Cognitive Dissonance

Surface

Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort experienced when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or behaviors simultaneously. Leon Festinger identified it in 1957 after infiltrating a doomsday cult and watching members rationalize when the prophecy failed.

Middle

The discomfort of dissonance is so powerful that people will go to extraordinary lengths to resolve it, usually not by changing their behavior, but by changing their beliefs to match their behavior. Smokers convince themselves the risks are overstated. Bad decisions become justified by the fact that they were made.

Deep

Cognitive dissonance is the engine of self-deception. But it is also the engine of growth, the discomfort of holding "I believe I am a good person" alongside "I did something harmful" is what forces moral development. The question is whether you resolve the tension by changing your story or changing yourself.