Cognitive Dissonance
This post is a further rumination on the content of the book I read several weeks ago and referred to earlier: Mistakes Were Made (but not by me).
One of the most helpful insights in that book was the information on cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance occurs when we hold in our minds two or more "truths" which contradict each other. When we realize this, the sensation is so unpleasant that we immediately and automatically seek to resolve it by getting rid of the disagreement. Seeing the ways in which we do this is quite a revelation.
For example, a person who thinks of himself as a basically good and decent person cheats on his income taxes by not reporting his earnings correctly. He knows that lying is wrong, and that what he has done is against the law. He has in fact, committed a prosecutable crime. Good and decent people do not commit crimes. Rather than re-labeling himself as a criminal instead of a good and decent person, the cheater justifies his action. He tells himself that he did what is reasonable for a good and decent person to do.
The reasoning may go something like this: I am a good and decent person who works very hard to provide for my family. Even then, there's never enough to cover all our expenses. The Bible says that a person who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel. I don't want to fall into that category, so I'm sure it will be OK for me to keep the money the United States government says rightfully belongs to them. Spending it for my family's benefit saves me from falling into the infidel category which the Bible condemns. I am being good and decent while refusing to pay what the government says I must pay. The cognitive dissonance has been resolved.
Having reached resolution of the cognitive dissonance has some predictable effects.
One predictable effect is that events leading up to the resolution of the dissonance are then reinterpreted in light of the "new understanding." What I am doing now about my taxes is completely justifiable. Come to think of it, that time I cheated on a math test in ninth grade was justifiable too. I would have disappointed my parents if I had failed it. They would not have felt honored by a son who failed math tests. The Bible says we are to honor our parents. Cheating on the math test so I could pass it was definitely more right than failing it would have been, because of how it would have affected my parents. As this process gathers momentum, finally nothing done in the past is seen as having been wrong.
Another predictable effect is that future actions are based on the new "truth" that came out of the cognitive dissonance resolution process. The reasoning may go like this: What I did about my taxes was completely justifiable. If cheating on my taxes was justifiable, I can justify stealing from my employer for the same reason. I need the money to provide for my family and avoid being worse than an infidel. He isn't paying me as much as I'm worth anyway, so if I inflate my reimbursable expenses, I can pocket the difference and it will come out more fairly anyway. A person reasoning this way is well on his way to justifying anything at all that he wants to do in the future.
Resolving the cognitive dissonance in this way has created an individual who sees himself as having been nearly perfect in the past and nearly unassailable in the future. He can act without restraint and he will still see himself as a good and decent person. This shift in perception and behavior explains how a person who started out well can go very far astray.
All of us can think of people who have gone down this road--the unfaithful spouse (His inadequate wife drove him to it.), the promiscuous teenager (Her father mistreated her.), the irresponsible student (School is just too stressful.), the unemployed husband (He can't find a job that challenges him.), etc. Worse, all of us can probably see in ourselves the tendency to resolve cognitive dissonance unproductively and dishonestly.
Recently when Marian and I were talking about this book, she compared it with a book she has read: Lies Women Believe. It exposes Satan's lies, and God's truth that counters those lies. Resolving cognitive dissonance by substituting a lie for the truth is never right. The man who cheats on his taxes ought to recognize his dishonesty as sin because this understanding is consistent with Scripture. The truth is that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Cheating on taxes is evidence of wickedness--not goodness and decency. He could resolve the cognitive dissonance productively by recognizing his sinful tendency, repenting, and seeking restoration with God. The new "truth" would serve him well--My heart is capable of great wickedness. That is the basis for my wanting to cheat on my taxes. That's why I cheated in ninth grade. That's why I will likely be tempted to cheat again in the future. I must be on guard against indulging my sinful tendencies.
Immorality is sin, regardless of how others tempt or mistreat a person. Disobedience to parents, laziness, untrustworthiness--all these are things to repent of and seek God's forgiveness for. They are not to be reevaluated and reinterpreted till they appear benign. Scripture teaches us the truth about these matters.
The author of Mistakes . . . does not write from a Christian perspective. He does, however, do a wonderful job of observing and describing how things are. In doing so, he illuminates truths from Scripture. Having seen more clearly than before how the way I choose to resolve cognitive dissonance can help or hinder me, I pray for the grace to be discerning, and especially to believe God's truth and reject Satan's lies.
I know already that if I ever write a book about my experiences, I will have to give it the following title: Mistakes Were Made (by me).
