Reducing Cognitive Dissonance by Restoring Positive Self-Evaluations

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The brain is an essential organ of the central nervous system (CNS) that is equipped with specially designed neuronal circuits to execute complex mental challenges. Its role is central in maintaining the cognitive skills which are essential for societal interactions. It is well known that brain’s vitality is always connected with the ability to think, analyze or judge and retain memory. This might depend on the nature of feelings perceived by the individuals. In certain cases, these feelings might get altered or turn uncomfortable resulting in a condition known as cognitive dissonance. This arises when individuals hold two contradictory ideas at the same moment and develop a stressful mental state. However, there are ways to overcome this psychological disturbance and therefore there is a need to cite some examples.

In workplaces, it is obvious that some bosses are stringent and tend to speak in a humiliated manner. In such cases, it is a matter of self-esteem to focus. For job holders maintaining self-esteem is a great task in an atmosphere that is filled with embarrassments and discouragements or biases. Those falling victims to such uncertain conditions may be subjected to cognitive dissonance.

Wood et al. (1994) described that people with low self-esteem (LSE) seem to focus on self-protection than trying to achieve gains for their self-esteem, they try to avoid losses. Therefore it may indicate that people with low self-esteem are reducing the situations that might predispose them to an uncomfortable feeling.

Here, I would like to add that when I was working under my stringent boss I always tried to protect my self-esteem by evaluating my work, thinking positively, and expressing my words clearly.

The result is that there were no esteem-threatening situations. Thus, it made to experience a pleasant feeling in contrast to my initial days when I faced severe mental stress. So, although I had clarity problems that affected my esteem and mental calmness, I was positive enough due to fact that I could evaluate myself and correct. It was reported that people with low self-esteem (LSE) are characterized by less clarity or certainty than those with high-self-esteem (HSE) people. It may indicate that low self-esteem (LSE) need to evaluate their knowledge components of the self (Campbell,1990)

Further, in some cases, there is a need to think about the best choice between high self-esteem (HSEs) and low self-esteem Ss (LSEs). I used to think about switching to high self-esteem (HSE) to prevent any chances of negative feelings or situations in my work atmosphere.

Previous workers described that that high self-esteem Ss (HSEs) would reduce an esteem-threatening decision less than low self-esteem Ss (LSEs), because HSEs presumably had more favorable self-concepts with which to affirm, and thus repair, their overall sense of self-integrity. (Steele et al.1993)

These workers conducted experiments within the “free-choice” dissonance paradigm–one that manipulated self-esteem through personality feedback and the other that varied through a selection of HSEs and LSEs. They have made a significant contribution to the reduction of cognitive dissonance through their support for a resources theory of individual differences in resilience to self-image threats–an extension of self-affirmation theory, their implications for self-esteem functioning, and, their implications for the continuing debate over self-enhancement versus self-consistency motivation.

Therefore from the above report, it can be inferred that cognitive dissonance can be lessened by adopting certain theories linked to self-evaluation.

Very often, I used to get depressed by my performance and struggled to face my boss. I was unable to get sleep even at night. But, one day I slowly began thinking in such a way that I could investigate the matter and sort out the problem. I have made a detailed verification of the work and within no time I improved and hardly committed mistakes. This gave me immense mental relief.

Giesler, Josephs, and Swann (1996) described a theory named self-verification that helps in making a self prediction that depressed individuals seek advice that confirms their negative self-views. They have tested this prediction by classifying the participants based on a structured clinical interview and self-report measures into high-esteem, low self-esteem, and depressed groups. The participants were offered a choice between receiving favorable or unfavorable feedback; 82% of the depressed participants chose the unfavorable feedback, compared to 64% of the low self-esteem participants and 25% of the high self-esteem participants. They described that depressed individuals failed to make use of an opportunity to acquire favorable evaluations that were self-verifying. So, this report has indicated that negative evaluations and failing to seek favorable evaluations may help maintain depression.

Therefore, it may reasonable to infer that depression might contribute to cognitive dissonance. Hence, conditions leading to such an altered mental state need to be carefully evaluated.

Next, as I faced clarity and ambiguity during my earlier job days, I always managed to overcome them by improvements that reduced stress. It was reported that three motives guide self-evaluation (Wayment and Taylor, 1995). They are accuracy, self-enhancement, and self-improvement. To satisfy these motives, self-evaluation may utilize different information sources. Self-esteem may also moderate self-evaluation strategies.

This may further strengthen the need of acquiring self-evaluating tools for the effective management of cognitive dissonance. This study may indicate that adopting the reported motives is essential.

The above description supports a recent report that highlighted that people are motivated to maintain or enhance feelings of self-esteem, continuity, distinctiveness, belonging, efficacy, and meaning in their identities. Here, four studies tested the influence of these motives on identity construction, by using a multilevel regression design. The participants have perceived more central identity elements that provided a greater sense of self-esteem, continuity, distinctiveness, and meaning.

This was found for individual, relational, and group levels of identity, among various populations, and by using a prospective design. The motives for belonging and efficacy have influenced identity definition indirectly through their direct influences on identity enactment and their contributions to self-esteem. Participants were happiest about those identity elements that best satisfied motives for self-esteem and efficacy. These findings indicate the necessity for an integrated theory of identity motivation.

Therefore, it can be inferred that motives are crucial in establishing identity which might help in combating the ill effects of cognitive dissonance

Given the cognitive dissonance may be counteracted by adopting various theories of self-evaluation, esteem and establishing identity through motivation

References

J Pers Soc Psychol. 1994;67(4):713-31.Related Articles, Links Strategies of social comparison among people with low self-esteem: self-protection and self-enhancement.

Wood J V, Giordano-Beech M, Taylor K L, Michela J L, Gaus. “Strategies of social comparison among people with low self-esteem: self-protection and self-enhancement.” J Pers Soc Psychol. 67.4 (1994):53-65.

Campbell J D. “Self-esteem and clarity of the self-concept.” J Pers Soc Psychol. 59.3(1990):538-49.

Steele C M, Spencer S J, Lynch M. “Self-image resilience and dissonance: the role of affirmational resources.” J Pers Soc Psychol. 64.6(1993): 885-96.

Giesler R B, Josephs R A, Swann W B Jr. “Self-verification in clinical depression: the desire for negative evaluation.” J Abnorm Psychol 105.3(1996):358-68.

J Pers. 1995;63(4):729-57.Related Articles, Links Self-evaluation processes: motives, information use, and self-esteem.

Wayment H A, Taylor S E. “Self-evaluation processes: motives, information use, and self-esteem.” J Pers.63.4 (1995):729-57.

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Reducing Cognitive Dissonance by Restoring Positive Self-Evaluations

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