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Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas

simultaneously. The "ideas" or "cognitions" in question may include attitudes and beliefs, and

also the awareness of one's behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people

have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and

behaviors, or by justifying or rationalizing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Cognitive

dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social

psychology.

Dissonance normally occurs when a person perceives a logical inconsistency among his or her

cognitions. This happens when one idea implies the opposite of another. For example, a belief in

animal rights could be interpreted as inconsistent with eating meat or wearing fur. Noticing the

contradiction would lead to dissonance, which could be experienced as anxiety, guilt, shame,

anger, embarrassment, stress, and other negative emotional states. When people's ideas are

consistent with each other, they are in a state of harmony or consonance. If cognitions are

unrelated, they are categorized as irrelevant to each other and do not lead to dissonance.

Cognition is a way of knowing, beliefs, judgments, thoughts. Dissonance is an uncomfortable

feeling that motivates a person to take steps to reduce these uncomfortable feelings (an

imbalance), while the consonant means balance.

These are feelings that people have when they "find their own an act which did not fit with what

they know, or have any opinions that do not match opinions of others. "This concept formed the

core of the COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY or understanding of the theory

inconsistency, a theory that denies that the discrepancy in an unhappy or uneasy feelings that

motivate or encourage men to take steps to reduce them.

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 creates 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


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yourself unsure or in doubt about the choice you made. You might have to downplay the other

choice in order to reassure yourself.

Individual Interpretations:

This theory gives a basic explanation for the way humans react when they act outside of their

beliefs. We cannot carryout actions that we believe are wrong, so we either cease the action or

believe that we are right.

Critique:

Scientific Theory

This theory explains what dissonance is and how it is created along with predicting what will

happen when one experiences it. It is put in the most general, simple terms possible and could be

applied to any thought or action. The theory of cognitive dissonance could be proved false

through testing and invites new research on specific aspects of the concept.

Ideas and Implications:

The theory of Cognitive Dissonance implies that when there is tension we change a belief or an

action. Many times selective exposure is used which focuses ones attention on only certain

aspects so that tension will not be created. This selective exposure prevents dissonance. This

theory also implies that we experience more dissonance when the issue is more important, when

we put off a decision and the decision is permanent.

Example:

This theory could be used in the persuasive context in a variety of ways. When marketers want

to persuade their audience to buy a product or perform a subject they must convince them that

this is a good action and if their beliefs do not match this action, they must persuade them to

change their beliefs. For instance, during the holidays the Salvation Army campaigns heavily for

donations. The different commercials and print ads show homelessness and its effects. When

trying to persuade an audience member to give, they must persuade them that their organization

is a worthy one. If someone believes that the homeless are lazy and dont deserve donations,


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they will not donate until that belief is changed. If they were to consider donating they would

experience dissonance in which either their belief or action would undergo a change. It is the

Salvation Armys goal to change the belief that the homeless are lazy so the reduction of

dissonance will result in a donation.

Incompatibility is the designation for the imbalances and adjustment is the designation for the

balance. According to Roger Browns, COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY has two elements

with three different relationships to each other, including the following:

1. Relationships consonants: two element positioned at one another balanced

Example: we learn with high performance index.

2. Dissonant relationship: two elements in the imbalance

Example: the person who approved the abortion Catholic.

Three. Relationship irrelevant: two elements are not related one another

Example: women and equal rights in the workplace.

Assumption of COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY

a. Humans have a desire for consistency in beliefs, attitudes, and behavior.

b. Dissonance created by psychological inconsistencies.

c. Dissonance is a feeling not like to encourage people to perform actions with measurable

impact.

d. Dissonance will encourage businesses to obtain a consonant and an attempt to reduce

dissonance.


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Hypothesis Three: How to Reduce Dissonance between Attitudes and Action

a. Selective Exposure: reduce the importance of dissonant beliefs.

b. Post decision Dissonance: adding consonant beliefs.

c. Minimal justification: produce more dissonance and require more changes to reduce them.

Level Dissonance

a. Level of interest: refers to how significant a problem. Level of interest is proportional to the

level of dissonance

b. Dissonance ratio: the number of consonant cognition compared with dissonant. If the ratio is

at a balanced position, it will be less experienced dissonance

c. Rationality: refers to the reasons suggested to explain the inconsistencies. The more a person

is not able to explain the reason of the conduct, the greater the dissonance that is felt.

Core Assumptions and Statements

Cognitive dissonance is a communication theory adopted from social psychology. The title gives

the concept: cognitive is thinking or the mind; and dissonance is inconsistency or conflict.

Cognitive dissonance is the psychological conflict from holding two or more incompatible

beliefs simultaneously. Cognitive dissonance is a relatively straightforward social psychology

theory that has enjoyed wide acceptance in a variety of disciplines including communication.

