We all know what dissonance is in music. This is its inharmonious sound. But it turns out that there is dissonance in cognitive science as well. What does it mean in this science, let's look at examples.
Definition
What is dissonance? This word comes from the Latin concept of dissonantia, which means "dissonance". Therefore, it is not surprising that the first meaning of the term "dissonance" is precisely the inharmonious sounding of musical sounds. But over time, the language changed, and the term took on a broader meaning. Today, the term "dissonance" is defined as something that differs sharply from something generally accepted. For example, it contradicts concepts, traditions or foundations.
Dissonance in cognitive science
The continuity of concepts is especially noticeable in psychology, and in the sciences in general. What is cognitive dissonance? In simple words, we can say that this is a state of a person when a confrontation arises in his mind between his moral principles, life values and emotional reaction.
The concept of the term was introduced by Leon Festinger in 1957. The scientist set a goal to understand and explain a person's reaction to a situation where a person does not want to take reality for reality, but he has to do it. In such conditions, the subject tried his best to avoid a situation that caused him discomfort.
The emergence of dissonance
Psychology is a very interesting science. Analyzing what dissonance is, it is impossible not to mention the reasons why it appears. One of the most common is the logical inconsistency. Since all people are different, they were brought up in different families and as a result they received knowledge from different areas. Therefore, they perceive the world as if "from their own bell tower."
Yes, there are still people who believe that there is no evil in the world, such individuals consider everything beautiful to be good. It cannot be called a disease or insanity. It's just that they weren't taught in childhood that it wasn't so. And they got used to wrong judgments, which are sometimes very difficult to change. Sometimes it’s even easier to change your attitude to what is happening than to rebuild your picture of the world.
The theory of dissonance says that the second reason for its occurrence is the difference in cultural practices. Each country has its own holidays, rituals and sacred rituals. It is difficult for a person who has lived with the Christian religion all his life to accept Islam or Islam.
Examples of dissonance
To better understand complex psychological terms, you need to consider everyday situations that illustrate them. Examples of cognitive dissonance can be found everywhere.
Two graduates enter the university. One of them is an excellent student, and the other is a three-year student. And, of course, all teachers expect that the school situation will repeat itself at the institute. But the years go by, and the threesome makes every effort to gain knowledge. He burns with his profession, from the second year he actively practices it in life, begins to work and, as a result, gets a very good job.
But for the excellent student, things are not going so briskly. He still studies well, knowledge is given to him easily, but he does not consider it necessary to put it into practice. And as you know, what is not supported by daily practice is quickly forgotten. So it turns out such a situation when a young man graduates from an institute, but cannot find a job, since there are a lot of theories in his head, but no practical skills. The cognitive dissonance lies in the fact that a C student will find a good job and be able to achieve a lot in life, while an A student will only be able to work mediocrely in a small company or teach theoretical knowledge to other people.
Or another example. People are at the bus stop. A homeless man sits on a bench next to them and eats a pie. Everyone tries not to look at this dirty man, who, in their opinion, is an unworthy member of society. After finishing the pie, the bum gets up, goes to the trash can and throws a plastic bag into it. People are shocked - how so? Such an unpleasant-looking type turned out to be a fairly decent person.
Degree of dissonance
Life is very fickle, and situations in it can be found different. Therefore, in different periods of time, cognitive dissonance may increase or, conversely, become weaker. There are times when a person can change something in a situation. For example, he needs to eat, but there is no time to prepare food. He has two options - go to the store and buy semi-finished products or order lunch delivery. Both options seem to be quite acceptable, and the dissonance will be weak. But when you have to make a difficult choice, the level of stress increases.
A person needs to make a decision about entering the university. And he understands that in case of the wrong choice, you can ruin your life. In this situation, the cognitive dissonance will be incredibly strong. But, of course, it is still possible to remove such psychological problems.
Prevention of dissonance
If a person is not able to change the current situation, he can always change his attitude towards it. Having understood what dissonance is, we can talk about the easiest way to prevent it. And this is a change of mind. Instead of negative points, you need to look for positive ones. For example, a person was looking for a job and received two attractive offers at once. After weighing all the pros and cons, he made a choice. But as soon as he announced his decision, doubt settled in his soul. After all, conditions were better elsewhere, although the salary was lower. There is a great team and great corporate events.
