Cognitive Dissonance

Paper Summary:

This paper is a summary and comment on an article by Aronson called "The Rationalizing Animal", concerning Feistinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, how dissonance develops, how dissonance is resolved through rationalization, the lengths to which the individual will go to resolve dissonance It also discusses how dissonance is involved in the operation of conscience.

From the Paper:

"Aronson (1973) examines the concept of rationalization from the point of view of a psychologist examining human behavior and why people believe things that make little sense, suggesting that they may be rationalizing in order to reconcile different ideas they may hold at the same time. The author refers to the theory of cognitive dissonance offered by Feistinger in 1957, a theory that describes and predicts such rationalizing behavior. We receive messages from our surroundings all the time that may challenge our assumptions, our beliefs, or our behaviors, and we may continue behaviors that counter these messages even if we believe the message as well. Aronson notes that the more the individual is committed to a course of action, the more he or she will resist any information that threatens to change that course. This creates cognitive dissonance, and the individual will seek to reduce that dissonance through rationalization."

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