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Cognitive Dissonance

Tonight I taught my children about cognitive dissonance. I asked them to tell me what they thought it meant. They correctly deduced that "cognitive" had to do with the brain and dissonance had to do with sound. I told them that they were on to something as dissonance in music occurs when chords clash or the playing of non-harmonious notes.With that, I was able to help them understand that cognitive dissonance occurs when your thoughts and actions are not in harmony. Basically, you will experience cognitive dissonance when your behavior and your beliefs do not align.

For example, if you believe that stealing is wrong, when you steal, you will feel wrong. If you believe you should go to church on Sunday, you will feel bad if you find yourself not in church on Sunday. Obviously, no one wants to experience cognitive dissonance as it doesn't feel good. So how do you eliminate cognitive dissonance? It's simple. You either change your belief or your change your behavior so that your beliefs and your behaviors align.

If you don't want to feel bad for stealing and you believe stealing is wrong you have two options:

1) Stop stealing (change in your behavior)
2) Stop believing that stealing is wrong (change in your belief)

What beliefs or behaviors do you need to change in order to eliminate cognitive dissonance and enjoy greater harmony in your life?


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