He owns the theory of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance - Festinger's theory. Ways to get rid of internal discomfort

In 1957, psychologist Leon Festinger introduced the world to the theory of cognitive dissonance, the essence of which was that every person is driven by the desire for an orderly perception of the world and the desire to avoid disharmony (dissonance) of any of his beliefs, values, preferences and ideas (cognitions) and that all people focused on maintaining harmony (consonance).

Fighting with your own self

The cognitive dissonance occurs when a person experiences discomfort due to a discrepancy between two cognitive elements. To relieve this discomfort and restore balance, cognitions must be adjusted in some way.

To test his theory, Festinger decided to study the behavior of members of a religious sect. He observed people who believed that our planet was doomed and would soon be destroyed by a massive flood. Many took this belief so far that they sold their homes and quit their jobs in anticipation of the impending disaster. But the great flood never happened. Festinger carefully watched their reactions.

Some admitted that they had been blinded and left the sect; but the most ardent adherents soon enough proposed a new interpretation of events that confirmed their original idea. In particular, they began to claim that the Earth was saved by their boundless faith. In other words, when a conflict between cognitions arose, sect members tried to change their beliefs in such a way that harmony was restored.

Scientific definition

Cognition - an act of cognition expressed in the form of an emotion, action, idea, belief, value or attitude. For example, understanding that you caught a thrown ball, that some song makes you feel happy, that you like green color, represents cognition. A person can simultaneously perceive many different cognitions, and all of them are in dissonant or consonant relationships with other cognitions.

An Experiment in Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person is forced to do something that deep down he does not want to do. In this case, dissonance is created between the cognition “I don’t want to do this” and actual behavior. A person's actions that are clearly inconsistent with his beliefs are called forced compliance.

Since no one can change their past actions, the only way to reduce dissonance is to change the attitude towards their actions. To clearly demonstrate the phenomenon of forced compliance, Leon Festinger and James Carlsmith conducted the following experiment.

Classic study of cognitive dissonance

1. The subjects are divided into two groups. The first group is not told what it has to do; the second group is told that the lesson will be extremely interesting and exciting.

2. Next, the experiment participants perform a series of routine, incredibly boring, monotonous tasks. for example, for the first half hour they alternately move twelve spoons from the tray and back with one hand, for the next half hour they again turn the chips on the board a quarter turn with one hand. At the end of the cycle - having turned all forty-eight chips in one direction - they must return them to their previous position.

3. After completing the experiment, the subjects are asked how interesting it was for them to complete these tasks.

4. Here it is worth releasing about a third of the participants - this is the control group. Before disbanding, people discuss what can be done to improve the design of future research.

5. Everyone else is given the right to become experimenters themselves. Mm will need to tell the next group of participants about the tasks that they will have to complete in an extremely positive light. They promise to pay half of the group one dollar for this, and the other half - twenty.

6. Subjects are then asked again, asking them to rank the four different parts experiment and evaluate whether they found the tasks performed interesting and exciting (on a scale from -5 to +5 points); whether the experiment helped you learn more about your own skills (on a scale from 0 to 10 points); whether they think the experiment is measuring something really important (on a scale of 0 to 10); They would like to take part in a similar study in the future (on a scale from -5 to +5 points).

Experiment results

In Festinger and Carlsmith's original experiment, 11 of 71 responses were invalid for various reasons. In other cases, the participants’ ratings were distributed as follows:

	CONTROL GROUP (N = 20)	EXPERIMENTAL GROUP, RECEIVED 1 DOLLAR (N = 20)	EXPERIMENTAL GROUP RECEIVED 20 DOLLARS (N = 20)
How interesting were the tasks (from -5 to +5)
How many new things did they learn (from 0 to 10)
Importance to Science (0 to 10)
Is a person ready to take part in such an experiment again?

Festinger and Carlsmith considered the most important answer to the first question: according to the researchers, these results indicated cognitive dissonance. Because the control group was not offered money, their responses accurately expressed their feelings about the experiment (with a rating of -0.45). And the scientists explained the significant difference between the groups that received one and twenty dollars each by cognitive dissonance.

Participants in the experiment were faced with a conflict between two cognitions: “I told the other person that it was interesting” and “I was actually terribly bored.” Moreover, if the subject received one dollar, he rationalized his attitudes, convincing himself that the tasks he was performing were indeed very exciting, since this was the only way he could justify his action.