To avoid such self-flagellation, one should not look for pluses in a rejected proposal, but find minuses. After all, for some reason, the proposal did not fit. It is worth voicing these reasons in your head. And in the new work you need to look for positive aspects. And don't be afraid to share them with your friends. After all, when a person voices his thoughts aloud and receives a positive reaction from his friends, willy-nilly he begins to believe in what he said.
You should never regret mistakes made in the past. After all, it is thanks to them that you have become who you are now. And if a person had not made mistakes, he would never have acquired the necessary skills and experience. Therefore, you should not regret what happened, and then the cognitive dissonance will not "boost" too often.
In this article, we will consider in detail such a thing as dissonance. What it is? In what areas is it used?
Terminology
The word comes from the Latin dissonantia, which can literally be translated as "dissonant sound". Dissonance - what is this term? What is its content? This term is actively used in various fields. For example, it is often used in art, psychology, philosophy. Is there a synonym for the word dissonance? There are several terms with the same meaning. Here are the most common of them: inconsistency, disagreement, contradiction, disharmony, cacophony (the latter is a synonym from the field of music theory). In fact, this is a violation of harmony, a kind of discomfort caused by a discrepancy between existing knowledge and ideas with other new facts. Dissonance - what is it, for example, in the theory of art? Let's turn to scientific interpretation. According to the encyclopedia, dissonance in music is a heterogeneous sound. In this case, simultaneously sounding tones do not merge with each other.
Opposite concepts
Consonance (from the Latin consonantia - euphony) is a definition that is completely polar to dissonance. But together they characterize the relationship between two pairs of "elements". They, these components, in fact, are knowledge. Some "elements" are knowledge about one's "I". Others are information relating to general problems of the world order. The term "knowledge" was often used in a broad sense of the word, including, in addition to, in fact, information, also opinions, as well as beliefs, attitudes and values. Despite the fact that there are quite significant differences between these phenomena, they can be considered "elements of knowledge". And it is between their pairs that dissonance and consonance can exist.
Relationship types
If the cognitive elements do not meet anywhere, do not intersect with each other and have nothing in common with each other, such elements should be called irrelevant. For us, we are only interested in those elements between which relations of consonance and dissonance can and do arise. The theory of cognitive dissonance was formulated in the middle of the twentieth century by Leon Festinger. According to it, two separate elements will be in dissonance with respect to each other if the negation of one of them is derived from the other. An example can be given here: a person is sure that he is surrounded only by his friends, but still feels discomfort and fear in this situation.
That is, there is a dissonant relationship. Or another example: a person who got into serious debt suddenly decides to go on an expensive trip around the world. Here, too, two cognitive elements will be dissonant with each other. The "discord" between two elements of knowledge can appear as a result of a number of different reasons. It can be the desires and expectations of a person, life experience or other factors. We will consider them in more detail below.
Causes of Cognitive Dissonance
We have already answered the question "dissonance - what is it". Now, to complete the picture, it is worth understanding the causes and factors of its occurrence. First, it may arise due to a logical inconsistency. For example, if a person is sure that in a year he will build a solid house, but at the same time he has no idea how to lay the foundation, then these two elements are dissonant. Secondly, the reason may be cultural traditions or customs. Suppose that a man does not give up his seat on the tram to an elderly grandmother, but he knows perfectly well that, according to the established rules of etiquette and moral standards, he must do this. In such a case, his knowledge and awareness of what he is doing wrong is a dissonant relationship. Although in some other culture, where it is not customary to give up a seat in transport to the elderly, this situation would obviously not be an example of the relationship in question.
Thirdly, dissonance occurs when a private opinion in a particular situation goes beyond a more generalized one. Let's say a citizen who considers himself a radical votes in an election for a candidate with liberal views. The cognitive elements of these two views will be dissonant. Finally, a state of cognitive dissonance may occur as a result of previous experience. Imagine a person who several times in his life fell ill with acute tonsillitis after eating ice cream. And now, once again, he eats it. At the same time, he hopes not to get sick again. This is a prime example of cognitive dissonance based on past life experiences.
