Buyer's Remorse

"The experience of dissonance – incompatible beliefs and actions or two incompatible beliefs – is unpleasant, and people are highly motivated to avoid it. In their efforts to avoid feelings of dissonance, people will ignore views that oppose their own, change their beliefs to match their actions (or vice versa), and/or seek reassurances after making a difficult decision." - Leon Festinger

People tend to seek consistency in their beliefs and perceptions. So what happens when one of our beliefs conflicts with another previously held belief? The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the feeling of discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs. When there is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in order to eliminate or reduce the dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance can occur in many areas of life, but it is particularly evident in situations where an individual's behavior conflicts with beliefs that are integral to his or her self-identity. For example, consider a situation in which a woman who values financial security is in a relationship with a man who is financially irresponsible.

The conflict:

• It is important for her to be financially secure.
• She is dating a man who is financially unstable.

In order to reduce this dissonance between belief and behavior, she can either leave the relationship or reduce her emphasis on financial security. In the case of the second option, dissonance is could be further minimized by emphasizing the positive qualities of her significant other rather than focusing on his perceived flaws.

A more common example of cognitive dissonance occurs in the purchasing decisions we make on a regular basis. Most people want to hold the belief that they make good choices. When a product or item we purchase turns out badly, it conflicts with our previously existing belief about our decision-making abilities.

There are three key strategies to reduce or minimize cognitive dissonance:

1.     Focus on more supportive beliefs that outweigh the dissonant belief or behavior.

2.     Reduce the importance of the conflicting belief.

3.     Change the conflicting belief so that it is consistent with other beliefs or behaviors.

Cognitive dissonance plays a role in many value judgments, decisions and evaluations. Becoming aware of how conflicting beliefs impact the decision-making process is a great way to improve your ability to make faster and more accurate choices.

Think about our moral foundations:

• Care and harm
• Fairness and cheating
• Loyalty and betrayal
• Authority and subversion
• Sanctity and degradation

For example, if I believe in equal human rights, how do I justify in my own mind -- given the choices for political leadership -- voting fiscally conservative if I am socially liberal? If I believe the key to being healthy is eating right and exercising, how do I then justify in my mind, the choice to have cake and skip the gym?

Can we think of ways where group membership effects dissonance? What are some of the attitudes that we hold that have a dissonant (two elements in disequilibrium with each other) relationship to each other? 

Thoughts?