But the members of the group, which were offered twenty dollars, according to Festinger and Carlsmith, had a completely convincing monetary justification for their actions. Therefore, the first group experienced the cognitive dissonance, since she did not have a valid justification for her action.

Paul Kleinman: Psychology. People, concepts, experiments.

Annotation.

The most famous work of the classic psychology Leon Festinger in a modern presentation. The concept of “cognitive dissonance” has become a part of our lives - this psychological phenomenon affects our behavior and perception of the world. People strive for internal balance between the information they receive and the personal motives of their behavior - sometimes even in spite of common sense. The desire to reduce dissonance is the most important need in the life of any person - the author proves this with the results of numerous experiments and amazing historical facts.

Chapter 1 Introduction to the theory of dissonance.

It has long been noted that a person strives for internal harmony. His views and attitudes tend to unite into groups characterized by the consistency of their elements. Of course, it is not difficult to find exceptions to this rule. Thus, a person may believe that black Americans are no worse than their white fellow citizens, but this same person would prefer that they not live in his immediate neighborhood. Or another example: someone may believe that children should behave quietly and modestly, but he also feels obvious pride when his beloved child energetically attracts the attention of adult guests. Such inconsistency, which can sometimes take quite dramatic forms, attracts our attention mainly because it contrasts sharply with the background idea of internal consistency. In most cases, interrelated opinions and social attitudes are consistent with each other. Study after study reports consistency in people's political, social, and other attitudes.

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The following textbooks and books.

Cognitive theories of motivation: L. Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance

Introduction

The cognitive dissonance

The emergence of dissonance

Degree of dissonance

Reducing Dissonance

Limits on the increase in dissonance

Conclusion

cognitive dissonance situation

According to cognitive theories motivation, the behavior of an individual depends on his ideas about the world and cognitive perception of the situation. Cognitive theories were started by Leon Festinger (05/08/1919 – 02/11/1989). It is he who owns the theory of cognitive dissonance. Festinger proposed this theory in 1957. The theory is based on the fact that “a person’s interconnected attitudes tend precisely towards coherence” (Festinger L. Theory of cognitive dissonance. St. Petersburg: Yuventa, 1991.)

IN this essay I will look at the main pillars of Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance.

Festinger replaces the concept of “inconsistency” with dissonance, and “conformity” with consonance.

The main hypotheses of Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance are as follows (hereinafter quoted):

1. The occurrence of dissonance, which generates psychological discomfort, will motivate the individual to try to reduce the degree of dissonance and, if possible, achieve consonance.

2. If dissonance occurs, in addition to the desire to reduce it, the individual will actively avoid situations and information that may lead to its increase. (End quote)

According to these hypotheses, cognitive dissonance can be defined:

The cognitive dissonance- a discrepancy in a person’s knowledge system, which gives rise to unpleasant experiences in him and encourages him to take actions aimed at reducing or eliminating this contradiction.

In his book, Festinger examines the relevant relationships between “elements” (that is, in fact, a person’s knowledge about a subject). “Two elements are dissonant with respect to each other if, for one reason or another, they do not correspond to each other.” Festinger gives several reasons for the emergence of dissonant relationships between elements:

1. Logical incompatibility. The negation of one element follows from the content of another element based on elementary logic.

2. Cultural customs. Dissonance arises because a given culture defines what is decent and what is not.

3. One specific opinion is part of a more general opinion. Festinger gives the following example: a Democrat in a presidential election votes for Republican Party.

4. Past experience. For example, a person opens a tap with hot water and hopes not to get burned.

The emergence of dissonance

Dissonance occurs in situations where an individual learns new information or witnesses unpredictable events. Festinger argues that dissonance is a daily, constant phenomenon, since there are “very few things in the world that are completely black or completely white.” Festinger argues that dissonance occurs whenever a person is required to express an opinion or make a choice; “dissonance between the awareness of the action being taken and those opinions known to the subject that testify in favor of a different version of the development of events.” An example can be given from Everyday life: when coming to a store, a person cannot choose from two equally well-known brands.

