Having focused on CBT models of OCD up to this point, we propose that cognitive dissonance theory, arguably the most highly researched theory in social psychology, has clear relevance to obsessive-compulsive phenomena. But even with substantial research in each area addressing similar theoretical constructs, these two lines of thought have not been synthesized in order to bring clarity to our understanding of OCD. Psychologist Leon Festinger first described the theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957.

Effort

• The internal discomfort and tension of cognitive dissonance could contribute to stress or unhappiness.
• Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) investigated if making people perform a dull task would create cognitive dissonance through forced compliance behavior.
• Since factors such as level of perceived expertise of a therapist generally are believed to be critical variables in the outcome of psychotherapy (Strupp, 1981), the elaboration likelihood model is quite relevant to the therapy process.
• From these results, we can conclude that DBIs work by changing thin-ideal internalization and that it is the change in internalization that leads to reductions in the other outcome variables.
• Professional judges are notoriously difficult to use as participants in experimental research.

According to the behaviorist perspective, people are motivated to hold particular attitudes and behave in certain ways to gain positive reinforcement and avoid punishment. Some of the ways people reduce discomfort from cognitive dissonance include seeking information that aligns with and supports current beliefs, reducing the conflicting belief’s importance, and changing beliefs to reduce the feelings of conflict. While the hypotheses of the cognitive dissonance theory current study were not supported, we observed a recency effect in the ratings of likelihood of guilt. The recency effect did not extend to the decision whether or not to convict the suspect, and also did not influence the perceived importance of the evidence. Thus, despite the final rating of likelihood of guilt shifting towards the last piece of evidence that participants saw, participants were not sufficiently influenced by the evidence to cause a difference in conviction rates. The recency effect therefore did not seem to undermine the impact of the evidence presented earlier.

Attitude Change Following Cognitive Dissonance

Being paid only $1 is not sufficient incentive for lying and so those who were paid $1 experienced dissonance. They could only overcome that dissonance by coming to believe that the tasks really were interesting and enjoyable. Being paid $20 provides a reason for turning pegs, and there is, therefore, no dissonance.

• Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person’s behavior and beliefs do not complement each other or when they hold two contradictory beliefs.
• Festinger, 2–4 in his ground-breaking Cognitive Dissonance Theory described how beliefs have a cognitive, an affective, and a behavioral component.
• Cognitive dissonances extend from minor everyday choices, such as a choice of drink between coca-cola and water, to life disappointments familiar to everyone, unrequited love, betrayal by friends, and loved ones.
• For instance, they may justify their sedentary behavior by saying that their other healthy behaviors—like eating sensibly and occasionally exercising—make up for their largely sedentary lifestyle.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT)

We are committed to engaging with you and taking action based on your suggestions, complaints, and other feedback. In other words, he could tell himself that a short life filled with smoking and sensual pleasures is better than a long life devoid of such joys. In this way, he would be decreasing the importance of dissonant cognition (smoking is bad for one’s health). For example, thinking smoking causes lung cancer will cause dissonance if a person smokes. Brehm (1956) was the first to investigate the relationship between dissonance and decision-making. The rub is that making a decision cuts off the possibility that you can enjoy the advantages of the unchosen alternative, yet it assures you that you must accept the disadvantages of the chosen alternative.

On the other hand, Izuma reported extensive bilateral DLPFC activations, but anterior insula activation was found only after lowering the statistical threshold. This difference between the two studies may be due to the difference between experimental paradigms (or timing of brain scans). In van Veen’s study, participants expressed their counterattitudinal opinions during the scanning, and therefore, the participants had no explicit opportunity to reduce their felt dissonance during this task. In contrast, in the Izuma study, during the second rating task, participants perceived the discrepancy between their preference and past choice behaviors, while rating their preference for each item again.

Prohibited or censured thoughts, feelings and activities (of self or others) must be reported to superiors. Where people live and with whom they can live is highly significant, because members of destructive cults violate the human right of free association by ordering or shaming members into ostracizing, shunning or disconnecting from non-believers. This approach to attitude change helps us understand why people may be influenced linearly by the attractiveness of the communicator, or by the communicator’s status and presumed knowledge. It also helps us understand better why people sometimes resist persuasion attempts (see discussion below), since some factor such as forewarning of persuasion has activated their thoughtful analysis of the positions being advocated. As noted by Cooper and Axsom, their dissonance analysis bears considerable similarity to other theoretical conceptions including Bandura’s (1977) view that psychotherapy will be successful to the extent that it enhances people’s feelings of personal efficacy.

The concept of cognition was relatively new at the time of the introduction of cognitive dissonance theory. Before that, the relationship between human attitudes and behaviours was understood as a complex process that involved motivational, emotional, affective and perceptual factors (Krech, 2019; Rosenberg, 1966). Therefore, the theory was one of the breakthroughs for research in the psychology field as it revolutionised thinking about human psychological processes. More specifically, the theory explains how rewards affect attitudes and behaviours and how behaviours and motivations affect cognitions and perceptions (Harmon-Jones & Harmon-Jones, 2007).

• According to the results of the current study, that order should not affect the perception of the evidence, as the mixed conditions did not differ from the contradicting conditions in their rating of likelihood of guilt.
• Participants seemed to be unaware of the recency effect, as they did not rate the final pieces of evidence to be more important than previous pieces.

However, if two cognitions are relevant, but conflicting, the existence of dissonance would cause psychological discomfort and motivate the individual to act upon this. The greater the magnitude of dissonance, the greater the pressure for the individual to reduce the dissonance (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2019). The existence of dissonance and the mechanisms that humans used to cope with it captured Festinger’s interest in developing cognitive dissonance theory. Cognitive dissonance theory proposes that situations involving conflicting behaviors, beliefs or attitudes produce a state of mental discomfort (Festinger, 1957). Two cognitions are said to stand in a dissonant or conflictual relationship when one psychologically does not fit the other, as is the case when a person eats meat yet does not want to harm animals.

Asch’s most immediate heirs were modern schema theories, examining impression formation as a function of social categories that cue organized prior knowledge. Following Taylor and Fiske’s cognitive miser perspective, social perceivers were viewed as taking various mental shortcuts https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/alcohol-help-now-where-to-get-help-for-alcohol-addiction/ (below), schemas among them. Eventually, a more balanced perspective emerged, describing perceivers as motivated tacticians, who sometimes use shortcuts and sometimes think more carefully, depending on their goals. One such dual-process model, the continuum model (Fiske and Neuberg), holds that perceivers begin with automatic categories (e.g., stereotypes), but with motivated attention to additional information, perceivers may individuate instead.