Cognitive Dissonance: Theory, Studies, and Application in Reducing Plastic Bag Use

This paper discusses the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance, its theory, studies both in support and against the theory, and how it can be applied in supermarkets to reduce the use of plastic bags. It also includes a literature review and a conclusion.

Running head: COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
Cognitive Dissonance
Name
School

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE 1
Abstract
The theory of cognitive dissonance (CDT) explains that people would always undergo a state of
mental discomfort when they take a choice that was contrary to their expectations and
preference. In dealing with the discomfort, most people accept the change and alter their
preferences to align with what they have got. The process of this change starts with an individual
holding two or more contradicting cognitions. Examples of these are like political affiliation,
choices on a particular product or subject. The fact that one must choose a contradicting
preference puts someone into an unpleasant state and the feeling remains until the person
resolves it through an alteration of the cognition. The aim of this paper would be to discuss the
phenomenon of cognitive dissonance. The paper would explain what it is, and analyze different
studies both in support and against the theory. The paper would further discuss how application
of TCD can be applied in supermarkets to reduce the use of plastic bags. Finally, the paper will
draw a conclusion on the entire theory of cognitive dissonance.
Keywords: Cognitive Dissonance, Commitment, Hypocrisy

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Cognitive Dissonance
Dissonance is an uncomfortable motivational experience that comes when a person’s
cognitive behaviors become inconsistent with each other. For a resolution, dissonance reduction
requires a shift in the attitudes, beliefs or values to disregard the inconsistency. Thus, an
individual will have to choose one option and leave the other. The reduction of the inconsistency
makes someone change the preferences and desire. The person would then create more
connection with the chosen object and heightened the disconnection with the rejected choice.
This paper would be discussing the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance. The paper will draw
more information by comparing the studies conducted, and then conduct an application of this
phenomenon on the reduction of the use of plastic bags in the supermarket.
The phenomenon of cognitive dissonance
CDT theory was developed in (Festinger, 1962). The theory suggested that people hold
two or more conflicting cognitions. The contradiction causes an unpleasant feeling to an
individual, and this continues until they resolve by changing the cognition to attain the balance
(Festinger, 1962). After the development of this theory by Festinger, other tests followed which
settled on the same stand after undergoing a moment of this conflict and choosing between one
of the choices, people who settle on the weaker incentive alter their attitudes and behaviors to
suit the favored choice (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). Later all these thoughts have been
compiled in (Aronson, 1992) which is a recapture of earlier work of Festinger, and it paints a
clear picture of an understanding of human behaviors and thoughts.
The early studies on CDT informed the future studies in areas of social psychology
causing more researchers to undertake studies on people’s behaviors in different areas of
development. For instance, the work of (Wang, 2018) analyzed how cognitive dissonance

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changes the political environment. Other researchers have focused on the application of the
theory in the society. Examples of these are (Lashley, 2009) who invoked CDT to provide an
understanding on ways in which political strategists use propaganda and changes to effectively
swift voters decisions.
In his recapture on the work of Festinger, Aronson states that CDT provides a powerful
vehicle when challenging other theories such as the reinforcement theory (Aronson, 1992).
Among the explanations given by Aronson is that CDT discovers the limitations on other
theories such as the reinforcement theory’s suggestion that rewarding individuals for saying
something would cause them to become obsessed with their statements (Aronson, 1992). Instead,
Arson explains that people are more inclined to believing their lies when they receive an under-
reward for telling such lies (Aronson, 1992). A justification of this statement is further provided
when Aronson states that people are more likely to remain in a group that they receive harsh or
severe initiation that those groups that are free to join (Aronson, 1992). In support, (Chen &
Risen, 2010) explains that even in writing, individuals who freely opt to write counter-attitudinal
essays later come into an agreement with its position than the ones who are compelled to write
the essays. In the rationale of environmental conservations, the models developed within this
theory such as the commitment and hypocrisy paradigm have been seen to castigate the use of
plastic bags.
The work of (Harmon-Jones, Harmon-Jones, & Levy, 2015) takes an action-based model
to explain the CDT. The authors start by saying that most of the situations that create dissonance
are the results of difficult decisions which require a commitment to actions. Once a person
chooses one action, the focus on acting to it, and labor to translate that intended behavior or
attitude into something actionable created the dissonance reduction (Harmon-Jones et al., 2015).

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The approach creates a relationship with the selected choice and a distance with the rejected
choice. With this, the change in attitude enables a person to follow and alter the behavior and
attitude.
Literature Review
In support of TCD, many researchers have come up in the past to test this theory some of
them developing on the scenarios provided in (Festinger, 1962). For instance, on the scenario of
children and their preference for toys, the work of (Egan, Bloom, & Santos, 2010) develops on
this confirming that monkeys and children were retaining the candy or toys they had chosen in
the first attempt when they were tested for a second round. In the test, the authors gave monkeys
an illusion of option between two comparable objects. and then they allowed them to choose
between the one which was rejected in the first attempt with a third object, and they would still
devalue the rejected one. The behavior was also the same when children were tested with toys.
The results were a confirmation that choices induce preference.
An experimental study conducted in (Chatzisarantis, Hagger, & Wang, 2008) sought to
examine cognitive dissonance-related changes in the attitude of people within the domain of
exercise. The results of this study showed that participants who freely engaged in boring
exercises techniques ended up liking them than those who were forced to take them. A study
conducted by neurologists has also shown that physiological changes become consistent with the
people’s stronger commitments to the choices after making them (Sharot, De Martino, & Dolan,
2009). These results were identified from a test where people’s estimations of pleasure expected
from a future event, and their imaging data were compared both before the event and after the
event.

