Cognitive Dissonance and Its Physiological Manifestations

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Cognitive Dissonance
The Concept
Causes of Cognitive Dissonance
Physiological Effects of Cognitive Dissonance
Emotional Impact of Dissonance
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The research paper explores the topic of cognitive dissonance, which in psychology means a state of personal distress caused by the confrontation of conflicting ideas in the human mind. In addition, the explanation of this theory and the reasons for the problem are provided. Accordingly, the main factors include the inconsistency of expectations with the real situation, the inability to make a final choice, and inconsistent beliefs. Moreover, the research paper demonstrates that the influence on the human brain creates reactions in the human physical body. Furthermore, it is difficult for the psyche to be in a state of an anxious discrepancy, which is why cognitive dissonance negatively affects the emotional component of individuals.

Cognitive Dissonance

People are naturally inclined to live in harmony with themselves, with their worldview, beliefs, principles, and philosophy. This allows them to experience a sense of wholeness and satisfaction. However, in their everyday life, one can often encounter such a phenomenon when the minds of people are faced with each other’s contradictory views, reactions, values, and ideas. Thus, it is advisable to examine the state of cognitive dissonance.

The Concept

Cognitive dissonance is an internal conflict that arises in a person when contradictory convictions have collided. The theory of cognitive dissonance was developed by Festinger in 1957 in the period of the formation of cognitive psychology on the grounds of F. Haider’s theory of cognitive (structural) balance (Myers & Dewall, 2016). The basis of the theory of cognitive dissonance is the statement that the occurrence of contradictory relations between separate elements in the system of knowledge causes psychological discomfort (Myers & Dewall, 2016). Hence, cognitive dissonance is a state characterized by the combination of contradictory knowledge, opinions, and behavioral attitudes about some object or phenomenon in a person’s mind. The nature of cognitive dissonance, in Festinger’s view, lies exclusively in human nature itself. In this way, elements of knowledge reflecting some reality form an individual picture of reality (Myers & Dewall, 2016). Nevertheless, these cognitive elements often do not correspond to reality, which is why reality will exert a certain pressure on the individual to bring these cognitive elements to reality.

Causes of Cognitive Dissonance

Moreover, there are various situations that can create conflicts leading to cognitive dissonance. First, there is forced conformity because sometimes, because of external expectations, people may encounter behavior that contradicts their own beliefs. The following reason concerns the fact that people make decisions every day (Harmon-Jones, 2017). Therefore, when faced with two identical choices, they often experience a sense of dissonance because both options are equally attractive. The general strength of dissonance can also be affected by several factors, including the number of dissenting beliefs. Therefore, the more conflicting thoughts a person has, the higher the degree of dissonance (Harmon-Jones, 2017). As a result, cognitive dissonance can even affect the way individuals perceive themselves, leading to negative feelings of self-esteem and self-respect.

Physiological Effects of Cognitive Dissonance

In addition, the impact of the cognitive dissonance on the brain has a significant influence on people’s bodies. To confirm this, an experiment was conducted where a significant number of people were electrocuted. One-half of the participants in the experiment were in a state of severe dissonance: they were persuaded to voluntarily make a heavy commitment to undergo an electric shock with little or no external justification. The other half was weak in dissonance: they had no choice but plenty of external excuses. The results indicated that the first half experienced less pain than the second half (Harmon-Jones, 2017). This was not only about the subjective reports of the subjects; they also measured the physiological effects of pain by the galvanic skin response, and in the case of strong dissonance, this response decreased. Furthermore, pain at high dissonance did not interfere with people’s ability to perform tasks to a lesser degree (Harmon-Jones, 2017). That is, participants in the experiments did not only talk about less distress, but the pain had less effect on their behavior. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that dissonance also affects a person’s physiology.

Emotional Impact of Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance in psychology is an attempt to explain the motivation of human actions, their actions in a variety of life situations. Meanwhile, emotions are the primary motive for the appropriate behavior and actions that people choose. Furthermore, a positive emotional experience arises in a person when their expectations are confirmed, and cognitive ideas are realized (McGrath, 2017). That is when the actual results of activities correspond to the planned ones and are consistent with them. Then the emotional influence of cognitive dissonance decreases, and people’s emotions are normalized. At the same time, negative emotions arise and intensify when there is a discrepancy, inconsistency, or dissonance between the expected and actual results of the activity (McGrath, 2017). Consequently, during the negative emotions, cognitive dissonance increases, which leads to deterioration of emotional state and even psychological problems.

Conclusion

Hence, cognitive dissonance is a state of mental or psychological discomfort caused by the clash of conflicting ideas, actions, beliefs, emotions, or feelings. It occurs when individuals receive unexpected information that differs from their past experiences. It is significant to note that cognitive dissonance theory describes ways to eliminate or mitigate these contradictions and describes how a person does it in typical cases. Simultaneously, cognitive dissonance significantly impacts the emotional component, as it can worsen people’s mental state when negative emotions increase. In addition, cognitive dissonance affects the human body’s physiological aspects because of its effect on the brain.

References

Cooper, J. (2019). Cognitive dissonance: Where we’ve been and where we’re going.International Review of Social Psychology, 32(1), 7. Web.

Harmon-Jones, E. (2017). Clarifying concepts in cognitive dissonance theory. Animal Sentience, 1(12), 5. Web.

Myers, D. F. & Dewall, C.N. (2016). Solutions for exploring psychology (10^th ed.). Worth Publishers.

McGrath, A. (2017). Dealing with dissonance: A review of cognitive dissonance reduction.Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11(12), 12362. Web.

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