The Role of Cognitive Dissonance in Decision Making

The Role of Cognitive Dissonance in Decision Making Introduction When making decisions humans commonly fall victim to errors in logic and reasoning. Since the inception of the study of the mind, psychologists have endeavored to isolate the characteristics and causes of errors in human thinking. Researchers and theorists have developed categories of such errors: representativeness heuristics, availability heuristics, memory and hindsight biases, etc. . . . In other words, to err is human. In 1957, Festinger identified another phenomenon in human cognition--cognitive dissonance. Festinger theorized that humans experience negative emotions when performing behaviors that are contrary to their attitudes. These negative emotions,†¦show more content†¦However, they experience dissonance when they realize that they cannot know everything and their experience with the world is limited to a small sample. To reduce this dissonance, the representativeness heuristic is applied, thus pla cing everything into categories. Their small sample of the world is now representative of the whole, and dissonance is reduced. Second, the availability heuristic is a result of the tendency of people to confuse probability with imaginability (Plous, 1993). For instance, the probability of being killed by electrocution is greater than that of being killed in an airplane crash. However, most people can imagine (from news reports) the tragedy of a plane crash more easily than electrocution while standing in a puddle of water in their bathroom. Thus, they falsely believe, through the availability heuristic, that it is more dangerous to fly to Europe than to use a hairdryer in the bathtub. We can see how dissonance theory can give rise to this error in human reasoning. Again assuming that most people view themselves as the center of the universe, they experience dissonance when they realize that things can happen to them over which they have no control. To reduce this dissonance, they c reate an availability heuristic that says that things will only happen to them with the probability which they can imagine those events occurring. Third, the memory and hindsight biases show that humansShow MoreRelatedCognitive Dissonance Essay1632 Words   |  7 PagesCognitive dissonance can be described as the feeling of discomfort resulting from holding two conflicting beliefs. It can also be said to be the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. A well-known psychologist Leon Festinger (1919–89), introduced this concept in the late 1950s where he proved that, when confronted with challenging new information; most people are observed to preserve their current understanding of the world by rejecting or avoidingRead MoreAnalysis Of Post Purchase Dissonance And Factors Affecting It Essay1657 Words   |  7 PagesCONSUMER BEHAVIOR Term Paper On Post Purchase Dissonance Submitted to: Dr Payal Kapoor Date: 12-11-2015 By Ayushi Choudhary 231038 Objective An indepth analysis of Post Purchase Dissonance and factors affecting it. Introduction In a highly dynamic environment, marketers in order to increase product’s sales should not only create new customer base but also retain its existing ones. For that to happen, higher customer satisfaction is required which also helps to increase revenue. When a consumerRead MoreThe Link Between Pleasure And Aggression Dealing With Peoples Choices And Judgement1726 Words   |  7 Pagesuniversity students. One of the groups studied, showed more violence or bad behavior, while the other population is considered normal. The overall goal of the experiment is to evaluate whether the connection between pleasure and aggression and decision making primes a fixed or dissonant behavior (Alvarado Ramirez; 2014). This testing was a voluntary unpaid experiment for participants and was completely anonymous. The ages used in the groups were very parallel, the felons mean age was 17.06 and theRead MoreConsumer Decision Making Process : Marketing Management1574 Words   |  7 PagesConsumer Decision Making Process Marketing executives need to understand what consumers want and that the product and services they want are constantly changing. Having a real understanding of consumer behavior will be crucial to a company’s success. Consumer behavior describes the reasons why consumers decide to purchase certain items and how they use and dispose of these products and services they have just purchased. This study also includes the outside factors that can also influence purchasingRead MoreCognitive Dissonance And Its Effects On Behavior1497 Words   |  6 PagesCognitive Dissonance is refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. This produces a feeling of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance etc. The research on cognitive dissonance was done by Festinger and Carlsmith in 1959. It gives a background history of the time when Cognitive Dissonance was investigated by Leon F estinger. However, In the case being discussed in this paper, participantsRead MoreImpulse Buying Behavior And Marketing Decision Making865 Words   |  4 PagesBehavior It plays a very important role and position in marketing decision making. It can be explained as a tendency of making â€Å"unreflective†, spontaneous, immediate, kinetic, unplanned and sudden purchases. Impulse buying has got two parts- cognitive and affective where cognitive is related with planning and latter one with situational factors leading to an impulse purchase. It provides hedonic reinforcement and reduces overload of selection. It is revealed that cognitive component of impulse buying isRead MoreCognitive Dissonance1475 Words   |  6 PagesCognitive Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance Consistency, the absence of contradictions, has sometimes been called the hallmark of ethics. Ethics is supposed to provide an individual with a guide for moral living, and to do so it must be rational, and to be rational it must be free of contradictions. When consistency and ethics are compromised, this is known as cognitive dissonance. Leon Festinger shared his brilliance with the world when he created the Cognitive Dissonance theoryRead MoreThe Outcome Of The 2016 Election Essay1625 Words   |  7 PagesHillary Clinton is not entirely shocking. Cognitive dissonance theory, schemas and heuristics, and social influence, specifically conformity, can all help to explain why Donald Trump is America’s new president-elect. Cognitive dissonance is defined as â€Å"when people encounter an inconsistency between any two cognitions† (Haas, Lecture, October 11, 2016). These conflicting attitudes, beliefs, and values produce discomfort. The rules of cognitive dissonance theory by Leon Festinger state that the twoRead MoreTheories of Persuasion1733 Words   |  7 Pagesable to connect with his/her audience. Therefore, the speaker should be aware of what the audience likes or prefers. The following paper seeks to explore some of the main theories surrounding persuasion. The three that will be discussed are Cognitive Dissonance, the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Psychological Motivational Theory with special attention to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. These theories when explained in full will discuss the process behind persuasive writing or speech. TheseRead MoreThe Case Household Appliance And Perfumes1336 Words   |  6 Pages The typical decision making process and that well-structured with the five processes is based on a special purposeful search by the customer. Once the problem has been recognized, customers need to acquire adequate information to resolve it. Information search is the process by customer surveys their environment for appropriate data to make a reasonable decision. The search process that consumer might follow for products category like in this case household appliance and perfumes, is different