Editing Cognitive dissonance (section)

=== Communication ===

Cognitive dissonance theory of communication was initially advanced by American psychologist Leon Festinger in the 1960s. Festinger theorized that cognitive dissonance usually arises when a person holds two or more incompatible beliefs simultaneously.<ref name="simplypsychology.org"/> This is a normal occurrence since people encounter different situations that invoke conflicting thought sequences. This conflict results in a psychological discomfort. According to Festinger, people experiencing a thought conflict try to reduce the psychological discomfort by attempting to achieve an emotional equilibrium. This equilibrium is achieved in three main ways. First, the person may downplay the importance of the dissonant thought. Second, the person may attempt to outweigh the dissonant thought with consonant thoughts. Lastly, the person may incorporate the dissonant thought into their current belief system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Interpersonal-Communication-and-Relations/cognitive-dissonance-theory/|title=Interpersonal Communication and Relations {{!}} Cognitive Dissonance theory|website=Universiteit Twente|access-date=2019-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331104119/https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Interpersonal-Communication-and-Relations/cognitive-dissonance-theory/|archive-date=2019-03-31}}</ref>

Dissonance plays an important role in persuasion. To persuade people, you must cause them to experience dissonance, and then offer your proposal as a way to resolve the discomfort. Although there is no guarantee your audience will change their minds, the theory maintains that without dissonance, there can be no persuasion. Without a feeling of discomfort, people are not motivated to change.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Contemporary Communication Theory| vauthors = Infante DA |publisher=Kendall Hunt|year=2017|pages=157–158}}</ref> Similarly, it is the feeling of discomfort which motivates people to perform [[Selective exposure theory|selective exposure]] (i.e., avoiding disconfirming information) as a dissonance-reduction strategy.<ref name=":1" />

Dissonance also plays an essential role in social collaboration. In the study, ''Temporal interplay  between cognitive conflict and attentional markers in social collaboration'' (2024), the authors determined that the context in social environments and demands affect one’s willingness to collaborate socially.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last1=Abubshait |first1=Abdulaziz |last2=Perez-Osorio |first2=Jairo |last3=De Tommaso |first3=Davide |last4=Wykowska |first4=Agnieszka |date=August 2024 |title=Temporal interplay between cognitive conflict and attentional markers in social collaboration |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/psyp.14587 |journal=Psychophysiology |language=en |volume=61 |issue=8 |pages=e14587 |doi=10.1111/psyp.14587 |pmid=38600626 |issn=0048-5772|doi-access=free }}</ref> Some social interactions require the ability to read social cues and body language, and others do not. The authors used robots to simulate different social interactions. They discovered that the human brain is designed to deal with the possible complex aspects of social collaboration. They also found that the brain will change its reaction to these aspects depending on the type of interaction the person faces.<ref name=":7" /> To summarize, Dissonance can affect how the brain reacts to specific social cues and interactions by making it difficult to differentiate between types of interactions. Dissonance can also make it difficult to collaborate socially with others.