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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 gz3827

gz3827 OP
232 posts
 
Mrtennis ...

cognitive dissonance entails making an excuse that might be socially acceptable, when you wish you had not taken the action in the first place
I suppose anyone might create a socially acceptable justification to try to excuse stupid behavior that one subsequently realizes was stupid. That seems perfectly intuitive to me; however, it is not what Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance is about.

The theory of cognitive dissonance is completely counter-intuitive. It isn’t about making excuses to other people for actions you wish you had not taken. It’s about the mere fact of having taken an action as being the basis for the formation of a subsequent cognition.

The second example “when someone buys a solid state amplifier and the result is a degradation in the sound” is a much better example of cognitive dissonance assuming that the buyer of the amplifier actually believes his “explanation … offered for the purchase” and in no way regrets his purchase even though the sound has been degraded.
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