Editing Fear (section)

===Cognitive-consistency theory===
[[cognitive dissonance|Cognitive-consistency]] theories assume that "when two or more simultaneously active cognitive structures are logically inconsistent, arousal is increased, which activates processes with the expected consequence of increasing consistency and decreasing arousal."<ref name=":Kampen">{{cite journal | vauthors = van Kampen HS | title = The principle of consistency and the cause and function of behaviour | journal = Behavioural Processes | volume = 159 | pages = 42–54 | date = February 2019 | pmid = 30562561 | doi = 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.12.013 | s2cid = 56478466 }}</ref> In this context, it has been proposed that fear behavior is caused by an inconsistency between a preferred, or expected, situation and the actually perceived situation, and functions to remove the inconsistent stimulus from the perceptual field, for instance by fleeing or hiding, thereby resolving the inconsistency.<ref name=":Kampen"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hebb DO | title = On the nature of fear | journal = Psychological Review | volume = 53 | issue = 5 | pages = 259–276 | date = September 1946 | pmid = 20285975 | doi = 10.1037/h0061690 | s2cid = 5211697 }}</ref><ref name=":Archer"/> This approach puts fear in a broader perspective, also involving [[aggression]] and [[curiosity]]. When the inconsistency between perception and expectancy is small, learning as a result of curiosity reduces inconsistency by updating expectancy to match perception. If the inconsistency is larger, fear or aggressive behavior may be employed to alter the perception in order to make it match expectancy, depending on the size of the inconsistency as well as the specific context. Aggressive behavior is assumed to alter perception by forcefully manipulating it into matching the expected situation, while in some cases thwarted escape may also trigger aggressive behavior in an attempt to remove the thwarting stimulus.<ref name=":Kampen"/>