Theory Of Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological term describing a mental trouble. It is a situation when a person acquires several conflicting values and ideas as a result of performing tasks that oppose their beliefs or expectations. So, the foundation of the theory of cognitive dissonance is an individual trying to balance the internal consistency with the occurrences taking place in the outside world. As this is a stress for the human brain, they often look for the ways to reduce it. A typical example of this theory is my experience of taking a course called Energy Sources at the university. To get a better understanding of the association of the provided example within the theory itself, let me first depict the circumstances, under which I

The ideas of mine didn’t correspond to what was happening, and the process of self-justification took place. Thus, I came to realize that I would, probably, be able to handle Energy sources if putting enough efforts. And my answer to the question of my friends modified too. “Well, the course is difficult indeed, but if you work hard and want to know more about power plants and the way they operate, it is worth taking.” As the theory suggests, one changes the evaluation of the task after getting even a little reward. In this respect, my grade was my reward which changed my perception of Energy sources. So, people reduce dissonance when they feel their actions are justified even if they are

The reward serves as a motivation for me and promotes putting more attention on class. Then, I started to spend even more time performing homework assignments to justify my further expectations. Consequently, I passed my second midterm, not with the best score. However, it meant even more than an A for me, as I overcame a seemingly impossible barrier and experienced the result of my work, which satisfied my expectations. Identically, as in the previous justification process, I found reasons to equilibrate my beliefs with the reality. I viewed the course as an interesting, but still quite a tricky one and I also consoled myself that most likely, I could utilize that knowledge in the future. Likewise, I used to share the information I learned with my parents, supposing that it would interest them as well. Thereupon, the process of justifying myself was expanding even