Cognitive dissonance theory, developed by Leon Festinger in 1957, describes the discomfort individuals experience when holding contradictory beliefs or when their behavior conflicts with their values. This theory suggests that people are motivated to reduce this dissonance through various defense mechanisms, such as changing their beliefs or behaviors, to maintain cognitive consistency. Cognitive dissonance is viewed as an unpleasant mental state that drives individuals to seek harmony among their cognitions.

1. COGNITIVE
DISSONANCE
THEORY

2. The Leon Festinger
Theory of Cognitive
Dissonance was
created in the 1957
and conceptualized
the dissonance, or a
sense of unease,
that a person feels
when dealing with
inconsistent pieces
of information.

3. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE or COGNITIVE DISSOCIATION
Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort a
person feels when their behavior does
not align with their values or beliefs. It
can also occur when a person holds two
contradictory beliefs at the same time.

4. Cognitive
Dissonance
Cognition is the foundational information
people develop about how they perceive
themselves and their world.
Pieces of information, or cognitions, that
are consistent with each other are
consonant.
Cognitions that are inconsistent with each
other are dissonant.
Cognitions that are unrelated to each
other are irrelevant.
The Festinger cognitive dissonance theory was
formulated around these basic concepts and
assumptions.

5. IT OCCURS WHEN
(1) a person has to decide
something
(2) when there is forced
compliance
(3) when something requires effort to
achieve.

6. • Cognitive dissonance
occurs when a person
holds two related but
contradictory cognitions, or
thoughts.
• Occurs whenever a person
has two contradictory
cognitions or beliefs at the
same time. They are
dissonant, each one implies
the opposite of the other.

7. FESTINGER BELIEVES
THAT
The less coerced and more
responsible we feel for an action
the more dissonance.
The more dissonance the more
likely we are to change our
attitude.
It creates an unpleasant cognitive
tension.

8. SIGNS OF COGNITIVE
DISSONANCE
Festinger believed that all people are
motivated to avoid or resolve
cognitive dissonance due to the
discomfort it causes. This can
prompt people to adopt certain
defense mechanisms when they have
to confront it

9. DEFENSE MECHANISM FALL INTO
THREE CATEGORIES
This involves avoiding or
ignoring the dissonance. A
person may avoid people or
situations that remind them
of it, discourage people from
talking about it, or distract
themselves from it with
consuming tasks.
This involves undermining
evidence of the dissonance.
A person may do this by
discrediting the person,
group, or situation that
highlighted the dissonance.
This involves limiting the
discomfort of cognitive
dissonance by belittling its
importance.
AVOIDING DELEGITIMIZING LIMITING IMPACT

10. As a result of these changes, behavior might also
change. Such changes, however, may also lead
to rationalization or confirmation bias.
Ways people may decrease cognitive dissonance is
by changing their beliefs, behavior, or the
perceptions of beliefs.
Overtly changing a belief is often difficult, so most people
will instead change the perceptions around their beliefs.

11. When a person's behavior or beliefs
change in response to cognitive
dissonance, the term to describe this
phenomenon is called DISSONANCE
REDUCTION.
BUT …

12. EXAMPLES

13. • Cognitive Dissonance theory (Festinger,1957)
posits that individuals seek to maintain
consistency among multiple cognitions.
• Inconsistent cognitions produce unpleasant
states that motivated individuals to change one
or more cognitions to restore consistency with
other cognitions.

14. 1. A person who smoke
cigarettes.
1. Smokers may
quit smoking
because of the
messages from
the Health
office.
2. Smokers
may attempt
to justify their
cognitions.
33. Smokers
add cognition
4. Smokers may
dismiss
information by
questioning the
validity the
Science behnd
the warning.

15. 2. Fake news

16. 3. Peer Pressure

17. Unique to Festinger’s was the proposal that
cognitive dissonance is an aversive mental
state that motivates individuals to reduce
the dissonance.
Although the original conception of
cognitive dissonance theory was intended to
apply to a broad range of psychological
phenomena, subsequent research tended to
focus on attitudes and behavior.

18. THOUGHTS
BEHAVIORS
ATTITUDES
BELIEFS AND
VALUES

20. Thank You and God Bless!
REFERENCES:
 http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/persuasion/cd.html
 https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756841/obo-
9780199756841-
0062.xml#:~:text=The%20theory%20of%20cognitive%20dissonance%20was%20advanced%20
by%20Leon%20Festinger,uncomfortable%20feeling%20of%20cognitive%20dissonance.
 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326738#signs
 https://study.com/learn/lesson/cognitive-dissonance-experiments-festinger-carlsmith.html
 https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-cognitive-dissonance/283545/6492443/view
 https://psychdom.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/art-cognitive-dissonance/
 www.artlimited.net v22.13.4
 https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/cognitive-dissonance-exhibition-mear-one-white-walls-gallery-
san-francisco