Cognitive Dissonance and Harmony Among Values

• States that when a person is confronted with inconsistencies among attitudes or behaviors, he or she will take some action to resolve this “dissonance”.

• Theory focuses on situations in which two Cognitive Elements are inconsistent with one another.
  • Cognitive Elements can be something that a person believes about himself, a behavior he performs, or an observation about his surroundings.

• Dissonance reduction can occur either by eliminating, adding, or changing elements.

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