What is cognitive dissonance?

Cognitive dissonance is an unpleasant psychological state that results from inconsistency between two or more elements in a person's thinking, according to the [dictionary.apa.org](https://dictionary.apa.org/cognitive-dissonance) entry. The idea was first described by the psychologist Leon Festinger. The elements involved can be beliefs, attitudes, values, or knowledge of one's own behavior, and the clash produces discomfort that people are motivated to relieve. [1] [2]

According to [openstax.org](https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/12-3-attitudes-and-persuasion), Festinger defined the concept in 1957 as discomfort arising from holding inconsistent attitudes, behaviors, or cognitions. [simplypsychology.org](https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html) explains that he described dissonance as a negative drive state, comparable to hunger or thirst, which pushes people to restore consistency and to avoid situations and information likely to raise the tension. [3] [4]

Festinger said any two cognitions can be consonant (they fit together), dissonant (they clash), or irrelevant (they have no bearing on each other). The standard example is a smoker who knows that smoking causes cancer. [4]

OpenStax lists three main routes. A person can change the behavior, such as quitting smoking. They can change the belief through rationalization or denial, for instance by telling themselves that filtered cigarettes lower the risk. Or they can add a new cognition, such as the idea that smoking suppresses appetite and so helps avoid weight gain. [3]

Other descriptions add that people may reject, explain away, or avoid new information. Simply Psychology notes that the theory does not claim these fixes always work, only that people try to reduce the discomfort. [2] [4]

The Cleveland Clinic describes signs such as second-guessing decisions, guilt or shame over actions that conflict with values, and a need to justify what one has done. It says the experience can resemble anxiety and stress. Common triggers include new information that challenges a belief and social pressure to act a certain way. [5]

OpenStax reports later research suggesting that only conflicts that threaten a person's positive self-image cause dissonance. It also cites findings that dissonance can cause physiological arousal and activate brain regions involved in emotion and cognitive functioning. [3]

Psychology Today says dissonance is not the same as hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a contradiction between professed principles and actual behavior, while dissonance is the uncomfortable mental state that may follow when someone who holds certain beliefs thinks or acts against them. The same source says it is unclear how common dissonance is, since efforts to capture it in studies do not always work, and people do not necessarily feel discomfort at every apparent contradiction. [6]