What Is Cognitive Dissonance?

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Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling when two ideas or beliefs conflict, or when attitude and behavior clash. People are motivated to reduce this discomfort by either changing their behavior or justifying their actions. Cognitive dissonance was described by Leon Festinger in the late fifties as being as uncomfortable as hunger or thirst. The theory has evolved to explain why individuals often resist changing their beliefs even when presented with evidence that contradicts them. An example is a smoker feeling dissonance between knowing smoking is harmful and continuing to smoke. The concept extends beyond individual behavior to societal and political realms, as seen in the justification for the Iraq War. The book 'Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)' by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson explores how individuals tend to ignore conflicting information to rationalize their decisions, leading to disastrous consequences in various aspects of life.

For the first full episode of Mindscape, it's an honor to welcome social psychologist Carol Tavris. Her book with co-author Eliot Aronson, Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), explores the effect that cognitive dissonance has on how we think. We talk about the fascinating process by which people justify the mistakes that they make, and how that leads to everything from false memories to political polarization. [smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/seancarroll/carol-tavris.mp3" social_email="true" hashtag="mindscapepodcast" ] Carol Tavris received her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan. She is the author of numerous books, covering topics such as gender, biology, and emotion, and is a frequent contributor to a variety of newspapers and magazines. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Carol Tavris on Wikipedia Social Psychology Network profile Amazon.com author page A lecture on "Dissent and Dissonance: The Science and Art of Argument." Download Episode See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.