Cognitive dissonance: this has to do with sustainability

Cognitive dissonance describes the uncomfortable feeling when you don’t get your ideas and your actions under one roof. We’ll explain how you can take action against it.

The term “cognitive dissonance” goes back to the American social psychologist Leon Festinger. Festinger smuggled himself into a sect in Wisconsin in 1954 to find out undercover how these people dealt with the contradiction between belief and real action. Then he developed the dissonance theory.

Anyone familiar with this phenomenon can learn a lot from it. Knowing about it helps to become aware of and to see through one’s own behavioral patterns. Especially when striving for a sustainable life, the cognitive dissonance also expresses itself through pain and despair. People who are very perfectionist and have high values ​​suffer particularly from it. How can we react to that?

Cognitive dissonance: what is it?

Cognitive dissonance (also dissonance theory) is a uncomfortable state of mind, in which our behavior is incompatible with our values is. Cognitive means “related to thinking”. Dissonance can be equated with the word “disagreement”. Psychology says that cognitive dissonance is aversive to us – that is, we find it uncomfortable. In addition to our inner convictions and our ideas, new insights are added that do not match the previous views. That creates contradictions.

The dissonance theory also means that every person strives to resolve these painful internal contradictions. We can one Imbalance in our inner belief system don’t just accept it. As a result, those affected try to justify themselves for it. They try to adapt their attitudes to their behavior. They either devalue the importance of a topic or even change their attitude to it completely so that the inner peace is restored.

Cognitive dissonance: examples and strategies of dissonance reduction

A typical example Illustrative is the cognitive dissonance in smokers: inside. On the one hand, they usually have the attitude “I like smoking, it relaxes me”. On the other hand, they know about the harmful effects on health. Smokers can resolve the discrepancy between the two thoughts by saying, for example, “I feel great, it won’t affect me. The neighbor next door smoked all his life and turned 93 ”. Many find it difficult just to be with that To stop smoking.

Such Strategies of dissonance reduction are diverse. A characteristic mechanism of cognitive dissonance comes into play above all after decisions have been made. In a situation like this, you can be tormented by thoughts of uncertainty as to whether or not you made the right decision. To overcome these thoughts, you bring the advantages of the chosen option and the disadvantages of the non-chosen option to the fore.

But there are not only strategies that take the path of least resistance to offset the dissonance. You can also positive be – if they move you to change your behavior in the right direction. For example, when cognitive dissonance makes you Sports to drive or quit smoking. According to GEO, researchers believe, based on experimentation, that dissonance reduction tactics are important for ours Self-esteem are. They are also supposed to keep us healthy as they protect us from too much stress that cognitive dissonance can trigger.

Cognitive dissonance in relation to sustainability

You can do the following exercise with yourself: Go through all areas of your life in terms of sustainability – so mobility, nourishment, Reside, consumption and so forth. Where does a guilty conscience arise and what excuses do you automatically have at hand to alleviate the problem? Of course, it depends on what knowledge you have about different things and what values ​​you represent.

Sustainability and cognitive dissonance belong very closely together. This is due to the difficulty that a great deal and very rapid change is necessary for the fight against the climate crisis. There are also structural reasons, such as the lack of public transport in rural areas. That doesn’t make it easy to do without the car. Again and again we get into inner conflicts because we don’t live as sustainably as we should. Further examples of cognitive dissonances (and thoughts of reduction) and sustainability:

• To fly has a high CO₂-Print, but you would like to have the experience of a long journey (again). Besides, once is okay, isn’t it?
• It would be most sustainable, only organic, regional and seasonal foods to buy. But it’s difficult on that Avocados and to avoid tomatoes in winter. Healthy, varied food is also important.
• You are on the road and suddenly you are very hungry for a warm meal. Instead of cooking something at home later, it has to be plastic-wrapped fast food now.
• Fair fashion is costly, even if it were a better choice.
• You produce a lot every week Plastic waste. This makes you sad, but you don’t know how to change it. Unfortunately there is none Unpacked around the corner from you.
• Of the man-made climate change is unspeakably bad. But how much can you achieve as a single person? How much of it is actually actually man-made? Can you really know
• You already ride a lot of bicycles, separate rubbish, buy plastic-free toiletries and so on. Then ordering some new things on the internet isn’t that bad, is it?

The amount of things that we have to change can be overwhelming. Even if you are already doing a lot and trying to limit yourself – it never seems to be enough. The environmental psychologist Karen Hamann from the University of Koblenz-Landau says in an interview: “In general, we should be aware in environmental communication that information about the state of the present world triggers pain and therefore does not leave people alone with it.” She wants spaces in which we can learn to deal with this pain and develop motivation for action. We need a different way of dealing with our cognitive dissonances.

Dealing with cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonances are normal and commonplace. We won’t always be able to solve them in the best way. A few examples of coping strategies have already been given above in the text. Here you have it again at a glance:

• Mostly we solve the inner harmony through an automatic reaction – by bending the situation. In order to you change your attitudeso that it fits your behavior. You put yourself in the right light.
• Or you do it the other way around. You solve the problem with a changed plot towards your inner attitudes or desires.
• The third option is you distract and endure the dissonance. For example, you compensate for the psychological excitement Relaxation, Sport or being outdoors in nature. Other compensatory actions can also help. In reality, unfortunately, these are often easy-to-achieve “solutions” such as alcohol. Better to use another, less harmful agent.
• Then there are those Dissonance prevention: Before an event occurs, plan your excuses beforehand to make it feel less dramatic. An example of this are exam situations in which you tell yourself that you are not in top shape. If you do badly, you have an excuse ready.

You can now become aware of your cognitive dissonances and go through different coping methods. If you have enough strength to adjust your action in the positive direction, that is very good. If not, it doesn’t matter because you have at least seen through the patterns of your cognitive dissonance.

Utopia says: Don’t be too strict with yourself and don’t judge yourself too harshly. Cognitive dissonances are normal and will meet you again and again. Don’t let these drive you crazy. Living perfectly according to your values ​​is only possible and can only with the greatest effort stress and Burnout cause. That doesn’t help anyone. Even if you had the good intention of making your life as sustainable as possible. To a certain extent it has to be playful and imperfect, without the extreme pressure of your dissonances.

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