One of the most powerful influences on attitude change is the motivation of people to maintain that consistency between their attitudes and behaviors. Although the cognitive dissonance theory is studied and utilized by psychologists all over the world, there are some who reject this theory and believe that self-perception is what enables people to decide on their attitudes, emotions, and behaviors because they are able to cast judgment upon themselves based on their behavior in different situations. Summary of both Arguments in Issue 5 Festinger...
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...Cognitive Dissonance Theory I know it is bad for me. I have read about, heard of and listened to the side effects of this taboo beverage. Yet, I am always unable to resist the promise of instant gratification that can be mine simply by breaking the seal of its carbonated packaging. My eyes linger on the variety of healthier options that lay behind the sliding glass doors; however, my fingers are already tightly grasped around the silver label of a twenty ounce Diet Coke. Each refreshing sip fills my head with depressing logic that can only be drowned with more fizzy brown bubbles. The chemicals in Diet Coke have been shown to cause cancer in lab rats. The sugar substitutes found in Diet Coke increase sugar cravings negating the “diet” value. Habitual Diet Coke drinkers are significantly heavier than those who indulge in the occasional full calorie version. Diet Coke is detrimental to bone health… The warnings echo loudly in my head almost as loud as my endless self chastising. Why do I force myself to eat fresh fruits and vegetables when what I really want is Chipotle? Why do I walk to class when I’m offered a free ride? Why do I punish myself with healthy activities when I am killing my body with Diet Coke anyway? I curse the investigative reporter who first divulged Diet Coke’s dirty little secret as I hand over $1.35 for my second drink of the day. I would even feel guilty if the woman in front of me had not just bought cigarettes. Cognitive dissonance is a feeling of...
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