Can anyone explain/describe cognitive dissonance theory and give me some good examples?

Question

thanks!

Answer 1

Cognitive Dissonance Theory, developed by Leon Festinger (1957), is concerned with the relationships among cognitions. A cognition, for the purpose of this theory, may be thought of as a ³piece of knowledge.² The knowledge may be about an attitude, an emotion, a behavior, a value, and so on. For example, the knowledge that you like the color red is a cognition; the knowledge that you caught a touchdown pass is a cognition; the knowledge that the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation is a cognition. People hold a multitude of cognitions simultaneously, and these cognitions form irrelevant, consonant or dissonant relationships with one another.

Cognitive Irrelevance probably describes the bulk of the relationships among a person¹s cognitions. Irrelevance simply means that the two cognitions have nothing to do with each other. Two cognitions are consonant if one cognition follows from, or fits with, the other. People like consonance among their cognitions. We do not know whether this stems from the nature of the human organism or whether it is learned during the process of socialization, but people appear to prefer cognitions that fit together to those that do not. It is this simple observation that gives the theory of cognitive dissonance its interesting form.

Answer 2

In cognitive dissonance something given or sold to you for a price that seems too little for what your getting makes you underestimate what the thing may really be worth.

In life if somehow you believe a person or thought is worthless, like say me quoting Plato (but you don't know it,) then you may think just because it's me saying that it is not worthy.

Answer 3

Bush's administratin and Iraq, classic example of cognitive dissonance and cognitive rigidity. To prove I am not suffering from cognitive dissonance myself, I also offer the example of LBJ's adminstration and Vietnam.

Answer 4

I found the link. It's got everything you need to know!