What is cognitive dissonance?

Cognitive dissonance refers to the psychological discomfort that arises when an individual holds two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes simultaneously. This discomfort can lead to feelings of tension and unease, prompting the person to seek resolution. Individuals may attempt to alleviate this dissonance through various means, such as changing one of the conflicting beliefs, acquiring new information to justify one belief over the other, or minimizing the importance of the conflicting beliefs.

In the context of cognitive dissonance, an example might be a person who values health and wellness but smokes cigarettes. The conflict between the knowledge that smoking is harmful and the action of smoking creates discomfort. To resolve this dissonance, the person might choose to quit smoking, rationalize their behavior, or downplay the risks associated with smoking.

The other options focus on concepts unrelated to cognitive dissonance: reinforcement strategies pertain to behavioral psychology, positive emotional responses involve feelings of happiness or satisfaction, and automatic recall processes relate to memory retrieval. These concepts do not address the fundamental nature of cognitive dissonance and its role in affecting individual behavior and decision-making.