Cognitive Dissonance – What is it? It is conflicts with individuals that usually occur when the beliefs or expectations are contradicted by new founded information. When an individual has this type of discomfort that individual will find a reasoning to reduce the discomfort. They will reject, explain away or totally will avoid the new information. The individual will convince themselves that no conflict exists, settles any differences, or any other type of defensive measures to preserve steadiness in their idea of things. Individuals need to keep their confidence, their stability of a positive person so they will begin thinking in a way that is considered rationalizing. Usually the individuals who will rationalize are convincing themselves that they are and always have been correct. Frequently these individuals will behave irrationally just to make sure they “believe”.
Upon reading the examples of what cognitive dissonance is, I have to agree that frequently is this “method” used by a majority of individuals. For instance, if you are big into exercise you have heard and practiced stretching prior to and after any type of workout is what you should do to keep muscle injuries fewer. Then all of a sudden advice comes out that stretching isn’t important. An individual who has been doing this for a long time will fight the issue as it couldn’t be true. This individual has believed that stretching is healthy for so long it cannot be anything but fact.
Another example is the cartoon posted with the blog. An individual is wondering why he doesn’t have a girlfriend! His friend tells him maybe he doesn’t have a girlfriend because he is too good and there isn’t a girl out there that would deserve such a great guy. He starts to believe what his friend says because that is what he needs to keep his confidence at being a positive and stable individual. In his own mind he is rationalizing the direction of why he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Interestingly, if his friend would have told him it was because he was doing something incorrect, he would have rejected that claim because all along he thought he was great.
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