189 Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a person holds two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. This creates a feeling of mental discomfort, which leads to an alteration in one of the beliefs, values, or attitudes to reduce the discomfort and restore balance. For example, a person who smokes (behavior) and knows that smoking causes cancer (cognition) experiences cognitive dissonance. To reduce this dissonance, the person must either quit smoking or justify smoking by saying that it keeps them thin, and being overweight is a health risk too.