In the new SAQs students can use real world examples or studies. I thought I’d use an episode of The Simpsons to show how cognitive dissonance can explain divorce. However, my editor Tara Hasan wisely advised me that kids today wouldn’t get the reference. So thankfully I have this website for just such an occasion. In this post I’ll explain cognitive dissonance, how it can affect behaviour by increasing divorce and I’ll use an episode of The Simpsons to demonstrate.
What is cognitive dissonance?
Leon Festinger proposed cognitive dissonancy theory in 1954. This theory claims that people want consistent thoughts, feelings and actions. We want these things to be in harmony. When they are, it’s called cognitive consistency. When they’re not, however, we experience cognitive dissonance – a feeling of psychological discomfort caused by conflicting thoughts, feelings or behaviours. This is how cognitive dissonance affects behaviour – to reduce the discomfort people change their thoughts or actions so that they regain consistency.
Cognitive dissonance is often misdefined as a cognitive process. It’s not a cognitive process but rather an unpleasant feeling caused by conflicting cognitive processes.
How does cognitive dissonance affect behaviour?
Cognitive dissonance can explain why people get divorced. In relationships, people in unhappy marriages might experience cognitive dissonance because their thoughts and actions are inconsistent. They then change their thinking or behaviour in a way that restores cognitive consistency but increases the chances of divorce. One way cognitive dissonance increases the chance of divorce is because it makes people more open to the idea.
Openness to Divorce
Cognitive dissonance might lead to changes in thinking about the benefits of divorce over marriage. For example, in the beginning when a couple is happy they have cognitive consistency – they believe marriage is an important bond between two people and they have the marital satisfaction consistent with this belief. However, over time their satisfaction decreases. Maybe the Four Horsemen start creeping in. Now they have cognitive dissonance because their thoughts (marriage is important) is inconsistent with their behaviour (Four Horsemen and low marital satisfaction). To restore cognitive consistency, something has to change – either their thoughts or behaviours. To reduce the dissonance, they shift their thinking from the importance of marriage to the positives of divorce. Maybe they think their personal happiness is more important than staying married. Now that they are
more open to divorce, it becomes more likely.
Let’s use the Van Houten family from The Simpsons to show how cognitive dissonance can lead to divorce. Milhouse Van Houten is Bart’s best friend, and his parents, Kirk and Luann, get divorced. It was Luann who asked for divorce. In the beginning, she might have believed that marriage was important for a successful life and happy family. However, over time, the four horsemen crept into their marriage. Luann became contemptuous of Kirk as he let the family cracker business fail and she borrowed money to pay the bills. Now she has cognitive dissonance – she has psychological discomfort because her belief in the importance of marriage is inconsistent with her contempt for her husband. Something must change to regain cognitive consistency. Therefore, she changes her thinking about marriage and starts to think that it’s not that important. Her happiness is more important than the marriage. This change in thinking makes it easier for her to announce the divorce in the middle of a Pictionary game in the Simpson’s living room.
Travis Dixon is an IB Psychology teacher, author, workshop leader, examiner and IA moderator.