Degree of dissonance

The characteristics between which a dissonant relationship arises are the main factor determining the degree of dissonance, according to Festinger. If two elements are dissonant, then the degree of dissonance will be directly proportional to the importance of these cognitive elements. In other words, the more important the information is to a person, the greater the degree of dissonance will be.

IN real life There are almost no systems of cognitive elements in which there would be no dissonance. For almost any action performed by a person, there can be at least one element that is in a dissonant relationship with that element. From this, Festinger draws the following conclusion: the more one element has dissonant elements, the less the degree of dissonance. Conversely, if the proportion of dissonant elements is small, then the degree will be much greater.

Reducing Dissonance

Dissonance operates in the same way as motives and needs, since it generates a desire to reduce or eliminate dissonance. And the intensity of this desire depends on the degree of dissonance. Festinger compares the desire to reduce dissonance to the feeling of hunger.

If dissonance occurs between two elements, then this dissonance can be eliminated by changing one of these elements. "There are many possible ways the means by which this can be achieved, which depends on the type of cognitive elements involved in the relationship and on the overall cognitive content of the situation.”

Change in behavioral cognitive elements

If dissonance occurs between the environmental knowledge element and the behavioral element, it can only be eliminated by changing the behavioral element. The most in a simple way Festinger calls the change in action or feeling that this behavioral cognitive element represents, because our behavior and feelings are directly dependent on new information. For example, if a person is going for a walk on a sunny day and notices that it is starting to rain, the only thing he can do is return home.

But it is not always possible to reduce dissonance in this way, since it can lead to even more contradictions.

Changing cognitive elements of the environment

This process is more difficult than the previous one because the person must have "a reasonable degree of control over environment" If an element changes, but the image in the individual's mind about it remains unchanged, then means must be used to ignore or counteract the real situation. As an example, Festinger gives the following situation: “a person can change his opinion about a certain political figure, even if his behavior and political situation remain the same.”

Adding new cognitive elements

This method is designed to reduce the degree of dissonance by adding new ones. For example, a smoker who has two cognitive dissonant elements: the harm of smoking and refusal to quit smoking. He will look for any sources that refute the theory about the dangers of smoking (i.e., look for new cognitive elements), and avoid those that, on the contrary, will increase the degree of dissonance.

Limits on the increase in dissonance

The maximum dissonance between elements is determined by “the amount of resistance to change the least persistent element" However, even if there is very strong resistance to change, the overall dissonance in the system can remain at a fairly low level.

Conclusion

So, the theory of cognitive dissonance is built on three main points:

1. There are dissonant and consonant relationships between cognitive elements (or a person’s ideas about the world around him and his behavior)

2. The emergence of cognitive dissonance leads to the emergence in the individual of a desire to reduce or eliminate this dissonance

3. The emergence of such a desire consists of a change in behavior, a change in attitude, or a deliberate search for new information and new opinions regarding the element that generated the dissonance.

Bibliography:

1. Festinger L. Theory of cognitive dissonance. St. Petersburg: Yuventa, 1999 15–52 pp.

2. Andreeva G.M. Psychology social cognition: tutorial for university students: Aspect Press 2005, 303 pages.

3. Nemov R.S. Psychology: 2000, 662 pages

From this book you will learn:

What is cognitive dissonance and how does it occur?

How cognitive dissonance affects our behavior and perception of the world

Why is it difficult for us to give up our beliefs and faith?

Can cognitive dissonance affect decision making?

How are cognitive dissonance and motivation related?

Preface

Dear reader! You are holding the Great Book in front of you. Over the 150 years of independent existence of psychology, a lot of books have been written. It's impossible to read everything. You need to read the best, first of all the classics. And whoever compiled a list of the most influential books in psychology would definitely include this work by Leon Festinger, first published in 1957. Great books never become obsolete.

L. Festinger was born on May 8, 1919 in New York into a Jewish family of emigrants from Russia Alex Festinger and Sarah Solomon, where he became a bachelor in 1939 and a master in 1940 at the University of Iowa, where he began working as a research fellow at the Center studying the child. In 1942 he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in psychology. His supervisor was Kurt Lewin (there is no doubt the influence of Lewin's field theory and the Gestaltists in general on Festinger's work). During World War II (1942–1945) he served on the Airman Selection and Training Committee at the University of Rochester. In 1945, he joined the work of Lewin’s group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and later, in 1947, after Lewin’s death, he moved with the group to the University of Michigan. In 1951 he worked at the University of Minnesota, and in 1955 he moved to Stanford. And finally, from 1968 until his death in 1989, he was a professor at the New School social research in NYC. Throughout his life he received many awards and honors (including the prestigious Outstanding Scientist Award of the American Psychological Association in 1959).

