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Cognitive Dissonance: Difference between revisions
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=Definition= | =Definition= | ||
Cognitive dissonance is a term used in | |||
Cognitive dissonance is a term used in psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting thoughts, ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions. 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. | ||
'''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. This may lead us to commit to a particular course of action and become insensitive to and reject alternative, perhaps better, courses that come to light.<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''''']] | ||