cognitive dissonance

State of psychological tension occurring when a choice has to be made between two equally attractive or equally unpleasant alternatives. The dissonance is greater the closer the alternatives are in attractiveness or unpleasantness.

Dissonance usually remains after the decision has been made and this motivates efforts to achieve a state of equilibrium, or consonance. The concept, first described by US psychologist Leon Festinger (1919– ), has been one of the most influential in social psychology and has led to much experimental research. Studies have focused on conditions that enhance or minimize dissonance and on how it can be resolved; for example, changes in the cognition or awareness of the decision situation, changes in attitude following compliance to a request to perform (typically, a role-playing task not normally voluntarily undertaken), and the effect of incentives on attitude changes following such tasks.