The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people are averse to inconsistencies within their own minds. It offers one explanation for why people sometimes make an effort to adjust their ...

2007, p. 978). Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable state, so people try to resolve it by changing one of the two dissonant elements (Festinger, 1962). An experiment by Egan et al. (2007) found ...

It is the subject of a new theory based on experiments showing that the grass is usually not greener on the other side of the fence and that grapes are sourest when ...

Sometimes, the ways that people resolve cognitive dissonance contribute to unhealthy behaviors or poor decisions. In "A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance," Leon Festinger (the psychologist who first ...

She cites an experiment where people chose the incorrect answer in a group setting because the majority chose it, demonstrating how social media can create cognitive dissonance by presenting ...