Cognitive dissonance: the theory that explains self-deception

The psychologist Leon Festinger proposed the cognitive dissonance theory, which explains how people try to maintain the internal consistency of their beliefs and the ideas they have internalized.

In this article we will see what cognitive dissonance is according to Festinger, and its implications for our lives.

• Related article: "Cognitive dissonance: the theory that explains self-deception"

What is cognitive dissonance?

Social psychologist Leon Festinger suggested that individuals have a strong need for their beliefs, attitudes and behavior to be consistent with each other, avoiding contradictions between these elements. When there is inconsistency between them, the conflict leads to the lack of harmony of the ideas held by the person, something that often generates discomfort.

This theory has been widely studied in the field of psychology and can be defined as discomfort, tension or anxiety that individuals experience when their beliefs or attitudes conflict with what they do. This displeasure

may lead to an attempt to change behavior or to defend your beliefs or attitudes (even going so far as to self-deception) to reduce the discomfort they produce.

Festinger was the author of "Theory of Cognitive Dissonance" (1957), a work that revolutionized the field of Social psychology, and that it has been used in different areas, such as motivation, group dynamics, the study of attitude change and decision making.

The relationship between lying and cognitive dissonance

The relationship between lie and the cognitive dissonance It is one of the issues that has attracted the most attention from researchers. Leon Festinger himself, along with his colleague James Merrill Carlsmith, conducted a study that showed that the minds of self-deceived solves cognitive dissonance "Accepting the lie as a truth".

While cognitive dissonance can be resolved in a number of ways, we often choose to "cheat" to make it go away. That happens by manipulating our own ideas and beliefs to make them fit together in an apparent way, creating the fiction that the appearance of the dissonance of cognitive dissonance had no reason to be, in the first place place. However, that makes us vulnerable to running into the consequences of that disguised contradiction over and over again that we have not really resolved.

The Festinger and Carlsmith experiment

They both designed an experiment to test that if we have little extrinsic motivation To justify behavior that goes against our attitudes or beliefs, we tend to change our minds to rationalize our actions.

To do this, they asked some students from Stanford University, divided into three groups, to carry out a task that they assessed as very boring. Subsequently, the subjects were asked to lie, as they had to tell a new group that they were going to do the task, that it had been fun. Group 1 was let go without saying anything to the new group, Group 2 was paid $ 1 before lying, and Group 3 was paid $ 20.

A week later, Festinger called the study subjects to ask what they thought of the task. Groups 1 and 3 responded that the task had been boring, while group 2 responded that they found it fun. Why did group members who received only $ 1 say that the task was fun?

The researchers concluded that people experience a dissonance between conflicting cognitions. By receiving only $ 1, the students were forced to change their thinking, because they had no other justification ($ 1 was insufficient and produced cognitive dissonance). Those who had received $ 20, however, had an external justification for their behavior, and therefore experienced less dissonance.. This seems to indicate that if there is no external cause that justifies the behavior, it is easier to change beliefs or attitudes.

Increase cognitive dissonance to catch a liar

Another famous study in this line of research was carried out Anastasio Ovejero, and concluded that, regarding the lie, “It is necessary to understand that subjects generally live in cognitive consonance between their thinking and acting and if for some reason they cannot be congruent, they will try not to talk about the facts that generate dissonance, thus avoiding increasing it and they will seek to rearrange their ideas, values ​​and / or principles in order to be able to justify himself, achieved in this way that his set of ideas fit together and reduce the tension".

When cognitive dissonance occurs, in addition to making active attempts to reduce it, the individual usually avoids situations and information that could cause discomfort.

An example of using cognitive dissonance to spot a liar

One of the ways to catch a liar is by causing an increase in cognitive dissonance, in order to detect the signs that give them away. For example, an individual named Carlos, who had been out of work for two years, starts working as a salesperson for an electric company. Carlos is an honest person with values, but he has no choice but to bring money home at the end of the month.

When Carlos goes to visit his clients, he has to sell them a product that he knows will lead to a loss of money in the long run. money for the buyer, so this conflicts with his beliefs and values, causing cognitive dissonance. Carlos will have to justify himself internally and generate new ideas aimed at reducing the discomfort that he may feel.

The client, on his part, could observe a series of contradictory signals if she pushes Carlos enough to achieve that increases cognitive dissonance, as this situation would have an effect on their gestures, their tone of voice or their affirmations. In Festinger's own words, "People feel uncomfortable when we simultaneously hold contradictory beliefs or when our beliefs are not in harmony with what we do".

The psychologist, author of the book "Expressed emotions, overcome emotions", adds that due to cognitive dissonance, "The discomfort is generally accompanied by feelings of guilt, anger, frustration or shame".

The classic example of smokers

A classic example when discussing cognitive dissonance is that of the smokers. We all know that smoking can lead to cancer, respiratory problems, chronic fatigue, and even death. But, Why do people, knowing all these harmful effects that smoke causes, still smoke?

Knowing that smoking is so harmful to health but continuing to smoke produces a state of dissonance between two cognitions: "I must be healthy" Y "Smoking harms my health". But instead of quitting or feeling bad about smoking, smokers may seek self-justifications such as "What's the use of living long if you can't enjoy life".

This example shows that we often reduce cognitive dissonance by distorting the information we receive. If we are smokers, we do not pay as much attention to the evidence about the relationship tobacco-cancer. People do not want to hear things that conflict with their deepest beliefs and desires, even though there is a warning about the seriousness of the issue on the same cigarette packet.

Infidelity and cognitive dissonance

Another clear example of cognitive dissonance is what happens to a person who has been unfaithful. Most individuals affirm that they would not be unfaithful and know that they would not like to suffer it in their flesh, even and so, on many occasions, they can be. By committing the act of infidelitythey tend to justify themselves by telling themselves that the other partner is to blame (He no longer treats him the same, spends more time with his friends, etc.), because bearing the weight of having been unfaithful (thinking that infidelity is from bad people) can cause a lot of suffering.

In fact, after a while, cognitive dissonance can get worse, and constantly seeing your partner can force you to confess, as you can feel worse and worse. The internal struggle can become so desperate that attempts to justify oneself in this situation can cause serious emotional health problems. Cognitive dissonance, in these cases, It can affect different areas of life, such as work, mutual friendships, etc. Confessing may be the only way to get rid of suffering.

When cognitive dissonance occurs due to infidelity, the subject is motivated to reduce it, as it produces enormous discomfort or anxiety. But when, for various reasons, it is not possible to change the situation (for example, by not being able to act about the past), then the individual will try to change his cognitions or appraisal of what he has done. The problem arises because when living with that person (her partner) and seeing her daily, the feeling of guilt can end up "killing him inside".

Bibliographic references:

• Beasley, R.K.; Joslyn, M.R. (2001). Cognitive Dissonance and Post-Decision Attitude Change in Six Presidential Elections. Political Psychology. 22 (3): pp. 521 - 540.
• Chen, M. Keith; Risen, Jane L. (2010). "How choice affects and reflects preferences: Revisiting the free-choice paradigm". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 99 (4): pp. 573 - 594.
• Festinger, L. (1962). Cognitive Dissonance. Scientific American. 207 (4): pp. 93 - 106.