Cognitive Dissonance Theory In Social Psychology

Adriana Umana Psych 356 13 December 2015 Final Exam Much of what we know about human behavior has been known thanks to many psychology theories. Some of these theories have been developed by very well known psychologists such as Carl Rogers, B.F Skinner, Bandura, and Raymond Cattell. Although, some theories have changed over time there are others we still apply today. Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist. He was non directed, client centered, and person centered.

This eventually leads her to challenge her self concepts to extreme levels, causing her to either liberate herself from the façade she created or sink into the role. Easy A describes many genuine psychological phenomena and I am going to focus on three of them; Cognitive dissonance theory, how societal and cultural norms dictate our attitudes and thoughts, and different ways of persuasion. The cognitive dissonance theory is the feeling of unease that is felt when we act in opposition to our attitudes, which causes a shift of attitude in order to be consistent with our behavior. Easy A depicts strongly the theory of cognitive dissonance on numerous occasions.

The author states that the one of the many flaws in a democracy is the fact that people have the right to vote without having knowledge on the subject. He understands that people make decisions based off their morals, not on the knowledge they have on a subject. Keohane adds that as a self-defense mechanism people, when they are faced with a mental conflict that occurs where their beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information; this is called cognitive dissonance. He goes on to explain the theory of motivated reasoning, which is where people have two facts presented to them where one fact contradicts their principals, and they end up choosing the fact that is closest to their ideals. According to Keohane people with higher self-esteem are more likely to acknowledge new information than people with insecurities.

Kashfa Ahmed ENGW3308 Musselman Unit 1 Draft 1 APA Format 09/10/2014 Word Count: 1291 Defining psychology has been a dilemma ever since the emergence of this field in the scientific society. Research in psychology follows the scientific method except the manipulation of abstract variables does not always lead to concrete results. There are many things to consider like the variability amongst subjects, internal validity and the inability to generalize results to different populations along with the specific guidelines that must be followed in order to deem the experiment as ethical. Since psychology

Cognitive dissonance is relating to the uneasy feeling our bodies experience when they are faced with information that contradicts our original beliefs or ideas. Everyone that discovers the Mandela Effect and then realizes that they relate to so many of the examples find themselves in a state of astonishment. It resonates with a part of our brain that realizes something is wrong. It continues to make you wonder, what else do I have wrong? The most alarming part is that there’s really no way to confirm or deny what is wrong in your head.

Further, the magnitude in which, the person 's cognitions depends on the importance of cognitions that are consonant and dissonant. To elaborate, dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is by definition the ¨state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs or attitudes (McLeod, Simply Psychology) which produces feelings of discomfort.” In order to dispel those feelings the brain leads a person to alter the thoughts, beliefs or attitudes that are in disagreement with the rest, restoring the brain to harmony. When we humans have a thought or commit an atrocity that goes against our morals or long standing beliefs we either apologize or justify the action, telling ourselves that the person we hurt deserved it and brought it upon themselves. We continue to search for justification until we no longer view ourselves as in the wrong. This mental capability has, in my opinion, been the leading agent in nationś wars and oppression against others.

Cognitive dissonance is experienced by every human being goes through at some point of their lives, through rationalizing when there is an uncomfortable feeling for doing something that goes against their beliefs. According to this theory, individuals are able to recognize when they are acting in ways that are opposite from their beliefs. He argued that it would be hard for an individual to ignore the behaviors that violates ones principles, which will cause feelings of discomfort. Cognitive dissonance, when there are a differences and similarities between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in order to eliminate or reduce the dissonance. Feinster argued that there are three ways to help reduce or dissolve cognitive dissonance:

Social categorization theory developed by Turner (1978) describes the categorization of people based on salient attributes like gender, ethnicity or age, resulting in stereotyping on the basis of these differences. Social categorization theory posits that similarities and dissimilarities of demographics can lead formation of different group with resulting effects on member of in-group favorably themselves to the detriment of members of out-groups social (Turner, Brown & Tajfel, 1979). Self-categorization theory explains when individuals categorize themselves by assigning to themselves the manners, actions and other characteristics they link with association within a specific group (Schmitt, Branscombe, Silvia, Garcia, & Spears. 2016). By means of self-categorization and membership of a group, people cultivate a social identity that functions as a social-cognitive scheme (customs, standards and attitudes) for their group associated action. The tendency is for the perceiver to consider these attributes as vital to his or her own personality and thus use these attributes to label others (Hoffman Harburg, & Maier, 2014).

Cognitive dissonance theory has a long history in social psychology (O’Leary, n.d). Cognitive dissonance is consumed when a person holds two contradictory beliefs and or when having a belief that is unrelated with an action that the person has chosen unreservedly to present (O’Leary, n.d). With this situation, this is where the individual have feelings of discomfort and tries to change one of the beliefs or behaviors to keep away from being not consistent(O’Leary, n.d). Also, hypocrisy is a form of cognitive dissonance because it is introduced when the individual freely chooses to demonstrate a behavior that they do not practice themselves (O’Leary, n.d).

"My child. We may be evolved, but deep down, we are still animals. " Zootopia is animated film centered in a city of humanlike animals in which predators and prey can peacefully coexist in a society. This movie expresses a bigger message that that when people are prejudice upon others based on their culture or even their own bias and fear, can lead to others being treated unfairly and hurt. In this essay I will argue that one can change their prejudices and the way they think of how they interact and accept the different types of people around them.

Derek also provides an example of Hypothesis 2: Post decision dissonance creates a need for reassurance. Festinger defines post decision dissonance as “ strong doubts experienced after making an important decision” (Griffin, et al). Derek experiences strong post decision dissonance after leaving the Aryan Brotherhood. When he leaves one of the members tells him that he will be punished. This causes dissonance within Derek, he wonders if he made the right decision, and he feels regret almost.

Cognitive dissonance is the sense of mental disorganization or imbalance that may prompt a person to change when new information conflicts with previously organized thought patterns. The text states, “The incompatibly between your behavior and your new knowledge will make you feel uncomfortable” (381). I have experienced cognitive dissonance when preparing for an exam. For instance, I will not study or not study as well as I should for a test. Then when I receive my test back or my score is posted, I realize that I really should have studied a lot harder.

So far, research has been presented on how attitudes form. After these thoughts, feelings, and behaviors develop, they can be changed. However, this is not an easy process. Cognitive Dissonance Theory

The topic of this assignment is to discuss and analyse what factors affect human behavior and in doing so how human behavior is shaped. But before discussing that, it is important to understand what human behavior is. To define it in a few sentences or words would not be sufficient as human behavior consists of many factors and therefore contributes majorly to who we are as a person. But to put it simply, it is defined as all actions and emotions that an individual portrays in response to the different kinds of stimuli they receive no matter whether these responses are conscious or subconscious and voluntary or involuntary (Merriam-webster.com, 2015).