Blog #7: Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger (1957) proposed the cognitive dissonance theory in an attempt to describe why people behave in ways that are inconsistent with their attitudes. According to Festinger, people are extremely motivated to maintain a state of mind that consists of compatible attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs. This state of mind is known as cognitive consistency (Abelson et al., 1968). When cognitive dissonance (contradictory or inconsistent cognition) occurs, people experience tension from this and work to reduce their discomfort, sometimes in irrational and maladaptive ways (Festinger, 1957).

I consider myself to be a dedicated student. I worked hard through high school and feel like I have continued to do so in college. I am committed to multiple organizations and jobs in addition to academics. After the initial shock I experienced my fist year at Southwestern, I resigned myself to the idea of dedicating a large part of my weekends (and free time in general) to both school and work. This semester, I have discovered that in order for me to sleep at all during the coming week, I must allot a significant amount of time to homework over the weekend. This weekend, however, was my 21st birthday. I committed myself to plans, spent time with family and friends, cancelled work committments, and gave myself plenty of time to sleep. This decision, as wonderful as it was at the time, has certainly put a lot of strain on this week. With multiple assignments, countless readings, and a few tests thrown in the mix, I'm having a typically hectic week at Southwestern. My behavior this past weekend is definitely inconsistent with my attitudes toward school and I was fully aware of the consequences of my actions. This has caused me to experience cognitive dissonance. In order to reduce this dissonance, I have worked to minimize the importance of the conflict by telling myself, countless times, that I would much rather remember the fun times I had on my 21st birthday than the time I spent doing the homework I should have done. Although my attitude toward school in general has not changed, I have reduced my experienced dissonance by justifying my action.


Abelson, R. P., Aronson, E., McGuire, W. J., Newcomb, T. M., Rosenberg, M. J., & Tannenbaum, P. H. (1968). Theories of cognitive consistency: A sourcebook. Chicago: Rand McNally.

Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.