Psychologists usually study the amazing phenomena of our mental life and try to find explanations for them. Great psychologists go further - they see a person behind these phenomena in all his unsolved completeness. Leon Festinger, even among the greatest, stood out for his breadth of interests - he dealt with decision making, the problem of loss of individuality in a group, the ways in which people compare themselves with others, the psychological aspects of the technology of making prehistoric tools, visual perception and eye movement, group dynamics, etc. But his main achievement was the creation of the theory of cognitive dissonance.

L. Festinger made a cognitive revolution even before the emergence of cognitive psychology, and in the field social psychology, as far removed from cognitive research as possible. He derived a law: if two elements of thinking contradict each other (are in dissonance), then this prompts the person to behave in a way that reduces the dissonance. The fact that a person strives to live in a rational world and get rid of contradictions was postulated by the philosophers of the New Age. IN late XIX century, I. Bernheim, in experiments with post-hypnotic suggestion, demonstrated that a person strives to find a reasonable, even incorrect, explanation for his own behavior, which - which the person himself did not realize - was suggested to him in hypnosis. Z. Freud observed Bernheim's experiments and described, within the framework of the theory he built, the unconscious mechanisms of a person's struggle with contradictions (among them - repression and rationalization). But the explanations remained largely speculative, and in Freud’s constructions, moreover, with a strong mythological flavor.

Festinger shows in specially designed conditions: if a person commits an act that contradicts his beliefs, then cognitive dissonance arises. To eliminate dissonance, external justification is used (I was forced, ordered, or paid well). But if there are few reasons for external justification, then a person looks for an internal justification for this action, for example, without realizing it, he changes his own beliefs, i.e., as Festinger says, he smoothes out cognitive dissonance. The ideas and experimental plans he generated made such a strong impression that they gave rise to a wave of followers who carried out amazingly witty experimental studies(See, for example, the review works of E. Aronson, who, precisely under the influence of the book you are holding before your eyes, came to the decision to study social psychology).

I will give an example showing the heuristic significance of Festinger’s theory even in the zone where he himself most likely would not have expected to see the manifestation of his theoretical constructs. In our research at St. Petersburg University, we found that if a person makes mistakes in simple cognitive tasks (mistakes when adding numbers, makes typos, etc.), then it turns out that he tends to repeat his own mistakes, even if he himself does not notice. The effect of repeating mistakes clearly resembles the smoothing out of cognitive dissonance - having made a mistake, a person, without realizing it, seems to make a decision: since under the influence of certain conditions he made a mistake, then it is not a mistake at all, his behavior is justified, and therefore he has the right to repeat it.

Festinger not only created a theory that is based on general principles, but also managed to derive consequences that can be subjected to experimental testing. His theory turned out to be heuristic - other researchers discovered phenomena predicted by the theory even where Festinger himself would hardly have expected to see them. Thus, he created a truly scientific theory. And his book teaches us the most important thing - how to do real science.

Viktor Allahverdov,

professor, doctor of psychological sciences,

Head of the Department of General Psychology, St. Petersburg State University

This preface is mainly devoted to the history of the ideas on which this book is based. The chronological form I have chosen is - best way to pay tribute to the colleagues who provided me with significant assistance during the work on the book, and also to explain what prompted me to write it and what goals I initially pursued.

In the late fall of 1951, Bernard Berelson, director of the Ford Foundation's Center for the Study of Behavior, asked me if I would be interested in compiling analytical review such an important scientific field as the study of “communication and social influence”. A huge amount of factual material has been accumulated in this area, which has not yet been generalized by anyone or worked out at a theoretical level. It covered a range of studies from studying the influence of mass media to analyzing interpersonal communication. If it were possible to extract from this material a system of theoretical statements that would connect with each other many facts already known in this area and allow new predictions to be made, then this would be a work of undoubted value.

The cognitive dissonance– this is a negative state in which individuals experience mental discomfort caused by confrontation in their minds of contradictory ideas, values, knowledge, worldviews, ideas, beliefs, behavioral attitudes or reactions of an emotional nature.

