Sweet deception or force of cognitive dissonance
Tips Motivation / / December 19, 2019
Leon Festinger - American psychologist, author of the theory of cognitive dissonance, which is that if people imposed behavior that does not match their inner convictions, they begin to feel discomfort and social pressure. And in order to avoid this unpleasant situation, we begin to "adjust" themselves and some of their ideas under the imposed standards or situation.
For example, you bought an expensive but absolutely stupid device that also does not work. You see, you can not admit to others that missed the mark with such an expensive purchase? How can our internal switch is activated?
an interesting experiment
Imagine that you were offered to take part in a social experiment. Participants were divided into two groups. One group did not say anything about the upcoming tasks, and the second group was given a certain mood.
You find yourself in the first group and now for the first 30 minutes, move the coil in the box, and in the course of the next 30 minutes you are busy moving pegs around the board, and it all seems incredibly boring task. That, in principle, and it really is.
After the experiment to you in the room includes a leading and wondered whether you like it? And when you say that it was terribly boring, he is surprised and tells you that the rest of the participants enjoyed and they found these sessions very interesting.
After that, he asks you for a small favor. The fact that his assistant, who enters into the next competitor course, did not come and the need a person who would tell him what a fascinating task to be done in the course of experiment. And after that, leading offers for this service is $ 1. You agree to help, enters the next party and you tell that he is being asked to perform very interesting job, even though they themselves are literally 5 minutes ago thought he would die of boredom, and without waiting for the end experiment. The master of the experiment back into the room, thank you very much for your help and reiterates that the other participants have found these activities is very exciting.
Then you go into the next room where you conduct interviews about the experiment, you just that have passed, during which asked a question about how you have been assigned to the task interesting. And they give you a couple of minutes to think about the answer. You are considering and completed assignments you do not seem so boring. You may even start to see in the movement of coils and a rearranged pegs certain beauty of symmetry. I thought that now made a significant contribution to science and the results of the experiment will help to find something interesting and useful, warm your soul. And you decide what tasks were interesting enough.
And in the end you are talking with a friend or girlfriend, who also went through the experiment, but were in the second group. During the conversation, it turns out that your experiences and process were virtually identical except for one thing - your friend for an introduction to the course of the next participants and configure it in a positive way not pay $ 1 as you, and 100$. Then you ask about feelings during execution of tasks with pegs and coils, which comes back, it was so boring! But since you no longer seems you are trying to insist on his own, showing the fascination and the hidden beauty of the actions.
What happened?
It did not warn you that the job will be boring, but after their performance is constantly repeated that the rest of the participants was a lot of fun. That is your initial feeling does not necessarily reflect the views of the majority and you start to feel uncomfortable. Therefore, consciousness began to seek a way out of this delicate situation and in the end you have even found "hidden charms", because once everyone else liked it, then you have something caught or not doglyadeli. And the brain arranges us its "augmented reality."
Participants in the second group of such discrepancies were not, as they say in advance that the experiment will be terribly boring, and they were clean to their own conscience.
Since the first experiments of this study were repeated more than a dozen times and each time the results show that people are prone to self-deception, if pressed outward circumstances to them. We find just unimaginable reason and evidence, and begin to believe in them, as long as our internal state at least a little different from the views of the majority.
The strength of the cognitive dissonance
An excellent example of cognitive dissonance shows coachers that sell training, and sometimes for quite a tidy sum (5 favorite coachers false claims about personal development). There are a few rules of successful coaching, built on the habit of people to deceive themselves: training must cost quite a considerable sum; The more people in the group, the better; always guaranteed result.
We are all together in one team to harness and pull her, repeating in chorus, all we will tell the coach.
Yes, we can all! Yes, there is no insurmountable obstacle to us! Yes, we have the most charming and enchanting!
And even if we are in fact absolutely no sense of it all by the end of the training, ashamed to admit it. Firstly, because everyone around smile and say that it is now for them there is no such word as "impossible." We can not be less gifted than the other eleven people in the group?! Secondly, we have laid out a tidy sum for it and admit to friends (and yourself) that the money in vain oh how do not want to have been spent. Therefore, our subconscious mind begins to quickly search for all sorts of excuses and of benefits derived from employment.
Similarly justify their actions by the soldiers, carrying out orders that run counter to their ideology: they are in fact in the service and it is their duty. Politicians lie to voters, convince myself that it's all for the sake of the country: they must hook or by crook to get into the government?! For example, Hitler convinced the German people that the beginning of the Second World Poland and that he actually saved Europe from the onslaught of communism. And he died piously believing in the fact that Germany has become a victim of the global Jewish conspiracy.
Do not succumb to the herd instinct, think, analyze, and do not be afraid to admit their mistakes and failures.
Do not let others convince yourself that your mind is not really true because everyone else thinks differently. After the fact, we have intelligence that allows us to think rationally and separate albeit not as much attractive reality of the beautiful lies.