1. "Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension that occurs whenever a
person holds two cognitions (ideas, attitudes, beliefs, opinions)
that are psychologically inconsistent." It is often referred back to
Leon Festinger, who coined the term fifty years ago.
Example: "smoking will kill me" and "i smoke two packs a day". Or: "i
am an honest, good man" and "i lied on the application form".
2. The authors contend that the primary cause of self-justification
is cognitive dissonance. We create questionable defences to bridge
the gap between the two contradictory notions we found ourselves
holding. Referring to the two examples above: "smoking helps me not
put on weight", and "i had a hard life, i deserve to get this job"
are possible self-justifications.
3. Self-justifications proceed slowly but can build up to an extent
that people who were formerly very close on a particular topic become
far apart.
"Often, standing at the top of the pyramid, we are faced not with a black-and-white, go/no-go decision, but with a gray choice whose consequences are shrouded. The first steps along the path are morally ambiguous, and the right decision is not always clear. We make an early, apparently inconsequential decision, and then we justify it to reduce the ambiguity of the choice. This starts a process of entrapment - action, justification, further action - that increases our intensity and commitment, and may end up taking us from our original intentions or principles."
4. The theory of cognitive dissonance has inspired about 3000
experiments that have transformed psychologists' understanding of how
the human mind works.
"Dissonance is disquieting because to hold two ideas that contradict each other is to flirt with absurdity and, as Albert Camus observed, we humans are creatures who spend our lives trying to convince ourselves that our existence is not absurd."
4.1 Pain over pleasure
A number of experiments have shown that severe initiations increase a member's liking for the group. Why?
Because most people think highly of themselves, the notion that they underwent a severe initiation to join a detestable group causes them to see themselves as stupid, so they abandon one of the notions: "I am a smart person, I went through a lot to join this group, and this
group is great."
4.2 Confirmation bias
"I will look at any additional evidence to confirm the opinion to which I have already come." Lord Molson, British politician (1903-91)
"So powerful is the need for consonance that when people are forced to look at disconfirming evidence, they will find a way to criticise, distort, or dismiss it so that they can maintain or even strengthen their existing belief." Hence, confirmation bias.
4.3 Post-big-decision comforting
Once we have made a big decision, the idea that we may have screwed up causes cognitive dissonance with the idea that we are good people who deserve good things. Therefore, to
reduce this dissonance, we embark on reassuring, post-decision affirmations.
"People become certain about something, if they can't undo it." Therefore, ignore testimonials, get data from people who have not made the decision and are still open-minded.
4.4 Vicious cycles
One aggressive move can trigger a flurry of justifications such as: "he asked for it" and "he would have done the same to me if he had the chance". This can causes another round of aggression, since the victim was "clearly" to blame. Venting against someone can trigger greater animosity towards that person - we would have expected that having expressed our frustrations, we would calm down. But experiments show the opposite: we go further if we can.
Again, dissonance between "I am a good person who would not get angry over nothing" and "my aggressive venting was very rude" causes us to bolster the former notion and negate the latter. Experiments showed people's blood pressure rising after they have vented, given the chance to report their victim to the authorities, they do so.
Dissonance theory can support virtuous cycles as well as vicious ones. Doing a good deed to someone on a whim or by chance causes us to adopt a warm view of the person we did the good deed to, we see him as deserving.
Here the dissonance arises because of the notions: "I just did a good thing" and "that person may be undeserving". We choose to bolster the former notion and negate the latter notion by finding reasons to justify the goodness of the other man.
4.5 Low self-esteem
Interestingly, dissonance theory explains the actions of people with low self-esteem. For example: "I usually screw up things" and "my plan worked perfectly" causes the person to negate the latter notion and find reasons to bolster the first one.
Whereas the authors are good writers, I struggled sometimes to make the logical link they might claim between one thought and another. Just that extra bit of elucidation would have been perfect.
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