The concept of cognitive dissonance was first proposed by L. Festinger, a specialist in the field of psychology of thought control. In his research during the analysis of the individual’s worldview, he was based on the principles of balance. He began his theory with the postulate that individuals strive for a certain coherence as a necessary internal state. When contradictions arise among individuals between their knowledge base and actions, they strive to somehow explain such a contradiction, as a result of which they present it as a “non-contradiction” in order to achieve a sense of internal cognitive coherence.

Causes of cognitive dissonance

The following factors are identified that cause a state of cognitive dissonance, as a result of which individuals often feel internal dissatisfaction:

- logical inconsistency;

- the dissimilarity of one person’s opinion with the generally accepted one;

- reluctance to follow cultural norms established in a certain territory, where traditions are sometimes guided more than by legislation;

- a conflict between an already experienced experience and a similar new situation.

Cognitive personality dissonance arises due to the inadequacy of the individual’s two cognitions. A person, having information on a problem, is forced to ignore it when making a decision and, as a result, a discrepancy or dissonance appears between the individual’s ideas and his actual actions. Due to similar behavior there is a change in certain ideas of the individual. Such a change is justified based on the vital need of a person to maintain the consistency of his own knowledge.

That is why humanity is ready to justify its own mistakes, because an individual who has committed an offense tends to look for excuses for himself in his thoughts, while gradually shifting his own attitudes regarding what happened in the direction that what happened in reality is not so terrible. In this way, the individual “manages” his own thinking in order to minimize confrontation within himself.

Festinger's modern theory of cognitive dissonance finds its goal in the study and interpretation of contradictions that arise both in individual human individuals and in groups of people.

Everyone, over a certain period of time, acquires a certain amount of life experience, but beyond the time limit, he must function according to the circumstances in which he exists, contrary to the acquired knowledge. This will cause psychological discomfort. And to alleviate such discomfort, the individual has to find a compromise.

Cognitive dissonance in psychology is an attempt to explain motivation human actions, their actions in a variety of everyday situations. And emotions are the main motive for appropriate behavior and actions.

In the concept of cognitive dissonance, logically contradictory knowledge is assigned the status of motivation, which is designed to ensure the elimination of the emerging feeling of discomfort when faced with inconsistencies through the transformation of existing knowledge or social prescriptions.

The author of the theory of cognitive dissonance, L. Festinger, argued that this state is the strongest motivation. According to the classical formulation of L. Festinger, cognitive dissonance is a discrepancy between thoughts, attitudes, information, etc., while the denial of one concept comes from the existence of another.

The concept of cognitive dissonance characterizes methods for eliminating or smoothing out such contradictions and demonstrates how an individual does this in typical cases.

Cognitive dissonance - examples from life: two individuals entered the institute, one of whom was a medalist, and the second was a C student. Naturally, the teaching staff expects excellent knowledge from a medal winner, but nothing is expected from a C student. Dissonance occurs when such a C student answers the question more competently, more comprehensively and completely than the medalist.

Cognitive dissonance theory

Most motivational theories were first discovered in the works of ancient philosophers. Today there are already several dozen such theories. In modern psychological teachings about motivation, which claim to explain human behavior, the prevailing approach today is the cognitive approach to the motivational sphere of the individual, in which phenomena associated with the understanding and knowledge of the individual are of particular importance. The main postulate of the authors of cognitive concepts was the point of view that the behavioral reactions of subjects are guided by knowledge, judgments, attitudes, ideas, views about what is happening in the world, opinions about the causes and their consequences. Knowledge is not a simple collection of data. An individual’s ideas about the world predetermine and construct future behavior. Everything an individual does and how he does it depends not so much on fixed needs, deep aspirations and eternal desires, but on relatively changeable ideas about reality.

Cognitive dissonance in psychology is a state of discomfort in the individual’s psyche, provoked by the confrontation of conflicting ideas in his mind. The socio-psychological study of cognitions was developed to explain changes in cognitions (opinions, attitudes, attitudes) as a method of eliminating logical conflict situations.

Cognitive personality dissonance is characterized by a specific feature, which consists in linking together, in other words, the emotional and cognitive components of attitudes.

