Cognitive Dissonance

by Quillsky 2 Replies latest jw friends

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  Quillsky

  The term cognitive dissonance is thrown around often on this forum, and rightly so, IMO. It has been discussed before and will be discussed going forward, but another thread made me realize that perhaps now is a good time to re-open the discussion.

  In brief, cognitive dissonance is how our minds work to close the gap between our ATTITUDES and what we BELIEVE to be true, and what we DO and EXPERIENCE to be true. Our minds want to close that gap, or reduce the dissonance.

  So if what we BELIEVE doesn't match with what we're DOING, we shift our minds to close the gap. Hence we BELIEVE that what we're DOING is correct.

  It's the perfect breeding ground for a hectic activity-based cult.

  We all experience some dissonance in everyday life, but seldom as much as a lifelong JW who has given up everything and gone out in field service and raised their families with the BELIEF that the world is about to end, and cannot reconcile that belief with the FACT of the awesomeness of the planet and its people and the unlikelihood of the imminent "end of the world".

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance

  Read, and discuss.
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  Mad Sweeney

  Understanding congnitive dissonance can be a useful tool in getting Dubs to think. Good thread idea Quillsky.

  I'd also be interested in some information about how people generally, and Dubs specifically, tend to handle the cognitive dissonance that is inevitable due to their wacky beliefs.
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  Quillsky

  This is the classic cognitive dissonance experiment........ All I can say is think about it please.

  (From the site I mentioned above)

  Boring task experiment

  In Festinger and Carlsmith's classic 1959 experiment, students were asked to spend an hour on boring and tedious tasks (e.g. turning pegs a quarter turn, over and over again). The tasks were designed to generate a strong, negative attitude. Once the subjects had done this, the experimenters asked some of them to do a simple favour. They were asked to talk to another subject (actually an actor) and persuade them that the tasks were interesting and engaging. Some participants were paid $20 (inflation adjusted to 2009, this equates to $148.40) for this favor, another group was paid $1 (or $7.42 in '2009 dollars'), and a control group was not asked to perform the favour.

  When asked to rate the boring tasks at the conclusion of the study (not in the presence of the other "subject"), those in the $1 group rated them more positively than those in the $20 and control groups. This was explained by Festinger and Carlsmith as evidence for cognitive dissonance. The researchers theorized that people experienced dissonance between the conflicting cognitions, "I told someone that the task was interesting", and "I actually found it boring." When paid only $1, students were forced to internalize the attitude they were induced to express, because they had no other justification. Those in the $20 condition, however, had an obvious external justification for their behaviour, and thus experienced less dissonance.