Cognitive Dissonance Theory & Mental Health

Have you ever experienced a sense of mental tension but couldn’t determine its origin? You may have been experiencing cognitive dissonance, a psychological phenomenon that is often challenging to recognize at the moment. This phenomenon usually occurs when a person holds conflicting beliefs or when they act in a way that’s inconsistent with their values. It can be possible to reduce cognitive dissonance by adjusting your beliefs or behaviors, and a licensed therapist can serve as your guide throughout this process.

Cognitive dissonance, as defined by Leon Festinger 

How does the field of psychology define the term “cognitive dissonance”? What did Leon Festinger propose on this theory? It may help to consider the meaning of each word. "Cognitive" generally refers to mental activity like thinking, learning, perceiving, believing, or intuiting. Meanwhile, you may recognize "dissonance" as a word sometimes used in music to refer to two or more musical notes that lack harmony and create a sense of tension when played together.

What is cognitive dissonance in psychology? Exploring dissonance theory

The original social psychology theory of cognitive dissonance was created in 1957 by an American social psychologist named Leon Festinger. Festinger read about a religious group that believed the world would soon end in a cataclysmic flood. As an expert in social psychology, he wondered what the group would think when this prediction failed to come true. He and several colleagues went undercover and managed to gain acceptance into the group with the goal of observing group members’ behavior.

What Festinger and his colleagues discovered was seen as psychologically groundbreaking. When the world didn’t end, the people who were less committed to the group usually experienced an attitude change and began to adjust their beliefs, accepting that they had made a mistake.

However, the staunchest believers often had a different response when faced with conflicting beliefs. They usually didn't accept that their existing beliefs had been proven false. Instead, they attempted to justify their dissonant beliefs by persuading others to join the group, maintaining their commitment.

Experimental cognitive dissonance studies experiments by social psychologist Leon Festinger

Later, Festinger conducted social psychology laboratory experiments to learn more about this type of phenomenon.

These peer-reviewed studies, published by the Stanford University Press, have been revisited many times in other research projects and are generally considered to have laid the groundwork for extensive research into cognitive dissonance theory.

In one study, people were asked to lie and tell others that a boring job was interesting. This task was designed to induce cognitive dissonance by creating a conflict between their true beliefs and their actions. This concept is often called “induced persuasion” and involves asking someone to perform a task that contradicts their attitudes or beliefs. Those who were paid $20 to tell this lie still believed the task was boring after lying about it. However, those who only received $1 for the lie usually became convinced the task was actually interesting. Not only did they lie about it when instructed to do so, but they displayed the “induced persuasion paradigm” because they also began to believe and reinforce the lie.

Results of cognitive dissonance experiments

This result illustrates what came to be known as Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory. The cognitive consequences of these experiments demonstrated how people adjust their attitudes when faced with inconsistent beliefs and actions. In these peer-reviewed studies, the participants who were paid $20 typically had no reason to change their thinking. They didn’t need to convince themselves that the job was interesting, as the payment rewarded them amply enough for acting in a way that contradicted their beliefs, resolving any mental tension. However, the participants who were paid $1 generally needed to change their thinking to relieve the discomfort experienced when their actions didn't match with their thoughts because there was no real reward for doing so. This mismatch creates a conflicting cognition that individuals are motivated to resolve. This group experienced more cognitive dissonance because the lack of sufficient reward heightened the tension between their beliefs and actions.

Festinger’s dissonance theory proposed that people tend to seek consistency in their attitudes and behaviors. This desire for cognitive consistency often drives people to change. When people are faced with cognitive inconsistency, they often attempt to restore balance by changing their attitudes or behaviors. This process is known as dissonance reduction, where individuals change their attitudes or behaviors to reduce the discomfort. When their attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors are inconsistent, individuals usually make changes to overcome the discomfort associated with cognitive dissonance and return to mental harmony.

Examples of cognitive dissonance

Once you understand cognitive dissonance, you may notice various examples in everyday life. Some common cognitive dissonance examples include situations where people's actions contradict their beliefs or values, like eating unhealthy food despite knowing its risks. For example, knowingly engaging in unhealthy habits frequently involves cognitive dissonance. Many people experience cognitive dissonance when their actions do not align with their personal values, such as when they procrastinate despite valuing productivity. A person might convince themselves that something harmful is harmless or won’t have adverse effects on them. This phenomenon can also occur with political beliefs, where individuals support policies that contradict their personal values to maintain group loyalty.

Other examples of cognitive dissonance relating to health

Smoking tobacco can serve as an example. This is an example of holding conflicting beliefs, where someone knows smoking is harmful but continues to do it. If you know smoking can lead to cancer but choose to smoke anyway, your behavior can be considered inconsistent with your knowledge. This is a case of two conflicting beliefs where someone’s desire to smoke conflicts with their knowledge of its dangers. To resolve this mental conflict, you might tell yourself that you don’t smoke enough to harm your lungs or that you know individuals who have smoked their entire lives without developing cancer rather than thinking about the potential consequences that could occur.

Another example of cognitive dissonance could involve procrastinating or wasting time at work. You may strongly believe that being productive and doing well in your career is a priority in life, but you continually find yourself taking breaks to scroll on social media or chat with coworkers. As a result, you may experience guilt or mental tension, potentially becoming frustrated with yourself for not working as hard as you believe you should. This can be a form of cognitive dissonance because your behavior doesn’t match your beliefs regarding the importance of work and productivity.

Balancing the good and bad of cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance isn't always a negative occurrence. Sometimes, conflicting thoughts can arise when you're making positive changes. Consider what happens when you decide to start exercising. Beginning a fitness routine can seem grueling, especially if you've been sedentary for years. It may be unfamiliar, uncomfortable, tiring, and time-consuming to start this new habit.

You likely don’t want to experience physical discomfort or the inconvenience of adding exercise to your daily routine, but you may also believe that exercise is good for your physical and mental health. To reduce this cognitive dissonance and mental conflict, you may convince yourself that you enjoy exercising even though it's physically uncomfortable or remind yourself of the benefits of regular exercise.

If you're successful in changing your fitness habits, this inner conflict will likely only be temporary. The more consistent you are with your exercise plan, the fitter you may become. Eventually, this consistency leads to cognitive consonance, where your thoughts and behaviors align, reducing any mental tension. In this sense, cognitive dissonance can motivate human beings to improve. Exercising may become more familiar and less physically uncomfortable. You might experience the reward of enhanced well-being, which can serve as a form of effort justification. These new attitudes and thoughts may align with the fitness behaviors you've adopted, and your health may improve alongside your mental discomfort.

Understanding cognitive dissonance theory

When your attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors don't align, you can take several approaches to reduce cognitive dissonance or eliminate it altogether. It can be ideal to focus on changing either your beliefs or your behavior. To alter either of these usually requires the adjustment of various thought processes. Thus, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which generally focuses on the relationships between a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, can be especially useful for overcoming cognitive dissonance.