Cognitive dissonance is a psychological term that describes the discomfort you feel when your beliefs don’t line up with your actions. Or it could refer to the tension of holding two conflicting ...

Key Points: Evidence for the power of cognitive dissonance comes from studies using the "free choice paradigm"—in which individuals tend to show clearer preferences for an option after they have ...

In 1934, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit eastern India, killing thousands and devastating several cities. Curiously, in areas that were spared the worst destruction, stories soon spread that an even ...

As the consequences of opinion polarization effect our everyday life in more and more aspect, the understanding of its origins and driving forces becomes increasingly important. Here we develop an ...

Do you ever feel a nagging sense of discomfort when your actions don't match your beliefs? For example, you might tell a small white lie even though you value honesty. That uneasy feeling is known as ...

A recent New Yorker article, “Is Cognitive Dissonance Actually a Thing?”, strongly implies that the answer to that question is “No.” The article arrived at this answer by considering a 1956 ...