Cognitive Dissonance (Definition + 3 Examples)

- [Narrator] We all know
that smoking is bad for us.

This is a message that
has drilled in our minds

from the moment we
enter elementary school.

"Cigarettes are bad." "They'll kill you."

"They'll give you lung cancer."

You know all these messages
just as well as I do.

So, why is it that

over 30 million American
adults still smoke?

Why is vaping,

a trend that still involves
ingesting nicotine,

still a trend in the first place?

Why have we not completely
eliminated smoking?

Part of the answer is that
nicotine is so addictive

that it takes hold of people who smoke.

Quitting isn't easy,
although it can be done.

But, we would be remiss

to neglect the psychological processes

that happen whenever someone
picks up a cigarette,

especially when they know
that it's bad for them.

Sure, some smokers pick
up cigarettes or JUULs

with the intention of hurting themselves,

but most people do not.

They face a crossroads, known
as "cognitive dissonance."

The discomfort of being at this crossroads

often pushes the smoker to keep smoking.

So, cognitive dissonance
does not just occur

when you're lighting up a cigarette.

We experience cognitive
dissonance as we read the news,

whenever we drive a car,

or force ourselves to
go to sleep at night.

And in this video, I'm gonna talk about

what cognitive dissonance is
and how it influences the mind.

The more you understand this
process, the easier it will be

to make well-informed
decisions down the road,

and that might mean
putting down the cigarette.

So, first of all, what
is cognitive dissonance?

In 1957, Leon Festinger

published 'A Theory of
Cognitive Dissonance,'

and it defined the term as
"A state of mental discomfort

that arises from holding two
different beliefs or values."

This discomfort may also come about

if we're pressured to act in a way

that goes against our belief system.

The mind likes simple things.
It also likes consistencies.

And if you hold two
opposing beliefs such as,

"I want to stay alive for a long time,"

and "I want to smoke a cigarette,"

the mind is not gonna feel so comfortable.

So, what does the mind do?

It attempts to minimize the discomfort

in any way that it can.

So, here lies the most important point

that Festinger made in his book,

minimizing discomfort in the
mind can be a great motivator.

At the time, this idea was quite new,

but it's proved to be an
interesting explanation

for many of the decisions
that we make every day.

Now, I want to go into a little bit

of some examples of cognitive dissonance.

The first one is cigarette
smoking, obviously.

Festinger uses he example
of cigarette smoking

to show just how powerful
cognitive dissonance is.

Again, we all know that
smoking is bad for us,

yet, people who are addicted to nicotine

still want to smoke or use their JULL.

Festinger suggested

that when smokers encounter
cognitive dissonance,

they will reason with themselves

to minimize this discomfort.

They will tell themselves

that maybe smoking
isn't actually that bad.

Or, they'll say that
they're not smoking enough

to cause any real damage.

They may also tell themselves

that smoking is better
than other bad habits.

Or, that quitting will
lead to other bad habits,

like overeating or alcohol abuse.

These are all just explanations

that they justify smoking with.

And to a non-smoker,

these justifications don't exactly add up.

They certainly do not negate the fact

that smoking is bad for you.

But, these are things that
someone will tell themselves

to get rid of cognitive dissonance.

Another example is "fake news."

Now, we currently live

in a very polarized political climate.

People feel that they
have to be on one side.

"The other side is full of
lying and cheating buffoons."

Cognitive dissonance plays
a part in this polarization.

Cries of "fake news" is a common way

to deal with cognitive dissonance.

Failing to research the current pandemic,

yet, calling it a "conspiracy,"

is one way to minimize
the discomfort of knowing

that going out and partying

could cost you your
life, or others' theirs.

Sure, there are a lot of false stories

circulating on this information,

but simply writing it off as "fake news"

just because it goes against

your current views and
what you want to do,

is a result of minimizing
cognitive dissonance.

Another example is peer pressure.

Now, this concept may also explain

why people stay in relationships,
stay in organizations,

or jobs that are not
in their best interest.

Peer pressure can create

a strong sense of cognitive dissonance.

It's easier to go with
the crowd sometimes,

especially if that crowd is a cult.

Studies have shown that this is true.

In one study, a group of people

were told to answer a question
about whether two lines

were the same length or
if they were different.

Everyone in the group,
including actors in the study,

gave a blatantly wrong answer.

75% of the time,

the participant they were
observing did the same

to seemingly just go along with the group.

Now moving on, cognitive
dissonance is powerful,

which is exactly why you
need to know about it.

With this information,
you can be more aware

about how you are making
decisions and whether or not

you're letting this discomfort
get the best of you.

Now, discomfort is inevitable

if you're learning new information,

hearing the opinions of others,

or making difficult decisions.

It's just gonna happen.

But, now that you're aware of
what cognitive dissonance is,

you can be on the lookout for it.

Now, this may require
practicing mindfulness

to build up some kind of awareness

of your thoughts and feelings.

The more in-tune that you are

with your body and your
mind and your thoughts,

the easier it will be to spot discomfort.

If you know the source of this discomfort,

you'll be less likely to be swayed by it.

I suggest allowing yourself
to feel uncomfortable

when someone challenges your viewpoints.

Take the time

to actually research
claims that you see online,

rather than just brushing
them off as "fake news."

Step back from decisions

that you might make due to peer pressure.

Cognitive dissonance aims
to keep things simple,

but, it can put you in a
real mess of a situation

if you end up making the wrong decision.

I want to thank you for watching

this video on cognitive dissonance,

and I really hope that
you've learned something.

If you have any questions at all,

feel free to leave a comment below,

or check out some of the
other videos in this series.

Thanks for watching,

and I hope to see you in the next video.