Degree of "mismatch"
One obvious aspect will help determine the level of dissonance. It consists in the objective characteristics of the elements between which there is an "inappropriate" relationship. Suppose that two in the knowledge system are dissonant with respect to each other. Then the degree of "inconsistency" will be in direct proportion to the level of importance of these elements. If the components are very significant for a particular individual, then the dissonance indicator will be correspondingly high.
Examples
Imagine a man giving fifty rubles to a beggar in an underpass. At the same time, this person realizes that the poor man does not really need this money. But still he gives money, and the dissonance that arises in this case between the two elements is not very strong. After all, neither the first nor the second element is so essential for this person. And the second, radically opposite example. A student, on the eve of an important exam for him, does not prepare for it at all. At the same time, he is well aware that the level of his knowledge in the subject will not allow him to pass this test. And in this case, the degree of dissonance for the student will be much higher, because both elements of knowledge are very important for the individual.
Are there systems free from dissonant relationships?
With a high degree of certainty, it can be assumed that objectively there is no such system in our life that would be completely free from the presence of "inconsistency". After all, no matter what action an individual is going to take, no matter what feeling he may experience, there will always be at least one insignificant cognitive element that will enter into a dissonant relationship with the "behavioral" component.
Here is a simple example. It would seem that the ordinary and trivial belief in the necessity and usefulness of an evening walk before going to bed may have some cognitive elements that will be dissonant with this knowledge. So, a person may think that there are some things waiting for him at home that he must complete. Or he will notice that it is going to rain outside and the like. In a word, for any cognitive element in one system, there will definitely be other elements relevant to it, so the presence of dissonance, albeit to a small extent, is an undoubted fact.
DISSONANCE
dissonance a ns
1) Violation of harmony, euphony, simultaneous sounding of two or more dissonant tones (in music) (opposite: consonance).
2) trans. What does not correspond, contradicts something, brings discord, breaking harmony.
Efremov. Explanatory Dictionary of Ephraim. 2012
See also interpretations, synonyms, word meanings and what is DISSONANCE in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:
- DISSONANCE in the Dictionary of Musical Terms:
(French dissonance, from lat. dissono - I sound out of tune) - consonance, causing a feeling of inconsistency and increased irritation ... - DISSONANCE in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
- a feeling of dissatisfaction, disappointment of the buyer in the product, dissatisfaction with its actual qualities, since they do not correspond to those promised in ... - DISSONANCE in the Literary Encyclopedia:
cm. … - DISSONANCE in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(French dissonance from lat. dissono - I sound out of tune), 1) in music there is a non-continuous, intense simultaneous sound of various tones. Dissonance is the opposite of consonance. … - DISSONANCE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
Dissonance (physical explanation). - D.'s explanation, according to Helmholtz, comes down to the phenomenon of sound tremors or shocks (battements, Stosse, Schwebungen) caused by the simultaneous sound of two ... - DISSONANCE
[French dissonance, from Latin dissonans dissonant, dissonant] 1) violation of consonance, simultaneous sounding of two or more dissonant tones; 2) absence in ... - DISSONANCE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
a, m. 1. pl. no, music A combination of sounds that causes a feeling of inconsistency; the same as diaphonia; opposite consonance.||Comp. DISHARMONY, CACOPHONIA… - DISSONANCE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, -a, m. 1. Inharmonious combination of musical sounds, inconsistent sounding of tones; opposite consonance (spec.). D. in the choir. 2. trans. What… - DISSONANCE in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
DISSONANS (French dissonance, from Latin dissono - I sound out of tune), in music - unfused, tense at the same time. sound different. tones. D. is the opposite ... - DISSONANCE in the Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron:
? a combination of two or more sounds that does not satisfy, does not soothe the musical feeling, due to the fact that their vibrations or vibrations are rare ... - DISSONANCE in the Full accentuated paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
disson "ns, disson" ns, disson "ns, disson" ns, disson "nsu, disson" ns, disson "ns, disson" ns, disson "ns, disson" ns, disson "ns, ... - DISSONANCE in the Popular Explanatory-Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language:
-a, m. 1) spec. A combination of sounds that causes a feeling of inconsistency, a violation of euphony. We loved these dissonances, these roars, these ringing, these ... - DISSONANCE in the Dictionary for solving and compiling scanwords:
