{"id":2110,"date":"2021-11-11T12:28:59","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T12:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lynn.global\/?p=2110"},"modified":"2022-11-16T15:44:58","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T15:44:58","slug":"cognitive-dissonance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lynn.global\/cognitive-dissonance\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m right, you’re wrong (Cognitive Dissonance)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’m right, you’re wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polarised. Partisan. Divided. Entrenched. Our need for co-operation has never been greater, so why do we find ourselves so far apart? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From tackling the climate emergency to dismantling the politics of hate, good communication is vital. We need to talk responsibly and listen wisely. But all too often, we dismiss and deride. We stoke divisions and ignore evidence, even if it costs our own health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet cognitive dissonance \u2013 the dangerous bias behind \u201cI\u2019m right, you\u2019re wrong!\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a problem that starts early. By the time we\u2019re six months old, we\u2019re already judging and evaluating others. While few of us would claim to be the smartest people we know, we nevertheless place great faith in our own judgement. It directs our attention, chooses our relationships, decides what is truth. It\u2019s the little voice that tells us, we have good reasons for acting the way we do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We love this feeling of being right. So much so, when this happy assumption gets challenged \u2013 say, by a new piece of information \u2013 we experience powerful emotional discomfort. It can be especially painful if this new information catches us in an embarrassing light, revealing some hitherto unnoticed inconsistency between our behaviour and our beliefs. Put simply, if we feel \u201cI\u2019m a good person and I want to save the planet,\u201d but also that \u201cI love foreign holidays, cheap clothes and fast food,\u201d then, when someone shows us those two positions are fundamentally incompatible, we feel bad. This is cognitive dissonance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, often our response is to go full-on Basil Fawlty. Like the hapless hotelier, we make increasingly frenzied and violent attempts to maintain the illusion of calm. Uncomfortable information is downplayed (\u201cok, climate change is real; but I\u2019m only one person, how can changing my habits make a difference?\u201d), or even denied (\u201cfake news!\u201d). Worse, we\u2019ll vilify anyone who dares call our illogicality to our attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dissonance can also be triggered by making decisions; even trivial ones, such as what to \u2018like\u2019 on social media. Choosing implies a \u2018right\u2019 choice and a \u2018wrong\u2019 one. Having to defend our choice only deepens our convictions: our emotions intensify, and we scour the world for confirmation we were right. Facts cease to matter: the only important thing is their source (\u201cmy side or your side?\u201d). This is what moves people from sadness that their candidate lost, to conviction that the election was stolen. And social media heightens this effect. By the very nature of its algorithms, it demands we make choices and share opinions; not just in what we post, but by what we like, downvote or even, simply, view. How do we combat this? The poet William Blake wrote, \u201cthe man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breed reptiles of the mind\u201d. Cognitive dissonance can\u2019t be avoided, but it can be challenged. We can learn to welcome new information. And, as aware communicators, we can celebrate change for the positive impact it brings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anticipating cognitive dissonance can improve our messaging, even for the toughest audiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find out more about Lynn\u2019s recent work in changing attitudes and encouraging wider vaccine uptake, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was written by Ethan McQuaid, Behavioural Data Analyst at Lynn.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Polarised. Partisan. Divided. Entrenched. Our need for co-operation has never been greater, so why do we find ourselves so far apart?
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