"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." — George Orwell. Imagine watching someone on TV, perhaps a public ...

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 ...

In my roles as a CIO, entrepreneur, investor and Professor (I teach a course at Berklee called “The Innovator’s DNA”), I think about innovation constantly. I know from personal experience (”What ...

Cognitive dissonance is more common than you think. In the field of psychology, it occurs when a person’s beliefs or values contradict their behavior or attitude and creates the feeling of mental ...

It started with a simple but heartfelt inquiry. When Kerry Sandell approached her former professor in the tumultuous times following the 2020 death of George Floyd, she said, “I want to talk to you ...

I’ve been academically intrigued in recent months to see so many political references to “cognitive dissonance.” As a social psychologist who has taught and conducted dissonance research for over 20 ...

You've been presented with two viable options for a new career. The first option is what you've always wanted—the role sounds like a perfect fit. But the second option comes with higher pay and better ...

In today's political world, the desire to reconcile cognitive dissonance drives the growing tendency of political candidates to emphasize apolitical qualities such as personality and demeanor while ...

Cognitive dissonance has entered the vernacular as shorthand for what people experience when they hold two contradictory opinions at once. But, within psychology, it describes a somewhat distinct ...