The state of cognitive dissonance arises as a result of the individual’s awareness that his actions do not have sufficient grounds, that is, he acts in confrontation with his own attitudes and attitudes, when the personal meaning of behavior is unclear or unacceptable for individuals.

The concept of cognitive dissonance argues that among the plausible methods of interpretation and evaluation similar situation(objects) and his own actions in it, the individual gives preference to those that generate a minimum of anxiety and remorse.

Cognitive dissonance - examples from life were given by A. Leontiev: revolutionary prisoners who were forced to dig holes certainly perceived such actions as meaningless and unpleasant, a decrease in cognitive dissonance occurred after the prisoners reinterpreted their own actions - they began to think that they were digging the grave of tsarism. This idea contributed to the emergence of an acceptable personal meaning for the activity.

Cognitive dissonance can arise as a consequence of past actions. For example, when an individual is specific situation committed an act, which then provokes the appearance of remorse in him, as a result of which amendments can be made to the interpretation of circumstances and their assessment, which eliminate the grounds for experiencing this state. In most cases, this turns out to be simple, since life circumstances are often ambiguous. For example, when a smoker learns about the discovery of a cause-and-effect relationship between the occurrence of cancer and smoking, he has many tools aimed at reducing cognitive dissonance. Thus, in accordance with cognitive theories of motivation, an individual’s behavior depends on his worldview and cognitive assessment of the situation.

How to get rid of cognitive dissonance? Often, external attribution or justification is used to eliminate cognitive dissonance. Responsibility for actions can be removed by recognizing them as forced measures (forced, ordered) or justification can be based on self-interest (they paid well). In cases where there are few reasons for external justification, another method is used - changing attitudes. For example, if an individual was forced to lie, then unconsciously he amends his original judgment about reality, adjusting it to a “false statement”, as a result of which it is subjectively transformed into the “truth”.

According to a number of postulates, this concept converges with the theories of cognitive balance and attribution introduced by the Austrian-American psychologist F. Heider, who based his theories on the principles of Gestalt psychology.

In the variety of situations that arise in everyday life, dissonance can increase or decrease. The degree of its expression depends on the problematic tasks that face the individual.

Dissonance occurs under any conditions if an individual needs to make a choice. At the same time, its level will increase depending on the degree of importance given choice for a person.

The presence of dissonance, regardless of the level of its intensity, forces the individual to free himself from it one hundred percent or significantly reduce it, if for some reason this is not yet possible.

To reduce dissonance, an individual can use four methods:

- change your own behavior;

- transform one of the cognitions, in other words, reassure yourself of the opposite;

— filter incoming information regarding a specific problem;

- apply the criterion of truth to the information received, admit mistakes and act in accordance with a new, more specific and clear understanding of the problem.

Sometimes an individual can prevent the occurrence of this condition and its consequences of internal discomfort by trying to avoid information about his problem, which comes into confrontation with existing data.

The filtering mechanisms of personally significant information for individuals are well described in the theories of Sigmund and Anna Freud about psychological “defenses.” The contradiction that arises in the minds of subjects regarding significant deep-personal themes is, according to S. Freud, a key mechanism in the formation of neuroses.

If dissonance has already arisen, the subject can prevent its increase by adding one or more elements of cognition to the cognitive scheme to replace the existing negative element that provokes dissonance. Consequently, the subject will be interested in finding information that will approve his choice and weaken or eliminate this condition completely, while it is necessary to avoid sources of information that can provoke its increase. Often, such actions of subjects can lead to negative results - the individual may develop prejudice or fear of dissonance, which represents dangerous factor influencing an individual's views.

There may be contradictory relationships between several cognitive components. When dissonance occurs, individuals strive to reduce its intensity, avoid it, or completely get rid of it. Such aspiration is justified by the fact that the subject sets as his goal the transformation of his own behavior, finding new information that would relate to the situation or phenomenon that gave rise to dissonance.

It is completely understandable that it is easier for an individual to agree with the current state of affairs, adjusting his own internal ideas in accordance with the current situation, instead of lengthy reflection on the problem of the correctness of his actions. Often this negative state appears as a result of making serious decisions. Preferring one of the alternatives (equally tempting) is not easy for an individual, but having finally made such a choice, the individual often begins to become aware of “opposing cognitions,” in other words, the positive aspects of the version from which he turned away, and not entirely positive aspects the alternative with which he agreed.