The theory replaces previous conditioning or reinforcement theories by viewing individuals as

more purposeful decision makers; they strive for balance in their beliefs. If presented with

decisions or information that create dissonance, they use dissonance-reduction strategies to

regain equilibrium, especially if the dissonance affects their self-esteem.

The theory suggests that


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1) dissonance is psychologically uncomfortable enough to motivate people to achieve

consonance, and

2) in a state of dissonance, people will avoid information and situations that might increase the

dissonance. How dissonance arises is easy to imagine: It may be unavoidable in an information

rich-society. How people deal with it is more difficult.

Conceptual Model

Not applicable.

Favorite Methods

Experiments.

Scope and Application

Dissonance theory applies to all situations involving attitude formation and change. This theory

is able to manipulate people into certain behavior, by doing so these people will alter their

attitudes themselves. It is especially relevant to decision-making and problem-solving.

Example

Consider a driver who refuses to use a seat belt despite knowing that the law requires it, and it

saves lives. Then a news report or a friends car incident stunts the scofflaw into facing reality.

Dissonance may be reduced by

1) altering behavior: start using a seat belt so the behavior is consonant with knowing that doing

so is smart or

2) seeking information that is consonant with the behavior: air bags are safer than seat belts. If

the driver never faces a situation that threatens the decision not to use seat belts, then no

dissonance-reduction action is likely because the impetus to reduce dissonance depends on the

magnitude of the dissonance held.


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Cognitive Dissonance in Advertising and Marketing

Advertising deals with peoples feelings and emotions. It includes understanding of the

psychology of the buyer, his motives, attitudes, as well as the influences on him such as his

family and reference groups, social class and culture. In order to increase the advertisements

persuasiveness, advertisers use many types of extensions of behavioural sciences to marketing

and buying behaviour. One such extension is the theory of cognitive dissonance. The purpose of

advertising can be to create a cognitive dissonance to generate a favourable response from the

buyer toward a product or a concept.

In advertising there is a theory that a consumer may use a particular product because he or she

believes the advertising for that product, which claims that the product is the most effective of its

kind in the job that it does.

Then the consumer may see a competitor's advertisement that seems to prove conclusively that

this competitive product is better. This creates dissonance. The consumer must now relieve the

uncomfortable feeling that the dissonance brings about and will often do so by switching

products. The theory acts as a double-edged sword, though, because while advertisers want to

create dissonance for nonusers of their product, they do not want to create it for those who do use

their product.

This is why advertisers use their logos on things like NASCAR and sports arenas. They want you

to become loyal to their brand. This will create distrust when you see the same product -- even an

apparently better product -- with a different and unfamiliar brand.

Cognitive dissonance most often occurs after the purchase of an expensive item such as an

automobile. A consumer who is experiencing cognitive dissonance after his or her purchase may

attempt to return the product or may seek positive information about it to justify the choice. If the

buyer is unable to justify the purchase, he or she will also be less likely to purchase that brandagain. Advertisers of high-priced durable goods say that half of their advertising is done to

reassure consumers that in purchasing their product the right choice was made.

Some good uses of cognitive dissonance


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Cognitive therapists use this technique to change bad behavior and decisions. The technique is

called a "yes set."

Getting a patient to agree to treatment for addiction or to initiate some beneficial behavior is

difficult. There is often a fundamental "batting of heads" between the patient and people trying to

help. The breakthrough is achieved when the therapist purposely initiates a series of statements

to which the patient can agree. After repeatedly agreeing with the therapist on a multitude of

minor decisions, the patient begins to feel good and the therapist allows the patient to "invest" in

this positive relationship. Then, with skill, the therapist introduces the crucial decision. "So don't

you think it's really time for you go to rehab?" Faced with the option of agreeing or offending the

therapist, the patient often continues the "yes" response.

The example above is highly effective because the patient not only agrees to change the bad

behavior but is immediately rewarded by the continuation of their positive self-esteem and good

feeling.

Cognitive dissonance requires some skill to work

The concept doesn't always work especially if it's poorly executed.

I was once shopping for a car and, after selecting a possible make and model, found myself

sitting in the little room with the salesman, haggling about the price. At one point he asked me

for my driver's license or credit card and told me it was a "gesture" so that I would trust him. At

the time, I just said "No way," and split.

For many customers, this simple act would be enough to form a psychological "investment" with

the dealer, who could then use this to manipulate and close the sale. It might be more difficult for

the customer to demand his license or credit card and storm out of the office than to sit there and

be intimidated until they signed the sales contract.

Eliminating Cognitive Dissonance


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There are several key ways in which people attempt to overcome, or do away with, cognitive

dissonance. One is by ignoring or eliminating the dissonant cognitions. By pretending that ice

cream is not bad for me, I can have my cake and eat it too, so to speak. Ignoring the dissonant

cognition allows us to do things we might otherwise view as wrong or inappropriate.

