Cognitive dissonance: the theory that explains self-deception

We discovered the concept of "cognitive dissonance" from Leon Festinger.

The psychologist Leon Festinger proposed the theory of cognitive dissonancewhich 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.

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 beliefs, attitudes and behavior.avoiding contradictions between these elements. When there is inconsistency between these, the conflict leads to disharmony 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 the discomfort, tension or anxiety experienced by individuals when their beliefs or attitudes conflict with what they do. This discomfort may lead to an attempt to change behavior or to defend their beliefs or attitudes (even going as far as self-deception). 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 which 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 cognitive dissonance is one of the topics that has attracted the attention of researchers. Leon Festinger himself, along with his colleague James Merrill Carlsmith, conducted a study that showed that the minds of self-deceivers resolve cognitive dissonance by "by accepting the lie as a truth.".

While cognitive dissonance can be resolved in a variety of ways, on many occasions we 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 discomfort of cognitive dissonance had no reason to exist in the first place. However, that makes us vulnerable to encountering again and again the consequences of that covert contradiction that we have not really resolved.

The Festinger and Carlsmith Experiment

The two designed an experiment to prove 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 students at Stanford University, divided into three groups, to perform a task that they evaluated as very boring. Subsequently, the subjects were asked to lie, because they had to tell a new group that was going to perform 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 them what they thought of the task. Group 1 and 3 responded that the task had been boring, while group 2 responded that they had found it fun.Why did members of the group who had received only $1 claim that the task had been fun?

The researchers concluded that people experience dissonance between conflicting cognitions. By receiving only $1, 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 to justify the behavior, it is easier to change beliefs or attitudes.

Increasing cognitive dissonance to catch a liar.

Another famous study along this line of research was conducted by Anastasio Ovejeroand concluded that, with respect to lying, "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 the dissonance, thus avoiding increasing it and will seek to rearrange their ideas, values and/or principles in order to be able to justify themselves, thus achieving that their set of ideas fit together and reducing the tension.".

When cognitive dissonance is present, 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 detect a liar

One of the ways to catch a liar is to provoke an increase in cognitive dissonance, in order to detect the tell-tale signs. For example, an individual named Carlos, who had been out of work for two years, starts working as a salesman 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. but he has no choice but to bring home money at the end of the month..

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

The client, for his part, could observe a series of contradictory signals if he pushes Carlos hard enough to get him to increase cognitive dissonance, as this situation would have an effect on his gestures, tone of voice, or statements. 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 "Emotions Expressed, Emotions Overcome.", adds that due to cognitive dissonance, "Discomfort is usually accompanied by feelings of guilt, anger, frustration or shame.".

The classic example of smokers

A classic example when talking about cognitive dissonance is that of smokers. We all know that smoking can lead to cancer, Respiratory problems, chronic fatigue and even death. But why do people, why do people, knowing all these harmful effects caused by smoke, still smoke?

Knowing that smoking is so detrimental 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 because they smoke, smokers may seek self-justifications such as "what's the point 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 relationship. People don't want to hear things that put them in conflict with their deepest beliefs and desires, even though there is a warning on the tobacco package itself about the seriousness of the issue.

Infidelity and Cognitive Dissonance

Another clear example of cognitive dissonance is what happens to a person who has been unfaithful. Most individuals claim that they would not be unfaithful and know that they would not want to experience it themselves, yet, on many occasions, they may become unfaithful. When committing the act of infidelity often justify themselves by telling themselves that it is the other partner's fault (he/she no longer treats him/her the same, spends more time with his/her friends, etc.). (no longer treats you the same, spends more time with friends, etc.), as bearing the burden of having been unfaithful (thinking that infidelity is bad people) can cause a lot of suffering.

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

When cognitive dissonance occurs due to infidelity, the subject is motivated to reduce it, because 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 on the past), then the individual will try to change his or her cognitions or the assessment of what he or she has done. The problem arises because when living with that person (your partner) and seeing him/her on a daily basis, the feeling of guilt can end up in "guilt", the feeling of guilt can end up "killing him/her inside"..

Bibliographical 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.