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On the other hand, there are still some researchers who think that when the chosen
actions contradict someone’s preference, the person would quit or avoid the actions. These
beliefs are based on the rational choice theory. In (Dietrich & List, 2013), the authors argue that
depending on a person’s preferences, traditional approaches have always held that preferences
are the ones which dictate actions, but not the vice versa. There are also other authors such as
(Perlovsky, 2013) who think that cognitive dissonance is a challenge to human evolution.
Perlovsky argues that since TCD resolves cognitive dissonance by disposing of contradictions,
this causes the rejection of even the useful knowledge. Another study conducted in (Metzger,
Hartsell, & Flanagin, 2015) found that selective exposure studies have evidence that news
consumers are more likely to look for information that is attitude consistent while trying to avoid
the information that is attitude-challenging. The authors analyzed the credibility on online news
and tried to explain it using cognitive dissonance theory. The results of this study were contrary
to the theory as it showed that most consumers believed that the news that was attitude-
consistent was credible than the one which was attitude-challenging.
Cognitive dissonance and Reduction of Plastic Bags in Supermarkets.
Campaigns targeted towards environmental awareness focus on promoting a desirable
behavior and a reduction of the undesired ones (Willuweit, 2009). On its part, cognitive
dissonance has been employed in different areas to promote a change of a behavior, which works
through cognitive dissonance reduction (Davey, 2011, p. 206). According to (McGuire, 2015)
cognitive dissonance reduction functions without someone’s awareness, and it is fundamental to
someone to an extent of being called a psychological immune system. When cognitive
dissonance takes a longer process, the distortion becomes internalized as intensely held belief,
attitude, or values, which then shapes someone’s judgments and behaviors. When this process

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occurs, the dissonance transforms into a proactive behavior. As being proactive is connected with
maladaptive environmental behaviors, the individual would be prevented from perceiving
destructive behaviors as good. For instance, the study of (Kellstedt, Zahran, & Vedlitz, 2008)
found that actively giving someone negative information on global warming would cause
concerns to an individual, and he/she would be likely to choose positive behaviors that prevent it.
Again, the work of (Osbaldiston & Schott, 2012) found that environmental interventions
targeting cognitive dissonance which focusing on pro-environmental behaviors yield positive
results in changing the participants’ behavior thus recognizing cognitive dissonance a mediating
element on how individuals can engage into pro-environmental positive behaviors.
Similarly, the role of environmental campaigns against the use of plastic bags should
typically be focused on explicating detrimental environmental consequences after prolonged use
of Plastic bags.
The work of (Rubens, Gosling, Bonaiuto, Brisbois, & Moch, 2015) stated that both
commitment and hypocrisy paradigm are two models that are applied when convincing people to
take pro-environmental behavior such as preventing the use of plastic bags in the supermarket.
The reason why commitment is powerful in behavioral change is that it operates through
freedom on the statement. That is, the individual would declare in their will that they would
commit to stopping the behavior (i.e to stop using the plastic bags) (Vaidis & Gosling, 2011).
Once the person declares such statement, the person creates a connection with the need to stop
the behavior thus becoming resistant to the negative urges which facilitates cognition
determination (Aronson, 1992). Once this determination is created, (i.e the determination to stop
using plastic bags), reduction starts to take place and the person’s attitude changes to concur with
the rightful behavior.

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On hypocrisy paradigm, the model is based on the Dissonance Theory, where Aronson
explains that a person whose actions are the opposite of what he preaches will have hypocritical
feelings or dissonance (Aronson, 1992). Since the hypocritical feelings would be unpleasant thus
undermining that person’s self-concept, that person will be likely motivated to alter his/her
behaviors to match what he/she preaches, as it is the only way of reducing the negative feelings
(Aronson, 1992). Applying this to the scenario of plastic bags, asking the participants to
willingly talk against the use of plastic bags will make them practice what they are preaching. If
they continue to use plastic bags yet they are advocating for their cessation, they would have the
hypocrisy feeling which would only end when the also cease using plastic bags. In addition, the
work of (Fointiat, 2008) states that when people advocating against a certain behavior do it in
public, the advocacy gains a normative dimension which also makes the behavior more salient.
In (Rubens et al., 2015), the study tested the two models discussed above (commitment
and hypocrisy paradigm) in an intervention aimed at convincing individuals in the Parisian
supermarket to stop using plastic bags. The people were requested to commit themselves by
appending their signatures to a poster which was advocating against the use of plastic bags
(commitment). Others were reminded of a transgression they had made which meant to arouse
their cognitive dissonance or the hypocrisy feeling. The participants were then observed to see
whether they were going to take the plastic bags given by the supermarket. On analysis, the
people in the commitment condition showed higher chances of changing their behavior than
those who were on the control group and those in hypocrisy group.
Conclusion
The main of this paper was to analyze the theory of cognitive dissonance. The paper
looked into the various rationales provided on its use and then went forward to test it on an

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environmental behavior such as the use of plastic bags. This study demonstrates that the use of
cognitive dissonance can be one of the approaches that institutions can adapt to change people’s
behavior. The approach can fit particularly in environment conservation to encourage people to
stop using plastic bags or adopt other means of conserving the environment. As everything has
its limitations, cognitive dissonance has its limitations, therefore is good that people or
organization using should analyze whether the rejected behavior has any benefit to the society.
That is, cognitive dissonance should be used with the aim of preventing a behavior that has a
detrimental effect to the society, instead of preventing a behavior which would have been
beneficial.

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