Cognitive Dissonance and Addiction Behaviors Elevate Addiction Services

One group of students was given an opportunity to absolve themselves of responsibility by filling out a rating scale on the degree of responsibility they felt to write the essay. Gosling et al. (2006) found that the students who had not been asked about their responsibility changed their attitudes toward the admission policy. Those who completed the responsibility scale used the scale to avoid taking responsibility and did not change their attitudes. Leon Festinger first proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance, centered on how people try to reach internal consistency. He suggested that people have an inner need to ensure that their beliefs and behaviors are consistent. Inconsistent or conflicting beliefs lead to disharmony, which people strive to avoid.

1. Implicit versus explicit cognition.

• Finally, due to the interference of endogeneity issues, we cannot make further causal inferences and may think further about the issue if future survey data allow.
• Second, this study examines perceptions of substance use–related content and messages but does not examine current behavior.
• Thanks also to Mr Kit-wai Lau (who obtained master’s degrees in communication, history, and liberal studies and in social work), senior research assistant for his assistance with the data collection.
• Posting substance-using content on personal accounts was also a way Participant 8 believed that teenagers ‘show who they are and the group that they fit into’.
• For example, long-term cannabis users have impaired learning, retention, and retrieval of dictated words, and both long-term and short-term users show deficits in – time estimation (Solowij et al., 2002), although how long these deficits persist is not yet known.

This study adds to the prior research by providing empirical evidence for the role of cognitive dissonance in discontinuous usage intentions of pan-entertainment mobile live broadcast platform users. Second, a study found that users’ self-efficacy in managing information overload was negatively related to cognitive dissonance and positively related to continuous usage intention in social media platforms 65. Moreover, Qaisar et al. 92 revealed that user addiction had a Sober living house stronger negative effect on discontinuous usage intention among users with low self-efficacy towards mobile applications.

Dangers of Cognitive Dissonance for Substance Abusers

People like to believe that they are logical, consistent, and good at making decisions. Cognitive dissonance can interfere with the perceptions they hold about themselves and their abilities, which is why it can often feel so uncomfortable and unpleasant. When faced with two similar choices, we are often left with feelings of dissonance because cognitive dissonance addiction both options are equally appealing.

Cognitive Dissonance and Addiction: Unraveling the Mental Struggle in Substance Abuse

It’s that nagging feeling you get when you know you should hit the gym, but instead find yourself elbow-deep in a bag of chips. Now, amplify that feeling tenfold, and you’ll start to grasp the intensity of cognitive dissonance in addiction. In fact, according to Cooper (2007), “Festinger’s insistence that cognitive dissonance was like a drive that needed to be reduced implied that people were going to have to find some way of resolving their inconsistencies.

These findings indicate that the adolescent brain, which is still developing, is susceptible to insult from drug use and abuse, and such insult can result in long-lasting changes in affect and cognition. Cognitive deficits following prenatal exposure to smoking may reflect structural brain changes. In one study, prenatally exposed adolescent smokers had greater visuospatial memory deficits in conjunction with changes in parahippocampal and hippocampal function compared with adolescent smokers not prenatally exposed (Jacobsen et al., 2006). Brain imaging of adolescent smokers and nonsmokers who were prenatally exposed to smoking has revealed reduced cortical thickness (Toro et al., 2008) and structural alterations in cortical white matter (Jacobsen et al., 2007). These deficits persisted into later adulthood among the male rats, but not the females.

Those with a clear justification ($20) for lying experienced no dissonance and, as one would expect, later reported that the task was really rather boring. Warren is a Licensed Master Social Worker, who specializes in substance abuse and mental health treatment. Clinically, Warren has developed a therapeutic skillset that utilizes a strengths-based perspective, Twelve Step philosophies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing. With 2 years of experience in the field, she is committed to creating personalized recovery plans that empower clients to achieve long-term success. Camille believes that recovery is not just about overcoming addiction but also about building a meaningful and fulfilling life afterward.

1. Pan-Entertainment Mobile Live Broadcast Platform

• A value closer to 1 indicates a stronger positive correlation, while a value closer to −1 indicates a stronger negative correlation.
• Located on the historic peninsula of Charleston, South Carolina, Lantana Recovery takes a modern approach to Substance Use Disorder treatment, offering intensive clinical care while also immersing our clients in local Charleston culture.
• The size and significance of path coefficients are used to evaluate the relationship between research hypotheses.
• We typically strive to engage in situations with consequences that are desirable and acceptable.
• For example, in an exploratory study of Instagram posts with hashtags #ecig or #vape, almost all of the 84 posts analyzed were promoting e-cigarette use, while none were critical of usage 19.

Drug education in schools and public service announcements (PSAs) delivered on social media] and messages posted on personal social media accounts (i.e. personal posts). Cognitive dissonance, an uncomfortable state of tension caused by holding inconsistent cognitions 18, may be one reason why so many teens reject adults’ messages to abstain 1. Abstinence-only educational strategies often fail to resonate with young people, partly because of the disconnect between the message and young people’s social context. Young people observe seemingly positive substance use experiences (e.g. seeing peers have fun at a party), which abstinence-only messages often do not address 19.

It’s like watching an Olympic-level mental gymnast perform increasingly elaborate routines to justify their actions. An alcoholic might tell themselves, “I only drink on weekends, so I don’t have a problem,” even as they secretly sneak drinks throughout the week. A gambler might rationalize, “I’m due for a big win any day now,” despite mounting debts and broken promises. Yet, on the other, they find themselves inexplicably drawn back to the very substance or behavior they’re trying to escape. This mental tug-of-war is the essence of cognitive dissonance in addiction—a phenomenon that’s as fascinating as it is heartbreaking. The mind’s battle against itself—a silent struggle that fuels the relentless grip of addiction, as cognitive dissonance weaves a tangled web of conflicting thoughts and behaviors.

• Cognitive dissonance theory provides a possible explanation for the reduced credibility and rejection of messages that have been found in previous drug education research.
• A coding guide was developed in an iterative process to synthesize participants’ experiences.
• Similarly, people who are in the throes of inconsistency in their social life are driven to resolve that inconsistency”.
• The results of this study have practical implications for regulating user behavior and optimizing platform services.

Changing the conflicting cognition is one of the most effective ways of dealing with dissonance but it is also one of the most difficult—particularly in the case of deeply held values and beliefs, such as religious or political leanings. Among them are how highly a particular belief is valued and the degree to which the beliefs are inconsistent. The inconsistency between what people believe and how they behave motivates them to engage in actions that will help minimize feelings of discomfort.