Psychology: Cognitive dissonance and related vocabulary — Student handout

Have you ever felt uneasy because something you do doesn’t match what you believe? This common experience is called cognitive dissonance—a key idea in psychology introduced by Leon Festinger in the 1950s.

It describes the mental discomfort we feel when our actions, beliefs, or attitudes clash with each other. To better understand this concept, start by watching this short and clear video: “Cognitive Dissonance: Emotion Processing.”

The video explains how our brains process these conflicting feelings and try to resolve them. After watching, the vocabulary, examples, and real-life applications below will help you recognize cognitive dissonance in everyday situations.

Vocabulary related to cognitive dissonance

Related keywords and phrases.

• Cognitive dissonance: Mental stress or discomfort when holding two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or behaviors at the same time. Example: You love animals but eat meat, which makes you feel uneasy.
• Dissonance: The feeling of tension or conflict in your mind when things don’t align. It’s the opposite of harmony.
• Consonance: When your thoughts, beliefs, and actions are in agreement, creating a sense of peace.
• Rationalization: Making excuses or reasons to justify your behavior and reduce the uncomfortable feeling. It’s a way to make yourself feel better without changing.
• Confirmation bias: The tendency to look for or interpret information that supports what you already believe, ignoring things that contradict it.
• Attitude change: Adjusting your opinions or beliefs to make the dissonance go away, like deciding something isn’t important anymore.
• Justification: Explaining or defending your actions to yourself or others to ease the conflict.

Short examples

These are a few simple, everyday examples to illustrate cognitive dissonance.

1. The smoker: A person knows smoking is harmful to health (belief), but they keep smoking (behavior). To reduce dissonance, they might rationalize by saying, “I’ll quit next year” or “It’s my only stress reliever.”
2. The impulse buyer: Someone buys an expensive gadget they don’t need, then feels regret. They justify it by thinking, “It will make my life easier in the long run,” even if it’s not true.
3. The environmentalist driver: A person believes in fighting climate change but drives a gas-guzzling car every day. They might reduce dissonance by saying, “I recycle everything else, so it’s okay.”

Examples from current events

Cognitive dissonance often shows up in health, consumer choices, and personal beliefs. Here are a few neutral examples from 2025 events and studies, including key facts for context:

1. Delaying health checkups
   • A 2025 Aflac survey found that 90% of Americans have postponed recommended health screenings or checkups that could detect serious illnesses early, despite 88% acknowledging these could save lives.
   • This creates dissonance between knowing the benefits (like early treatment for cancer or heart disease) and avoiding them due to fear, cost, or time. People often rationalize by downplaying risks or promising to go later, but the survey highlights how this avoidance can lead to worse health outcomes, with only 10% always following through promptly.
2. Keeping unwanted purchases
   • According to a Dragonfly AI report in April 2025, 90% of shoppers have at least once wanted to return an item but decided to keep it anyway.
   • This post-purchase dissonance arises when buyers feel regret over an impulse buy or mismatched expectations, yet justify keeping it to avoid the hassle of returns or admit a mistake.
   • The report notes this is common in online shopping, where easy buying contrasts with return policies, leading consumers to reframe the item as “good enough” rather than face the conflict.
3. Leaving organized religion
   • A June 2025 American Psychological Association article discusses how many individuals are exiting religious groups due to cognitive dissonance from mistreatment, ethical conflicts, or mismatched values.
   • Psychologists are aiding this transition, as people experience tension between lifelong beliefs and experiences like abuse or doctrinal inconsistencies.
   • The report explains that while some resolve this by staying and rationalizing, others leave to rebuild identities, with support focusing on emotional recovery without judgment on faith itself.
4. Debate over cognitive dissonance theory
   • In 2025, newly released documents from Leon Festinger’s archives sparked controversy, revealing that his 1956 study on a UFO cult (the Seekers) involved researcher interference, such as fabricating messages and influencing group behavior.
   • The original study claimed cult members doubled down on beliefs after a failed doomsday prophecy, illustrating dissonance reduction. However, evidence shows the group disbanded quickly, with leader Dorothy Martin recanting her alien claims.
   • This has caused dissonance for modern psychologists who rely on the theory, prompting some to question its validity while others defend lab-based evidence, like studies where people rate unpleasant tasks more positively after low incentives to justify participation.

Conclusion

Cognitive dissonance is a normal part of human thinking—it affects everyone from time to time. By learning its key terms, seeing simple examples, and connecting it to recent events in health, shopping, religion, and even psychology itself, we can better understand why we sometimes feel inner conflict and how we try to reduce it through rationalization, justification, or change.

Recognizing cognitive dissonance in ourselves and others can lead to more honest self-reflection and healthier decisions. Next time you notice that uncomfortable feeling when your actions don’t align with your values, pause and ask: How am I resolving this tension? Greater awareness is the first step toward personal growth.