Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance

Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance refers to the mental discomfort we experience when holding two conflicting beliefs, or when our behaviors don’t align with our beliefs. To reduce this discomfort, people often change their attitudes or beliefs, justify their actions, or ignore the conflicting information. For example, if someone values health but smokes, they might downplay the risks of smoking to alleviate the tension between their behavior and beliefs. This process helps restore internal harmony, motivating us to seek consistency between our thoughts and actions.