PSY220H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Self-Justification, Cognitive Dissonance, Attitude Change
2 Oct 2018
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Self justification is the tendency to justify one"s actions in order to maintain one"s self esteem. Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension that occurs when someone holds onto two cognitions (ideas/attitudes/beliefs/opinions) that are psychologically inconsistent. It"s unpleasant, so ppl try to reduce it. We reduce cognitive dissonance by changing one or both cognitions by making them more compatible with each other, or by adding a cognition to fill the gap. Ppl who try to quit but relapse also reduce cognitive dissonance by convincing themselves that smoking isn"t as bad as they initially thought. Or the executives of major tobacco companies try to refute evidence against smoking, say that smoking isn"t bad and/or addictive, and they smoke themselves, in an effort to refute themselves. Whenever we feel a strong connection to a religion, political party, leader or ideology- we come up with distortions or facts when this connection is challenged.
