#130 - Carol Tavris, Ph.D. & Elliot Aronson, Ph.D.: Recognizing and overcoming cognitive dissonance

4 snips

Sep 28, 2020

Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, esteemed social psychologists and co-authors of 'Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me),' delve into the intricacies of cognitive dissonance. They explore how our brains naturally seek self-justification, impacting decision-making and societal norms. Through real-life examples, such as infamous legal cases, they illustrate the dangers of ignoring contradictory evidence. The discussion emphasizes the importance of intellectual honesty and critical thinking to navigate ethical dilemmas and promote personal growth.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ADVICE

The Downside of Certainty

Be wary of certainty, as it can hinder your ability to adapt when new information emerges.
Scientists often speak in probabilities because certainty can indicate a resistance to change.

ANECDOTE

Cheating and Diverging Paths

Two students with similar views on cheating face a test with an opportunity to cheat.
One cheats, justifying it; the other resists, solidifying their anti-cheating stance. Their views diverge significantly.

INSIGHT

Slippery Slope of Justification

Justifying seemingly small unethical actions makes larger transgressions easier later.
Planting evidence, even when believing someone is guilty, sets a dangerous precedent.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Renowned social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson are the co-authors of Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), a book which explores the science of cognitive biases and discusses how the human brain is wired for self-justification. In this episode, Carol and Elliot discuss how our desire to reconcile mental conflicts adversely affects many aspects of society. The two give real-world examples to demonstrate the pitfalls in attempts to reduce mental conflict, or dissonance. The examples reveal that no one is immune to dissonance reduction behavior, how intellectual honesty can be trained and lastly, how to think critically in order to avoid engaging in harmful dissonant behaviors.

We discuss:

Carol and Elliot’s respective background, collaboration history, and their decision to write Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) [4:00];
The theory of cognitive dissonance, and real examples of dissonance reduction in action [11:15];
How Elliot advanced the theory of cognitive dissonance [23:00];
The evolutionary reason for dissonance reduction, and cultural differences in what causes cognitive dissonance [30:30];
The great danger of smart, powerful people engaging in dissonance reduction [35:15];
Two case studies of cognitive dissonance in criminal justice [39:30];
The McMartin preschool case study—The danger in making judgements before knowing all the information [43:30];
How ideology distorts science and public opinion [56:30];
How time distorts memories [58:30];
The downside of certainty [1:05:30];
Are we all doomed to cognitive dissonance?—How two people with similar beliefs can diverge [1:09:00];
Cognitive dissonance in the police force [1:21:00];
A toolkit for overcoming cognitive dissonance [1:27:30];
Importance of separating identity from beliefs, thinking critically, & and the difficulty posed by political polarity [1:30:30];
How to impart the lessons from their work into future generations [1:48:00]; and
More.

Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/ Show notes page for this episode: https://peterattiamd.com/caroltavris-elliotaronson/ Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/ Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/ Connect with Peter on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.