Cognitive dissonance is the painful tension we feel when our beliefs or actions conflict with one another. It is stronger when the beliefs are important to us, when the contradiction is clearer, and when we have a harder time resolving it.
There are three basic ways one can reduce the cognitive dissonance of engaging in some behavior that seems contrary to our beliefs:
1. Change the behavior.
2. Change the belief.
3. Find a way to reconcile the two.
So, let's consider a person who believes it is important to give money to charities, but has just passed by a charity volunteer without giving anything.
Option 1 would be to reaffirm their belief in donating to charities, and vow that the next time a charity asks them, they're going to give money.
Option 2 would be to change their belief about donating to charities, and decide that maybe it's not so important to give to charities after all.
Option 3, which I think is the most likely in this case, would be to find some way of reconciling the action with the belief: Maybe there's something about this charity that is unappealing, and they'd rather donate somewhere else. Maybe they're really broke right now, and will donate once they have more money. Maybe they don't have time to stop and donate today, but could some other day.
These justifications could be legitimate, or they could just be excuses; either way they will tend to reduce the cognitive dissonance, though the more convincing the justification is the more likely it is to be effective. People also seem to vary in their willingness to accept excuses and rationalizations, both from themselves and from others.
No comments:
Post a Comment