Forcing Mental Consistency Forges Attidues

Have you ever noticed behaving one way while thinking another and then subsequently changing your thoughts to match your behavior? Yes, you probably have not. This is due to your brain’s unconscious and therefore unnoticeable ability to fix a problem called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a feeling of discomfort you get when you are not consistent within yourself, whether it be between your attitudes, ideas, values, or behaviors. A main example we see is an inconsistency between our thoughts and our behaviors. This inconsistency has been likened to hunger and thirst. Once we have this discomfort, we seek remedy. 

Since humans function best with consistency, we will make comforting rationals for inconsistent situations to reestablish consistency.

A specific psychology experiment is a good example of this phenomena and is used to teach psychology students, like myself, about this concept. A researcher brought participants into a laboratory for what they thought was a manual dexterity and concentration study. The participants were given an intentionally boring and tedious task. Afterward, the participants were asked what they thought about the task. Most, if not all, said that the task was very boring and that they did not enjoy it. The researcher then told the participants that their research assistant was not able to be there for the next participant and asked if they wouldn't mind standing in for them. The researcher also added that they would be paid. Half of the participants received one dollar and the other half received twenty dollars. The researcher additionally told them to tell the incoming participants how fun the sorting task was and to pretend like they liked doing it. After this had been completed, the participants were asked again how they felt about the sorting task. Those who were paid twenty dollars kept their same answers, that it was boring and not enjoyable. Those participants who were paid one dollar, however, changed their attitudes to say that it was not so bad and they would not mind doing the task again. Those who received one dollar changed their attitude about the task to match their behavior of telling the next participant that the task was fun. The monetary compensation was not enough of a reason to explain why they would lie to someone. In contrast, twenty dollars was enough of a reason to lie about the task to a stranger.

The theory of cognitive dissonance explains that people tend to act first and think later.

Acting first produces behaviors that we cannot undo. If these behaviors are inconsistent with a related cognition that we have, then we may only remedy their cognitive dissonance by changing our cognition. This allows us to explain our undoable acts by morphing our thoughts to justify the behavior. By doing this, it helps to keep our schema about ourselves consistent which brings us necessary comfort and happiness.

This explains why college kids go through the process of hazing and then remain loyal to their fraternity or sorority.

Because they had to go through grueling and embarrassing trials, they need a reason why. The reason must be that the particular greek establishment is a good one and that they really want to be a part of it. So once accepted, they rationalize that the hazing was not so bad and worth it in the end. They are subsequently very loyal to that establishment because they worked so hard to get to where they are. They better enjoy it and want to be in it since they went through such unenjoyable tasks. This is what the idea of hazing is aiming towards: gaining loyalty and enjoyment by its members. 

The theory of cognitive dissonance can be used in marketing and politics to persuade populations.

Companies want people to buy their products so they must make you believe there is a good reason to do so. If a consumer does not think a product is worth their money, they will not purchase it. If they were to purchase it, they would experience cognitive dissonance because if the product was not worth buying then why would they buy it? However, if a producer can convince you that their product is worth it, then it makes sense to the consumer to buy it. The theory of cognitive dissonance is also applied to wartime propaganda. If we think about it, the "other"is no different than we are. They have jobs, families, and homes. However in order to gain patriotic support, the "other" must be painted in a negative light so that we can make sense of our hatred and aggression towards them during war. They are drawn as rats, snakes, and pigs which must be exterminated. By planting the idea that the "other" is disposable vermin, we can be at ease with destroying them.