To weaken or completely suppress dissonance, the individual seeks to exaggerate the importance of the judgment he has accepted, while at the same time, downplaying the significance of the rejected one. As a result of this behavior, the other alternative loses all attractiveness in his eyes.

Cognitive dissonance and complete (a state of oppressive tension, feelings of hopelessness, anxiety) have the same adaptive strategies for getting rid of a problematic situation, since both dissonance and frustration cause in subjects a feeling of disharmony, which they try with all their might to avoid. However, along with this, dissonance and the situation that provoked it can also be frustration.

Festinger's cognitive dissonance

Cognitive motivational theories, which are being intensively developed today, originate from the well-known works of L. Festinger.

The theory of cognitive dissonance in Festinger's work has two fundamental advantages that distinguish a scientific concept from a non-scientific one. The first advantage lies, to use Einstein's formulation, in its reliance on the most general foundations. From such general grounds, Festinger deduced consequences that can be subjected to experimental verification. This is the second advantage of Festinger's teaching.

Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance involves some kind of confrontation between several cognitions. He interprets cognition quite broadly. In his understanding, cognition is any knowledge, belief, opinion regarding the environment, one’s own behavioral reactions or oneself. A negative state is experienced by the subject as a feeling of discomfort, from which he strives to get rid of and restore internal harmony. It is this desire that is considered the most powerful motivating factor in human behavior and his worldview.

A state of contradiction between cognition X and cognition Y arises if cognition Y does not emerge from cognition X. Consonance between X and Y, in turn, is observed when Y emerges from X. The individual always strives to achieve internal consistency, that is, strives for the state consonance. So, for example, an individual who is inclined to be overweight decided to stick to a diet (X-cognition), but is not able to deny himself a chocolate bar (Y-cognition). An individual who wants to lose weight is not recommended to consume chocolate. This is where the dissonance lies. Its origin motivates the subject to reduce, in other words, to eliminate, reduce dissonance. To solve this problem, an individual has three main ways:

- transform one of the cognitions (into specific example– stop eating chocolate or end the diet);

- minimize the significance of cognitions included in the confrontation relationship (decide that being overweight is not a big sin or that eating chocolate does not affect a significant increase in body weight);

- add new cognition (a chocolate bar increases weight, but at the same time, it has a beneficial effect on the intellectual sphere).

The last two methods are a kind of adaptive strategy, that is, the individual adapts while maintaining the problem.

Cognitive dissonance requires reduction and motivates it, leading to a modification of relationships, and then behavior.

Below are two of the most famous effects associated with the emergence and elimination of cognitive dissonance.

The first occurs in a situation of behavior that conflicts with the individual’s evaluative attitude towards something. If the subject agrees to do something without coercion that is in any way inconsistent with his attitudes, point of view, and if such behavior does not have a convincing external justification ( monetary reward), then subsequently attitudes and views are transformed in the direction of greater compliance with behavior. In the case when the subject agrees to actions that are slightly contrary to his moral values or moral guidelines, then the result of this will be the emergence of dissonance between moral beliefs and knowledge about behavior, and in the future the beliefs will change in the direction of lowering morality.

The second effect found in research on cognitive dissonance is called dissonance after a difficult decision. A decision is called difficult when the alternative phenomena or objects from which a choice has to be made are equally attractive. In such cases, most often, after making a choice, that is, after making a decision, the individual experiences cognitive dissonance, which is a consequence of the resulting contradictions. Indeed, in the chosen option, on the one hand, there are negative aspects, and in the rejected option, on the other hand, positive features. In other words, the accepted alternative is partly bad, but still accepted. The rejected option is partly good, but rejected. During the experimental analysis of the results of a difficult decision, it was revealed that over time after making such a decision, the subjective attractiveness of the chosen alternative increases and the subjective attractiveness of the rejected one decreases.

The individual is thus freed from cognitive dissonance. In other words, the person convinces himself about the chosen option that this option is not just slightly better than the rejected one, but significantly better. By such actions the subject seems to expand alternatives. From here, we can conclude that complex solutions increase the likelihood of behavioral responses consistent with the chosen option.

