Cognitive dissonance, strength of cognitive dissonance

 

From pxhere

What is cognitive dissonance?

Cognitive dissonance refers to mental stress or uncomfortable experiences that an individual receives when he or she has two or more opposing beliefs, thoughts, and values at the same time or encounters new information that is contrary to what he or she has. It is said that when individuals experience such cognitive dissonance, they show symptoms such as aggression, rationalization, regression, fixation, and resignation. Individuals experiencing discrepancies will become psychologically uncomfortable and will seek to reduce these discrepancies or avoid actions that increase them.

 

Strength of cognitive dissonance

The degree of dissonance from cognition and behavior depends on two factors.

1. The importance of cognition: the emphasis is on more important values, and the intensity of dissonance increases accordingly.

2. The weight of cognition: the weight of discrepancy factors Depending on the intensity of cognitive dissonance mentioned above, actions to reduce cognitive dissonance may appear.

How to reduce cognitive dissonance

The theory of cognitive dissonance began with the assumption that individuals would seek agreement between their experiences and reality. For this reason, people will try to resolve the discrepancy in order to match their cognition or behavior with something else. It is said that these efforts reduce tension and stress in people. The typical method is psychotherapy.


Psychotherapy
Cognitive dissonance theory is also applied in psychotherapy. Some social psychologists have argued that treatment is free to choose, and customers who put their efforts and money into the treatment they choose are effective. One study proved that the treatment that obese children received freely resulted in greater weight loss.