Reading passage

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological concept that describes the discomfort experienced when holding two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. This theory was developed by psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957. When individuals encounter situations where their actions do not align with their beliefs or values, they experience mental stress. To reduce this discomfort, people are motivated to change their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. This can involve justifying or rationalizing their actions, changing their beliefs to align with their actions, or avoiding information that increases the dissonance.

Listening transcript

Professor: So, to illustrate cognitive dissonance, let’s consider two examples. First, imagine a person who smokes cigarettes but knows it’s unhealthy. This person experiences dissonance because they value their health but also have a habit that contradicts this value. To reduce discomfort, they might convince themselves that smoking is not that harmful or decide to quit smoking altogether. The second example involves a student who believes in the importance of honesty but cheats on a test. After cheating, the student might feel guilty and uncomfortable. To resolve this, they could justify their action by thinking the test was unfair, or they might promise themselves to never cheat again. These examples show how people deal with conflicting beliefs and actions.

Speaking task instruction

Explain the concept from the reading and use the professor’s examples to show how it works. Preparation time: 30 seconds, Response time: 60 seconds.

Sample student response

Cognitive dissonance is when people feel discomfort from having conflicting beliefs or actions. The reading explains that people try to reduce this discomfort by changing their beliefs or actions. For example, the professor talks about a smoker who knows smoking is bad for health. To feel better, they might think smoking isn’t so bad or try to quit. Another example is a student who cheats on a test but believes honesty is important. They might justify cheating by blaming the test or promise not to cheat again. These examples show how people try to resolve the stress from conflicting beliefs. Overall, cognitive dissonance explains why people change their thoughts or actions to feel more comfortable.