Another way to overcome cognitive dissonance is to alter the importance (or lack thereof) of

certain cognitions. By either deciding that ice cream is extremely good (I can't do without it) or

that losing weight isn't that important (I look good anyway), the problem of dissonance can be

lessened. If one of the dissonant cognitions outweighs the other in importance, the mind has less

difficulty dealing with the dissonance -- and the result means that I can eat my ice cream and not

feel bad about it.

Yet another way that people react to cognitive dissonance is by adding or creating new

cognitions. By creating or emphasizing new cognitions, I can overwhelm the fact that I know ice

cream is bad for my weight loss. For instance, I can emphasize new cognitions such as "I

exercise three times a week" or "I need calcium and dairy products" or "I had a small dinner,"

etc. These new cognitions allow for the lessening of dissonance, as I now have multiple

cognitions that say ice cream is okay, and only one, which says I shouldn't eat it.

Finally, perhaps the most important way people deal with cognitive dissonance is to prevent it in

the first place. If someone is presented with information that is dissonant from what they already

know, the easiest way to deal with this new information is to ignore it, refuse to accept it, or

simply avoid that type of information in general. Thus, a new study that says ice cream is more

fattening than originally thought would be easily dealt with by ignoring it. Further, future

problems can be prevented by simply avoiding that type of information -- simply refusing to read

studies on ice cream, health magazines, etc.

Cognitive dissonance is all around us. We live in a world full of contradictions. Children are

killed in Gaza in the name of peace. Feminists wear makeup, short skirts and high heels.

Conservationists like Al Gore fly around in private, fuel guzzling jets. Anti-gay Christians tap

their feet in public bathroom stalls... these opposing ideologies are all resolved somehow,

somewhere, deep in our human psyche with cognitive dissonance.


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Theory of Cognitive Dissonance and Fear Appeals in Advertising

Advertising is one of the most interesting topic in Management and Marketing. There are so

many different theories on Advertising and researchers around the world just never seem to get

enough of their target market.

Effecting change in behavior through persuasion is the method through which advertising is

carried out. There are many ways in which persuasion can be done. One of them is by using

Cognitive Dissonance Theory. This theory is based on the assumption that people desire to have

internal psychological consistency of their cognitions in the form of beliefs and attitudes. When

these beliefs and attitudes are attacked, cognitive dissonance or disharmony takes place. As this

is an uncomfortable feeling, people generally want to avoid cognitive inconsistency.

When there is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in order to

eliminate or reduce the dissonance. For instance, a product that one has been using for a long

time is reported to have some serious issues. The report causes anxiety and cognitive dissonance.

To avoid it, the person can effect a change in his behavior: either give up using the product or try

to disregard the report and focus on the other qualities of the product and continue using it,

thereby reducing the dissonance between the two cognitive elements that are inconsistent with

each other. Cognitive dissonance can be reduced by altering the relative proportions of the

elements or by modifying their importance.

Fear appeal billboards with bloody images of accidents caused due to drunken driving cause a

dissonance between their cognition that they are driving after drinking and their cognition that

drunken driving causes fatal car accidents. This state is uncomfortable because they know that

their drinking and driving behavior is causing problems and that they should stop drunken

driving in order to remove the dissonance.

Advertising copy makes use of fear appeals to achieve an effective cognitive dissonancesituation. Fear appeals are advertising messages that try to generate anxiety in the targeted

audiences to adopt an endorsed response to the threat.

Fear appealads have long been used for persuading the audience against issues that are harmfulin the social, health and environment areas, like smoking, drinking, drugs, AIDS, deforestation,


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pollution. There are three types of fear appeals based on the intensity of fear they produce in the

viewer: high intensity, low intensity and medium intensity. A lot of research has been conducted

on the most suitable method of using fear appeals to persuade change in behavior. It has been

found that fear appeal ads are capable of persuading only up to a certain level above which it

becomes ineffective as demonstrated by the curvilinear model of fear appeal ads.

For instance, people watching anti-smoking ads experience varying amounts of fear and disgust

and instigated the recognition memory and emotional responses. The higher the fear appeal, the

more unpleasantness was felt. Some researchers such as Hastings, Stead, & Webb, (2004)

observed that viewers such as smokers become habituated to repetitive fear appeal warnings and

are likely to downgrade the threats because repetition causes annoyance and not fear.

Advertising and communication students must be aware of the importance of human psychology

and the effects of their communication on it. Creative writing has to appeal to the exact

psychological factors to get the expected response. Research paper topics on Communication

Studies are available from our research paper writing service. Just click on the link to get cheap

essays that well-researched and standard on this and other subjects.

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