cognitions

Cognitions are thoughts. Dissonance means clashing. The influential thoughts of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting or clashing thoughts cause discomfort. That is, we have a need for consistency in our thought, perceptions, and images of ourselves (Cooper, Mirablie, & Scher, 2005; Festinger, 1957). Inconsistency, then, can motivate people to make their thoughts or attitudes agree with their actions (Oskampe & Schultz, 2005). The theory of cognitive dissonance in social psychology proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by altering existing cognitions, adding new ones to create a consistent belief system, or alternatively by reducing the importance of any one of the dissonant elements. Cognitive dissonance is the distressing mental state that people feel when they "find themselves doing things that don 't fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold." A key assumption is that people want their expectations to meet reality, creating a sense of equilibrium.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance) Likewise, another assumption is that a person will avoid situations or information sources that give rise to feelings of uneasiness, or dissonance. Cognitive dissonance theory explains human behavior by positing that people have a bias to seek consonance between their expectations and reality. According to Festinger, people engage in a process he termed "dissonance reduction," which can be achieved in one of three ways: lowering the importance of one of the discordant factors, adding consonant elements, or changing one of the dissonant factors. This bias sheds light on otherwise puzzling, irrational, and even destructive behavior. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance)

The cognitive dissonance theory has a big impact on are life’s do to behavior. The easiest way to describe the concept is by a quick example. Say you’re a student looking to choose between two

Cited: Psychology Modules for active learning Third edition, Dennis Coon & John O. Mitterer Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance