Cognitive Dissonance Theory – What Do You Think?


When reading Audiogon forum posts I am sometimes reminded of the theory of cognitive dissonance developed by social psychologist Leon Festinger back in the 1950s. The theory, which has since become well established as a central tenet of social psychology, deals with cognition (i.e., thoughts, beliefs) and behavior. One proposition implicit in Festinger’s theory is that we don’t always behave based on what we believe; rather, what we believe may be the result of how we have already behaved.

If you are not familiar with the theory of cognitive dissonance, a Google search on “Leon Festinger” and “cognitive dissonance” may prove enlightening. Here are a couple links that do a pretty good job of briefly explaining the theory.

http://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html
http://inspiringscience.net/2012/01/27/cognitive-dissonance/

In the second link, I particularly like the example of cognitive dissonance taken from Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography.

So what do you think? Might we, as audiophiles, be at the mercy of cognitive dissonance?
gz3827

Showing 1 response by davegrif

Djcxxx, well put - it's a battle

Experience: "I own tube equipment". (Therefore I find prefer it to solid state.)
Monetary Investment: I paid $5,000 for these solid silver speaker wires (therefore they are 10 times more transparent then $500 solid silver speaker wires)
Self Validation: "I noticed an immediate improvement" (in whatever I bought, did, changed, etc.)
Group Dynamics: Everyone on the Owners website agrees with me that this a great gear!