Cognitive dissonance is by definition the ¨state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs or attitudes (McLeod, Simply Psychology) which produces feelings of discomfort.” In order to dispel those feelings the brain leads a person to alter the thoughts, beliefs or attitudes that are in disagreement with the rest, restoring the brain to harmony. When we humans have a thought or commit an atrocity that goes against our morals or long standing beliefs we either apologize or justify the action, telling ourselves that the person we hurt deserved it and brought it upon themselves. We continue to search for justification until we no longer view ourselves as in the wrong. This mental capability has, in my opinion, been the leading agent in nationś wars and oppression against others. The most prominent being attempts to stamp out races because of their so called ¨inferior race/ heritage¨.
Cognitive dissonance is the concept I chose from chapter thirteen. All three concepts I have chosen relate to the field I plan to go into after graduation. Before coming to Ashland, I was struggling with picking between psychology and social work as my major and I settled on psychology in a last minute decision. After realizing that psychology is not quite the field
This theory clearly asserts the humanistic elements such as individuality, contemplative self-awareness and cogitative reaction. Moreover, Social Cognitive Theory is a strategy for changing, predicting and understanding the individual 's behavior. It analyzes the extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The three main components that this theory incorporates are the personal, social and behavioral stimulus. These factors completely altered the identity and personality of an individual.
Fiske, Gilbert, Lindzey (2010). The Handbook of Social Psychology (5th ed) 6. Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy; A theory relating self and affect, Psychological Review, 94, 319-340. 7.
Student Name: Yan Wang Theory Critique between Cognitive Theory and Socio-cultural Theory For this assignment, I have selected two theories, cognitive theory and socio-cultural theory, to compare and contrast for further understanding children development and both theories’ implication in current education. Cognitive theory studies how people think, what’s going on within people’s mind. Social-cultural theory studies how the society, the culture, other people or external environment impact individual development. This paper would firstly respectively demonstrate both theories’ basic philosophy, representative persons and their claims. In the part
Social Cognitive Theory proposes that individuals do not simply respond to environmental influences, but rather they actively seek and interpret information (Nevid, 2009). Individuals “function as contributors to their own motivation, behavior, and development within a network of reciprocally interacting influences” (Bandura, 1999, p. 169). Although Social Cognitive Theory covers many topics such as moral judgment and physiological arousal, research has been primarily focused on self-efficacy, or the beliefs regarding one 's capabilities of successfully completing tasks or goals (Locke & Latham, 2002). According to Bandura (2005), social cognitive theory takes on an agent-like perspective to change, development and adaptation. Bandura describes an agent as someone who intentionally influences one’s functioning and life circumstances; “In this view, people are self-organizing, proactive, self-regulating, and self-reflecting.
Corporate Cultural Dissonance or Not Dissonance is a condition where what is happening is not in agreement with what is thought to be in a given environment. Commonly referred to as cognitive dissonance; when applied to the behavior witnessed in corporations, it is known as cultural dissonance. At first glance, the fictitious company Finer Bags appears to be suffering from an ethical misalignment. However, an examination of their statements and actions would reveal the two are congruent within the organization. Given the material provided regarding the company, I will present the case that the actions of FinerBags.com is in alignment with their business ethics.
In 1957 Leon Festinger developed a theory that refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors which produces a feeling of discomfort which in turn makes the person alternate one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to rid the discomfort. This suggests that people are driven to avoid discomfort and inconsistency and make a change in order to balance their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. This theory that Festinger came up with is known as the cognitive dissonance theory and has been around for over half a century. An example of this theory is if a person knows they have to lose weight in order to be healthy which would be their cognition but they do not like to exercise which is their behavior then they will have to change their behavior by starting to exercise in order to be consistent with their belief that they want to lose weight. This would make the beliefs and behaviors consistant with one another and avoid dissonance.
This experiment has been used to exemplify the cognitive dissonance theory and the power of authority. In addition, the findings advocate the situational explanation of behavior rather than the dispositional one. The aim of this study conducted by Zimbardo was to investigate how readily
However, Agent Cooper is given the information in the forms of riddles, or impossible puzzles, which strengthen the degree of dissonance he experiences, creating confusion and dissonance, which is transcended into the viewers’ reality. The cognitive dissonance is further strengthened by the absence of any additional information, which will reduce the created discomfort, thus driving the viewers to use coping strategies in order to reduce the dissonance. Another example of felt cognitive dissonance is the sequances in the “Red Room” where a small man from another place communicates in strange voice, with uncanny rhythms and accentuations, a speech in reverse. The character’s movements are also presented in reverse, which, simultaneously, creastes a strangely surreal aesthetic effect and a strongly felt diviation from the viewers’ real-life knowledge and experience. The viewers are aware that they are going to withness illusion, yet this unnatural speech stands out as a distortion of the natural and creates