One of the most helpful insights in that book was the information on cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance occurs when we hold in our minds two or more "truths" which contradict each other. When we realize this, the sensation is so unpleasant that we immediately and automatically seek to resolve it by getting rid of the disagreement. Seeing the ways in which we do this is quite a revelation.
For example, a person who thinks of himself as a basically good and decent person cheats on his income taxes by not reporting his earnings correctly. He knows that lying is wrong, and that what he has done is against the law. He has in fact, committed a prosecutable crime. Good and decent people do not commit crimes. Rather than re-labeling himself as a criminal instead of a good and decent person, the cheater justifies his action. He tells himself that he did what is reasonable for a good and decent person to do.
The reasoning may go something like this: I am a good and decent person who works very hard to provide for my family. Even then, there's never enough to cover all our expenses. The Bible says that a person who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel. I don't want to fall into that category, so I'm sure it will be OK for me to keep the money the United States government says rightfully belongs to them. Spending it for my family's benefit saves me from falling into the infidel category which the Bible condemns. I am being good and decent while refusing to pay what the government says I must pay. The cognitive dissonance has been resolved.
Having reached resolution of the cognitive dissonance has some predictable effects.
One predictable effect is that events leading up to the resolution of the dissonance are then reinterpreted in light of the "new understanding." What I am doing now about my taxes is completely justifiable. Come to think of it, that time I cheated on a math test in ninth grade was justifiable too. I would have disappointed my parents if I had failed it. They would not have felt honored by a son who failed math tests. The Bible says we are to honor our parents. Cheating on the math test so I could pass it was definitely more right than failing it would have been, because of how it would have affected my parents. As this process gathers momentum, finally nothing done in the past is seen as having been wrong.
Another predictable effect is that future actions are based on the new "truth" that came out of the cognitive dissonance resolution process. The reasoning may go like this: What I did about my taxes was completely justifiable. If cheating on my taxes was justifiable, I can justify stealing from my employer for the same reason. I need the money to provide for my family and avoid being worse than an infidel. He isn't paying me as much as I'm worth anyway, so if I inflate my reimbursable expenses, I can pocket the difference and it will come out more fairly anyway. A person reasoning this way is well on his way to justifying anything at all that he wants to do in the future.
Resolving the cognitive dissonance in this way has created an individual who sees himself as having been nearly perfect in the past and nearly unassailable in the future. He can act without restraint and he will still see himself as a good and decent person. This shift in perception and behavior explains how a person who started out well can go very far astray.
All of us can think of people who have gone down this road--the unfaithful spouse (His inadequate wife drove him to it.), the promiscuous teenager (Her father mistreated her.), the irresponsible student (School is just too stressful.), the unemployed husband (He can't find a job that challenges him.), etc. Worse, all of us can probably see in ourselves the tendency to resolve cognitive dissonance unproductively and dishonestly.
Recently when Marian and I were talking about this book, she compared it with a book she has read: Lies Women Believe. It exposes Satan's lies, and God's truth that counters those lies. Resolving cognitive dissonance by substituting a lie for the truth is never right. The man who cheats on his taxes ought to recognize his dishonesty as sin because this understanding is consistent with Scripture. The truth is that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Cheating on taxes is evidence of wickedness--not goodness and decency. He could resolve the cognitive dissonance productively by recognizing his sinful tendency, repenting, and seeking restoration with God. The new "truth" would serve him well--My heart is capable of great wickedness. That is the basis for my wanting to cheat on my taxes. That's why I cheated in ninth grade. That's why I will likely be tempted to cheat again in the future. I must be on guard against indulging my sinful tendencies.
Immorality is sin, regardless of how others tempt or mistreat a person. Disobedience to parents, laziness, untrustworthiness--all these are things to repent of and seek God's forgiveness for. They are not to be reevaluated and reinterpreted till they appear benign. Scripture teaches us the truth about these matters.
The author of Mistakes . . . does not write from a Christian perspective. He does, however, do a wonderful job of observing and describing how things are. In doing so, he illuminates truths from Scripture. Having seen more clearly than before how the way I choose to resolve cognitive dissonance can help or hinder me, I pray for the grace to be discerning, and especially to believe God's truth and reject Satan's lies.
I know already that if I ever write a book about my experiences, I will have to give it the following title: Mistakes Were Made (by me).
posted by Mrs. I at
7:02 PM
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