For example, when an individual was tormented for a long time by the choice between cars of brand “A” and “B”, but in the end gives preference to brand “B”, then in the future the chance of choosing cars of brand “B” will be slightly higher than before purchasing it. This is due to the increase in the relative attractiveness of B-brand cars.

Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance is a specific variation of problem situations. Therefore, it is necessary to determine with the help of which protective mechanisms and non-defensive adaptive tools an adaptive strategy is carried out, if it is used to rid the individual of dissonances. This strategy may be unsuccessful and cause increased dissonance, giving rise to new frustrations.

There are also forces that resist reducing dissonance. For example, changes in behavior and judgments about such behavior often change, but sometimes this is difficult or involves loss. It is difficult, for example, to give up habitual actions, since the individual likes them. New cognitive dissonance and complete frustration may arise as a result of the transformation of other variations of habitual behavior, which entails material and financial losses. There are forms of behavior that generate dissonance that the individual is not able to modify (phobic reactions).

In conclusion, we can say that Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance is quite simple and summary as follows:

— relationships of inconsistency may exist between cognitive elements;

— the emergence of dissonance contributes to the emergence of a desire to reduce its impact and avoid its further growth;

— manifestations of such aspiration consist in the transformation of behavioral response, modification of attitude, or in the conscious search for new opinions and information regarding the judgment or phenomenon that gave rise to dissonance.

Examples of cognitive dissonance

What is cognitive dissonance? The definition of this concept lies in the understanding that every action of an individual that goes against his knowledge or beliefs will provoke the emergence of dissonance. It does not matter whether such actions are forced or not.

How to get rid of cognitive dissonance? In order to understand this, we can consider behavioral strategies using examples. This condition can be caused by the simplest everyday situations. For example, an individual stands at a bus stop and sees two subjects in front of him, one of whom gives the impression of a respectable and successful man, and the second of whom resembles a homeless person. These two people are eating something in a wrapper. According to the knowledge of the individual, the first subject should throw the wrapper into the trash can, which is located at the same stop three steps away from him, and the second subject, in his opinion, will most likely throw the piece of paper in the same place where it is, that is, he will not bother himself with to come up and throw the trash in the trash can. Dissonance occurs when an individual sees the behavior of subjects that runs counter to his ideas. In other words, when a respectable man throws a wrapper at his feet and when a homeless person covers a distance of three steps to throw the piece of paper into the trash bin, a contradiction ensues - opposing ideas collide in the mind of the individual.

Another example. An individual wants to gain an athletic physique. After all, it is beautiful, attracts the gaze of the opposite sex, makes you feel good, and helps improve your health. To achieve the goal, he needs to start exercising regularly. physical exercise, normalize nutrition, try to follow the regime and adhere to a certain daily routine, or find a bunch of justifying factors indicating that he doesn’t really need it (not enough finances or free time, supposedly poor health, body type within normal limits). Any actions of the individual, thus, will be directed towards reducing dissonance - liberation from confrontation within himself.

In this case, it is almost always possible to avoid the appearance of cognitive dissonance. Often this is facilitated by simply ignoring any information regarding the problematic issue, which may differ from what is available. If a state of dissonance has already arisen, it should be neutralized further development and strengthening, by adding new beliefs to the system of one’s own ideas, replacing the old ones with them. An example of this is the behavior of a smoker who understands that smoking is harmful to his health and those around him. The smoker is in a state of dissonance. He can exit it:

- changing behavior - quit smoking;

- changing knowledge (convince yourself of the exaggerated danger of smoking or convince yourself that all information about the dangers of smoking is completely unreliable);

- taking any messages about the dangers of smoking with caution, in other words, simply ignoring them.

However, such a strategy can often lead to fear of dissonance, prejudice, and the emergence of personality disorders, and sometimes to neuroses.

What does cognitive dissonance mean? In simple words, its definition is as follows. Dissonance is a certain state in which a person feels discomfort caused by the presence of two or more contradictory knowledge (beliefs, ideas) about one phenomenon. Therefore, in order not to feel cognitive dissonance painfully, you should simply accept as a fact that such a phenomenon simply takes place. It is necessary to understand that contradictions between some elements of a person’s belief system and the real state of affairs will invariably be reflected in existence. And accepting and realizing that absolutely everything can be completely different from your own thoughts, positions, ideas and beliefs allows you to avoid dissonance.