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Cognitive Dissonance: Difference between revisions
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Cognitive dissonance is a term used in psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when | '''Cognitive dissonance''' is a term used in psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when one is confronted with facts or information that conflict with a firmly held belief. In a '''state of dissonance''', people may sometimes feel "disequilibrium": '''frustration, nausea, dread, guilt, anger, embarrassment, anxiety, etc.'''<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance Most of the material in this article has been adapted from the Cognitive Dissonance article in Wikipedia]</ref> | ||
Not everyone feels cognitive dissonance to the same degree. People with a higher need for consistency and certainty in their lives will probably feel the effects of cognitive dissonance more than those who have a lesser need for consistency. | Not everyone feels cognitive dissonance to the same degree. People with a higher need for consistency and certainty in their lives will probably feel the effects of cognitive dissonance more than those who have a lesser need for consistency. | ||
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'''We don’t like to believe that we may be wrong''', so we may limit our intake of new information or thinking about things in ways that don’t fit within our pre-existing beliefs. Psychologists call this “confirmation bias.” | '''We don’t like to believe that we may be wrong''', so we may limit our intake of new information or thinking about things in ways that don’t fit within our pre-existing beliefs. Psychologists call this “confirmation bias.” | ||
We also don’t like to second-guess our choices, even if later they are proven wrong or unwise. By second-guessing ourselves, we suggest we may not be as wise or as right as we’ve led ourselves to believe | We also don’t like to second-guess our choices, even if later they are proven wrong or unwise. By second-guessing ourselves, we suggest we may not be as wise or as right as we’ve led ourselves to believe.<ref>[http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2008/10/19/fighting-cognitive-dissonance-the-lies-we-tell-ourselves/ Fighting Cognitive Dissonance & The Lies We Tell Ourselves]</ref> | ||
[[Image:Cognitive-dissonance.jpg|right|thumb|370px|A simple example of '''''cognitive dissonance''''']] | [[Image:Cognitive-dissonance.jpg|right|thumb|370px|A simple example of '''''cognitive dissonance''''']] | ||