Toxic Organizational Cultures and Leadership

3 The Second Driver of Toxic Culture – Cognitive Dissonance

DOI: 10.4324/9781003330387-5

3.1 Introduction

In toxic cultures, there appears to be a dissonance between the ‘published values’ of an organization and the actual behaviours and norms. While ‘deviance’ means to stray from correct or proper behaviour, ‘dissonance’ is defined as a lack of harmony or agreement between people and things. For organizations, ‘Cognitive Dissonance’ is best described as a disconnect between the external stated values of an organization and the actual practices and/or behaviours. In other words, it is the discrepancy between the rhetoric and the reality.

3.2 Defining Cognitive Dissonance

The term Cognitive Dissonance is used to describe the mental discomfort ...