A middle aged patient with schizophrenia is seen by the smoking cessation nurse.
The patient smokes 40 cigarettes a day. The nurse asks the patient if they are aware of the dangers of smoking. The patient replies that they know it can cause heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. The nurse asks why, if they are aware of the dangers, do they continue to smoke. The patient says they are not worried as their own father smoked and lived until 96.
Which of the following is illustrated in the above example?
Group think18%Deindividuation19%Cognitive dissonance19%Theory of mind21%Fundamental attribution error23%
The patient has sought to reduce the dissonance created by the conflict in their behaviour (smoking) with the dangers (strokes and cancer) by reducing the importance of the cognition (suggesting that the danger does not apply to them).
Cognitive dissonance
The term 'cognitive dissonance' describes the unpleasant feeling experienced when the is a conflict within an individuals attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. It is this unpleasant sensation that leads people to change.
The term was introduced into the literature by Leon Festinger.
A good example is smoking. People who smoke (behaviour) often have an inner conflict (dissonance) due to some awareness that it can cause cancer.
The cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and beliefs in harmony (cognitive consistency) and avoid disharmony (or dissonance). The drive for cognitive consistency can result in irrational or maladaptive behaviours.
Dissonance can be reduced in a number of ways:
- One or more attitudes, behaviours, or beliefs can be changed
- Acquire new information
- Reduce the importance of the cognitions
