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Cognitive Dissonance and Aging

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geropsychology

Synonyms

Inconsistency; Inconsistency resolution

Definition

In its original definition, cognitive dissonance is a state of arousal caused by having co-occurring cognitions such that one follows from the obverse of the other. Dissonance is experienced as an unpleasant tension-like state and needs to be reduced. A cognition is an individual piece of knowledge about the world or about one’s internal states.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is a ubiquitous aspect of human social life. Introduced into the scientific literature by Leon Festinger (1957), the concept was defined as a state of arousal caused by inconsistency among a person’s cognitions. In Festinger’s view, people abhor inconsistency. When faced with discrepancy among cognitions, people experience a motivation akin to hunger or thirst. It is an uncomfortable drive-like state that we are motivated to reduce. We resolve our inconsistencies in myriad possible ways that are designed to alleviate the tension state and...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Joel Cooper & Yaritza D. Perez-Hooks

Authors
  1. Joel Cooper
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  2. Yaritza D. Perez-Hooks
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joel Cooper .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Nancy A. Pachana

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Cooper, J., Perez-Hooks, Y.D. (2016). Cognitive Dissonance and Aging. In: Pachana, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_317-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_317-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-287-080-3

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