Such cognitions can be about behaviors, perceptions, attitudes, emotions, and beliefs. If the cognitions are relevant, they can be in agreement (consistent) or disagreement (inconsistent) with one another (Festinger, 1957). What’s more, even deeply ingrained and strongly held prejudicial beliefs and feelings like racism can be successfully combated through adaptive and prosocial dissonance reduction. Indeed, research has shown that when put in a situation in which a person with racist attitudes works cooperatively with a member of the race they disdain, after a while, their racist attitudes tend to weaken. All of those routes help you get back to a mental state without conflict, where you feel like your beliefs, values, and actions are all in harmony. But each way of reducing dissonance requires that you recognize what feelings you have and do something about it, Curry adds.

For example, if you engage in a behavior that you later learn is harmful, it can lead to feelings of discomfort. People sometimes deal with this by finding ways to justify their behaviors or findings ways to discredit or ignore new information. Study participants who complete an uninteresting task have been https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/how-alcohol-can-affect-relationships/ found to rate the task as more enjoyable if they were first asked to tell someone else it was enjoyable—an effect attributed to cognitive dissonance. Theoretically, dissonance may contribute to a variety of changes in behavior or beliefs. It’s not inherently bad, but it can be harmful if it’s not resolved.

What Causes Cognitive Dissonance?

It’s also important to question your beliefs and make sure that they align with your values. If that same person believed the COVID-19 pandemic was real but refused to wear a mask, their values and behaviors would contradict each other. Cognitive dissonance is a well-researched psychological phenomenon. It occurs in all of us frequently, not just when planning to diet and justifying a doughnut with a delayed diet start.

Institutions, ethics, and perhaps even human consciousness may have to adapt rapidly to avoid obsolescence. In this tornado of change, the shards of our old paradigms will be the seeds of the new world — a world that we can barely conceive of today but will be forced to inhabit tomorrow. AI’s transformative role will likely induce a massive cognitive dissonance within the collective human psyche.

Potential Pitfalls of Cognitive Dissonance

Think of AI not as a mere computational tool but as a complex layer of cognitive processes that can interface seamlessly with human thought patterns. However, unlike human cognition, which functions more like a classical computer, AI operates in a state that is increasingly akin to quantum computing. This change is not just quantitative but qualitative — a different way of thinking, solving, and existing. For me, this gap, the gap between what is right and what I do, the only way for me to resolve that is through the grace of God and trying hard every day to be humble, willing to change, and as brutally honest with myself as possible. If you want to get better at feeling, and if you want to feel peaceful, then you need to learn what to do with those gaps in your life.

Or they can just ignore or dismiss one of the conflicting beliefs, ideas, or values (dissonance reduction). Attending specialized therapy sessions such as psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy can help individuals who struggle with cognitive dissonance work through emotional difficulties and disruptive or negative thoughts. Your psychologist or licensed professional counselor can help you understand your thought process, identify where the feelings are coming from, as well as find ways to change your bias, reduce conflicting beliefs or add new ones. Interestingly, cognitive dissonance can be leveraged therapeutically by helping people to engage in positive, healthy or adaptive behavior despite their state of mental conflict. For instance, a person with claustrophobia (an extreme fear of enclosed spaces) will avoid elevators thereby strengthening their fear due to negative reinforcement.

Magnitude of dissonance

Conversely, we may justify or trivialize negative behavior or even end the relationship. Cognitive dissonance and the way we cope with it regularly affect our relationships, cognitive dissonance treatment too, both positively and negatively. Patients are likely to feel uncomfortable when dissonant thoughts are discussed, which can impede their ability to think constructively.

Or maybe you learn a new piece of information that disagrees with a long-standing belief or opinion. Throwing trash outside even when knowing this act is against the law, wrong, and could harm animals and the planet is cognitive dissonance, especially if the person feels bad after littering but continues to do so. Cognitive dissonance can feel a lot like anxiety and stress — and they often come paired together. When you’re stressed or anxious, you could affect your overall mental, emotional and physical health. Jocelyn Solis-Moreira is a New York-based science journalist whose work has appeared in Health, Live Science, and Discover Magazine, among other publications. She holds a master’s degree in psychology with a concentration in behavioral neuroscience and a bachelor’s degree in integrative neuroscience from Binghamton University.