With information that either agrees or refutes the original poster’s discussion. Provides relevant information and feedback to the original poster.
NO AI or Plagiarism
100-150 minimum for each response
1)Cognitive dissonance happens when what we do doesnt line up with what we believe, and that mismatch creates an uncomfortable feeling we try to fix. (Cooper 2019) explains that when our thoughts or actions dont fit together, we feel a kind of internal tension that pushes us to be more consistent with our belief. (ScottKakures 2009) adds that this discomfort can motivate us to justify our choices to protect how we see ourselves.
I notice this in my life as a pet parent. I take pride in giving my pets the best highquality food, vet care, flea and tick prevention, and lots of love. Thats part of how I see myself. This can get expensive however, and there have been times when I wanted to treat myself to a manipedi or a new outfit, and I ended up buying cheaper junk food pet food instead of the premium brands I believe are healthier. The second I do it, the guilt hits because my behavior doesnt match my belief about being a responsible pet parent.
To reduce that uncomfortable feeling, I start justifying it, reminding myself that they get great food most of the time, that theyre healthy, and that it doesnt happen often. Thats classic dissonance reduction adding thoughts that make the choice feel less contradictory. It also shows how we justify sacrifices, when we make a choice that goes against our values, we explain it in a way that lets us keep seeing ourselves positively.
References
Cooper, J. (2019). Cognitive Dissonance: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going. International Review of Social Psychology, 32(1).
Scott-Kakures, D. (2009). Unsettling questions: cognitive dissonance in self-deception. Social Theory and Practice, 35(1), 73+. 2)Cognitive dissonance theory refers to the mental discomfort a person experiences when they hold two or more conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors at the same time. This concept was first introduced by Leon Festinger, who explained that people are motivated to reduce this discomfort by changing their thoughts, attitudes, or actions (Festinger, 1957).
My personal experience of cognitive dissonance comes from balancing military responsibilities with college and family. There are times when I strongly believe that being present for my kids is a top priority, but at the same time, my duties in the Army and school assignments take up most of my time, creating a huge internal conflict. The conflict between what I value (being present as a father) and what I am doing (being away due to work and responsibilities), trying to find the justification and see the bigger picture of why I make the sacrifices, and the hopes my kids and family understand that this was not easy for me to make a choice like this. To reduce the discomfort, I justify it by reminding myself that my efforts working, going to school, and building a career, ultimately are for my kids future. I sacrifice time now so I can be more present later in life with the finances to provide what they need with ease, and also be present for all their huge accomplishments. Graduating high school, going to college, football games, dance, prom, the huge moments in our kids’ lives that they look for validations for me to express and say Im so proud of you, cheering them on, and supporting them in whatever they choose to do. This helps align my actions with my beliefs, even if it doesnt fully remove the tension.
Justifying a sacrifice is closely related to cognitive dissonance because when people put a lot of effort, time, or pain into something, they tend to convince themselves that it was worth it, even if the outcome isnt that great. This is often called effort justification. For example, if someone goes through intense training or sacrifices a lot of personal time for a goal, they are more likely to view that goal as valuable.
Otherwise, they would feel their sacrifice was meaningless, increasing dissonance. In my case, the sacrifices I make in time and stress are justified by my belief that I am building a better future, which reduces internal conflict.
Overall, cognitive dissonance explains how people try to stay mentally consistent. When inconsistency happens, we naturally look for ways to justify or adjust our thinking so we can feel more at peace with our decisions.
Reference
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press.
3)One of my biggest time wasters is definitely scrolling on TikTok. Its honestly a guilty but addictive habit that can easily make me lose track of time. There have been many times when I stayed on it for hours, especially at bedtime after a long day, and ended up losing sleep or spending too much time on it when I had more important things to do. The short videos make it easy to keep scrolling without realizing how much time has passed.
To help break the habit, I started limiting myself by putting the phone down after about 30 minutes and switching to reading a book instead. At first, constantly interrupting the scrolling felt difficult, but over time, I got more used to it. Giving my eyes and mind a break from the screen has helped me relax more at night. Eventually, reading started making me tired faster, which helped me stay off my phone and fall asleep earlier instead of scrolling all night.
4)I spend a lot of my everyday leisure time watching YouTube videos. I can spend hours upon hours listening to the videos, and I even fall asleep sometimes watching them. I have always loved YouTube ever since I was in my adolescent years because it was all that I had to decompress and enjoy my alone time. I would consider my interests extremely diverse due to me being able to watch anything, which frankly contributes to the time spent on the app. My top categories are gaming videos, psychology related videos, makeup/skincare, forensic file cases, history documentaries, music videos, and several more. Psych Explained and CaseOh are my top two channels that I like to spend most of my time watching. To put an estimate on how much I spend on YouTube from checking my app activity on my phone is anywhere from 6-10 hours. Aside from gathering knowledge from the channel Psych Explained, I think I could implement more beneficial activities in my daily lifestyle. I would like to replace some of my leisure time on YouTube by more productive activities such as embracing nature more and crafting. I admire Mother nature greatly, but I find having to put on sunscreen every hour as a nuisance. I can easily dress more covered up to prevent getting sun burned or skin cancer and carry an umbrella with me. That way I can spend my time embracing Mother earth by hiking or walking, which could also benefit my mental health. Vegan taxidermy is something I have so much fun creating but it requires money to execute my vision. I think I can just go thrifting for my materials and I can find authentic items for my craft instead. I recently did a vegan taxidermy of a lamb and I experienced such mental clarity, so it should be something I can replace YouTube with. I could also play YouTube in the background, so I am not primarily only watching videos.
Get this or a similar paper done in as fast as 4 hours, 24/7.
NB: We do not sell prewritten papers. All essays are written from scratch according to specific needs and instructions
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.