Are you testing us, like saying it's easy to make a Square-Circle?
I might be wrong but the Cognitive Dissoance theory employed to understand the actions of the UFO Cult was how the leaders explained that "We prayed so hard and God heard our prayers, that's why he did not take the believers and destroy the Earth" Festinger's theory was based on the reactions of the true-followers, those who remained after hearing the half-truths and speculations of their leaders suffered from Cognitive Dissoance.
The followers who left because they could not believe anything said by their religious leaders did not suffer, they decided to cut their losses and live life as best as they could. Individuals who leave the tight grip of the Governing Body don't suffer from CD, it's all the Millions blindly obeying their leaders after being exposed the failures of their leaders. 1914, 1917-1919, 1925 (great decline), 1975 (massive declines and disgruntled dissidents rightly challenge the false prophets.).
How would CD force people to leave the Organization in massive droves?
- "The person who continues to smoke, knowing that it is bad for his health, may also feel (a) he enjoys smoking so much it is worth it; (b) the chances of his health suffering are not as serious as some would make out; (c) he can't always avoid every possible dangerous contingency and still live; and (d) perhaps even if he stopped smoking he would put on weight which is equally bad for his health. So, continuing to smok is, after all, consistent with his ideas about smoking."
(Festinger, 1957)
- "Imagine that you prepared at great length for a dinner party at your home. You constructed the guest list, sent out the invitations, and prepared the menu. Nothing was too much effort for your party: you went to the store, prepared the ingredients, and cooked for hours, all in anticipation of how pleasant the conversation and people would be. Except it wasn't. The guests arrived late, the conversations were forced, and the food was slightly overcooked by the time all of your guests arrived. The anticipation and excitement of the great time you were going to have are discordant with your observation of the evening. The pieces do not fit. You're upset, partly because the evening did not go well, but also because of the inconsistency between your expectation and your experience. You are suffering from the uncomfortable, unpleasant state of cognitive dissonance."
(Cooper, 2007)
- "The basic hypothesis I wish to state are as follows: 1. The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try to reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance. 2. When dissonance is present, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely increase the dissonance."
(Festinger, 1957)
- "Festinger's insistence that cognitive dissonance was like a drive that needed to be reduced implied that people were going to have to find some way of resolving their inconsistencies. People do not just prefer eating over starving; we are driven to eat. Similarly, people who are in the throes of inconsistency in their social life are driven to resolve that inconsistency. How we go about dealing with our inconsistency can be rather ingenious. But, in Festinger's view, there is little question that it will be done."
(Cooper, 2007
http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/f/dissonance.htm
For more information how to better understand this theory we are destroying by overuse and misapplication, read Festinger's book
"A Theory Of Cognitive Disssoance" Leo Festinger 1957 it's helps to understand these concepts, we are going to look like idiots by educated JWs if they read a double-negative trying to be explained.