Decision-making was tested in a cognitive dissonance experiment, but what is cognitive dissonance?It is a feeling that arises from a conflict between the individual’s ideas, beliefs and values with his behavior.
Thus, cognitive dissonance results from the incompatibility of thoughts, which creates a state of considerable discomfort in people.
- Cognitive dissonance can then be understood as psychological tension.
- A concept introduced by Leon Festinger in 1957.
According to the author, this tension forces the subject to create new ideas or attitudes that reduce tension and complement his belief system.
This theory has been related to decision-making; Every time we decide to do something that conflicts with our beliefs, different strategies are used to alleviate that tension.
“When there is dissonance, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information that can increase this dissonance. “Leon Festinger?
Festinger was an American social psychologist born in New York in 1919, whose theory of cognitive dissonance was particularly relevant in social psychology, particularly in the areas of motivation and group dynamics.
Moreover, the theory is based on the fact that human beings are aware of their actions and every time he does something with which he disagrees, he feels the need to mitigate the dissonance generated.
The cognitive dissonance experiment was designed by Leon Festinger and his colleague Merrill Carlsmith in 1957, was conducted with students and included the following steps:
Cognitive dissonance occurred among students who agreed to lie for a dollar and had to convince themselves that this experience was fun to mitigate the conflict.
Why wasn’t the reward good enough?With the lie
When it came to justifying their actions, they seemed particularly tense for the group that received twenty dollars, they did so in a more natural and carefree way.
The experience of cognitive dissonance leaves us with several conclusions, the reward group of twenty dollars knew very well that the experience was tedious, so this group also had the justification necessary to say otherwise.
However, this was not the case with the dollar group, where we could see how the subjects were convinced to ease the tension generated by the insufficient reward.
In the last step, after lying, the lead researcher asked participants if they really thought the experience was fun. However, in the twenty-dollar group, participants sincerely expressed that the experience was not much fun.
Paradoxically, the group that had to be convinced by the inconsistency of the prize reaffirmed the lie, and many said they would re-engage in the experiment.
“The believer must have the social support of other believers. “Leon Festinger?
Sixty years have passed from experience and even today dissonance continues to raise questions and debates, it has been proposed, for example, to justify the methods of defense that appear in various psychological pathologies.
In turn, it has also been used in psychosocial analysis of criminals and people who justify their actions by hiding in the group or following orders.
In addition, experience also questions the human tendency to find psychological and mental relief. The contrast between social norms and day-to-day decisions makes us go through this unpleasant state more often than we would like.
The problem arises when, due to this anxiety of releasing tensions, we end up generating inappropriate behaviors.
In addition, knowing dissonance can help us identify it when we experience it; it can also help us measure the influence of the information we obtain from our reference group and how the standards that constitute it shape the way we act, think. or feel.
Finally, it should be noted that cognitive dissonance confronts us with our values, leading us to update them occasionally, or update the way we act.