Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance

Example: Experiment for a $1

Was it Worth it?

The example of the experiment for a $1 supports Cognitive Dissonance. First of all, what is cognitive dissonance? It is the inward struggle of avoiding unease or discord with ourselves. We trick ourselves into justifying our actions so that we don't look foolish in other people's eyes. An experiment was conducted with some students and they had to put a peg in a hole for a few hours. Afterwards, half were given $20 to tell the next person that it was fun and they will love the experiment and the other half were given only $1. At the end of the experiment, the people paid $20 were interviewed and asked if they would ever do the experiment again. They said, "It was really boring" and "No, don't want to do it again." However, the people paid $1 were interviewed and said, "It was fun" and  "I would do it again, yes." Why would someone say that putting a peg in a hole for hours was fun?! The reason is a lot more simpler than one would think. The people paid $1 wanted to avoid embarrassment because they didn't get $20 for putting pegs in a hole for hours. So, they lied and said it was fun and they would do it again. They justified their actions and lied to themselves/tricked themselves in order to be at peace and eliminate the internal discord. This experiment was a great way in order to show how cognitive dissonance works.

This theory has been one of my favorites so far, but also one of the theories I have struggled with the most. I have already seen it play out in my personal communication with others. For me, this theory is more of a struggle in my walk with God and communication with him, than it is communication with other people. Sadly, it involves me trying to eliminate the unease with myself internally by justifying my sinful actions. After I have sinned (lied, cheated, cussed, or had impure thoughts), I will try to justify them by looking around and saying to myself, "That person over there told worse lies, or drops f bombs all the time. I am a better Christian than them, so what I said or did is alright." That is one of the worst attitudes to have as a Christian. I know I need to ask God for forgiveness and ask him to help take away the thought to immediately justify my actions after I sin or do something wrong. Learning this theory and understanding it has helped me in my walk with Christ. It has helped me to realize when I am beginning to justify my actions in order to trick myself into thinking what I did was OK because someone else does worse things than me. This theory really opened my eyes and has helped me to really stop and think about what I am doing and what results will stem from my actions. I am grateful to have been able to study cognitive dissonance and see how it works. It has been a tremendous help with my communication with God. I know I will never be free from having some feeling of dissonance in my life, but understanding this theory and praying for God to help me see when I am beginning to justify my actions in order to eliminate the feeling of unease in my life will help my communication with him as well as my communication with others.