028 Cognitive Dissonance
A state of mental discomfort due to incompatible attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs.
Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental stress due to conflicting thoughts or values, often created when new information challenges existing beliefs. When a person is in a state of cognitive dissonance, they seek out ways to relieve this mental stress.1
People relieve cognitive dissonance in one of three ways:
- Reduce the importance of the conflicting thought
- Add a new thought to counteract it
- Accept the conflicting thought
Consider an advertising campaign that suggests that the love you feel for your spouse relates to how many diamonds you buy them. This campaign strategy seeks to create cognitive dissonance in you, between the feelings ...
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