Inaccuracy, cutting ... - DISSONANCE in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
(fr dissonance lat. disso-nans out of tune sounding) 1) music. a combination of sounds that causes a feeling of inconsistency (or lack of coherence); opposite consonance; 2) ... - DISSONANCE in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
[fr dissonance 1. music. a combination of sounds that causes a feeling of inconsistency (or lack of coherence); opposite consonance; 2. lack of harmony in smth.; inconsistency... - DISSONANCE in the Dictionary of synonyms of Abramov:
cm. … - DISSONANCE in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language:
diaphony, cacophony, cacophony, cacophony, inconsistency, dissonance, discrepancy, disagreement - DISSONANCE in the New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language Efremova:
m. 1) Violation of harmony, euphony, simultaneous sounding of two or more dissonant tones (in music) (opposite: consonance). 2) trans. What… - DISSONANCE in the Dictionary of the Russian Language Lopatin:
dissonance, ... - DISSONANCE in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
dissonance... - DISSONANCE in the Spelling Dictionary:
dissonance, ... - DISSONANCE in the Dictionary of the Russian Language Ozhegov:
Spec is an inharmonious combination of musical sounds, an incoherent sounding of D. consonance tones in a choir. dissonance - that which brings discord, comes into conflict ... - DISSONANCE in Dahl's Dictionary:
husband. , French music disorder. sounds; disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, disagreement. consonance, agreement, ... - DISSONANCE in the Modern Explanatory Dictionary, TSB:
(French dissonance, from lat. dissono - I sound out of tune), 1) in music there is a non-continuous, intense simultaneous sound of various tones. Dissonance is the opposite of consonance. …
DISSON'ANS, dissonance, male. (lat. dissonantia - dissonance). 1. Inharmonious combination of musical sounds (music). 2. trans. A phenomenon that brings discord into something that is sharply different from everything else, contrary to the general order (book). Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
- (new Latin dissonantia, from part dis, and sonare to sound). A non-harmonic combination of sounds that is unpleasant to the ear. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. DISSONANCE [fr. dissonance Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
dissonance- a, m. dissonance f. 1. In music, violation of harmony, euphony, simultaneous sounding of two or more dissonant tones (opposite consonance). ALS 2. Dissonance, an unpleasant sensation to the ear, obtained depending on the relationship between numbers ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
Dissonance- see Rhyme. Literary encyclopedia. In 11 tons; M .: publishing house of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Friche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929 1939 ... Literary Encyclopedia
dissonance- Cm … Synonym dictionary
DISSONANCE- (French dissonance from Latin dissono I sound out of tune), 1) in music there is a non-continuous, intense simultaneous sound of various tones. Dissonance is the opposite of consonance. Dissonance includes large and small seconds and sevenths, increased and decreased ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
DISSONANCE- DISSONANCE, dissonance, husband. (lat. dissonantia dissonance). 1. Inharmonious combination of musical sounds (music). 2. trans. A phenomenon that brings discord into something that is sharply different from everything else, contrary to the general order (book). His … Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
DISSONANCE- DISSONANCE, ah, husband. 1. Inharmonious combination of musical sounds, inconsistent sounding of tones; opposite consonance (spec.). D. in the choir. 2. trans. That which brings discord comes into conflict with anything; inconsistency, inconsistency. Enter d. in ... ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov
DISSONANCE- male, French music disorder. sounds; disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, disagreement, discord, opposition. consonance, concord, agreement. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dal. 1863 1866 ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary
DISSONANCE- (from lat. dissonus dissonant, discordant) dissonance, discord, discord. Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. 2010 ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
Dissonance- a combination of two or more sounds that does not satisfy, does not calm the musical feeling, due to the fact that their vibrations or vibrations rarely coincide. D. requires a transition or so-called resolution to consonance. With a two-tone combination ... ...
Dissonance- (physical explanation). The explanation of D., according to Helmholtz, is reduced to the phenomenon of sound tremors or shocks (battements, Stosse, Schwebungen), caused by the simultaneous sounding of two tones that differ little from each other in height. These trembling sounds ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Books
- Dissonance, Trakhanov Artem, Zamsky Alexey, Uryuryuk. Unusual and colorful stories take place in distant alternative worlds: a man achieves the love of the Moon, a negligent witch steals golden hedgehogs, and funny kids fight for a cup of tea. TO…