Cognitive Dissonance Theory Essay -- Essays Papers

Cognitive Dissonance Theory Leon Festinger shared his brilliance with the world when he, opposing all previous psychological behaviorist work, created the Cognitive Dissonance Theory. In his own words, he quickly sums up this quite complex theory: "If you change a person’s behavior, his thoughts and feelings will change to minimize the dissonance" (Groenveld, 1999, p.1). In order to decode this dense statement, we must first be aware that Festinger held to be true that humans have a deep abiding need in their psyche to be consistent in our attitudes and behaviors; we want to feel in agreement and unified in thought and action. Inner harmony sounds good to everyone, and so it was Festinger’s view that when we feel a disharmony, or dissonance, within ourselves, between two factors, we strive to decrease this tension by either changing our original thought, giving strength to the opposing thought, or letting go of the behavior. All three techniques are in the name of decreasing dissonance because it is threatening to experience such a large crack in our rationale that dissonance often creates. Say I realized the college I am attending is not offering me the classes I’m interested in. I am feeling a post-decision dissonance, now that I’ve chosen my school, within myself due to this logical inconsistency: I value a college that offers classes interesting to me. I am not attending a college that offers classes interesting to me. I really want to work it out because otherwise I feel scattered like a "schizophrenic" as Festinger put it. Since my belief and behavior conflict, I seek to eliminate and reconcile the difference by choosing one of three paths (TIP:Theories, 1999): 1. I can devalue my belief and say, "Classes ar... ...ns that women find they love guys that use or abuse them, which is an unhealthy extreme of the minimal justification theory. It happens very frequently in college. References Griffin, E. (1997). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Groenveld, J. (1999). Totalism & group dynamics [online]. Available: http://www.crl.com/~tzimon/General/cult_tot.html . Kearsley, G.(1999). Cognitive dissonance. Theory into Practice (TIP) Database [online] Available: http://www.gwu.edu/~tip/festinge.htm. Neilands, T. (1995 Dec). The time course of the self-concept threat reduction process among low and high self-esteem individuals (dissertation). [Online]. Available: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~neilands/psych/research/bigd/ch6.htm. Trenholm, S. & Jensen, A. (1996). Interpersonal communication. New York: Wadworth Publishing Company.

Genesis Essay

Genesis gives me a lot of insight to â€Å"the beginning†. As I have read the Book of Genesis, it gave me total but not complete insight of how things were in the past to get where we are now according to the scriptures. What really intrigues me was how the human identity was formed because many ideas are said that we come from animals and evolved over time another, also is said that we come from the Lord himself, lastly one is said that we come from even nature. This chapter in this book showed me a lot and how the world was created and how things like family, the natural world and the covenant was brought upon us. The book of Genesis refutes the opening verses says that there are many believers and disbelievers of God(s); Such as atheism which believes there is no God at all, Pantheism believes that all is God, Polytheism believes that many god exist, materialism which is matter is eternal, humanism which is man is the measure, and naturalism which is nature is ultimate. O.T Allis says and believes that He (God) is the creator of both! Primeval History shares how Israel’s purpose by going through God’s redemptive program and messianic lineage from Eden to Abraham. The first two chapters of Genesis describe God’s original creation. (Yates, 55) The world is a place that was created by God according to the book of Genesis. The pinnacle of God’s creation was said to be â€Å"Man†. But in the creation it tells us how original creation was impacted so negatively by sin in the world he created. Adam and Eve were a good example of this, it was said to us since we were little that they plagued the world by giving into the devil himself and eating the apple off the tree when God asked them not to. Which they were issued a punishment, which they wouldn’t have eternal life, and they would have to suffer together and grow old and die. They had kids and their (Adam and Eve’s) descendants rebelled against God just like their parents. I believe that this is how human relationships were formed. God had little sorts of ways to manipulate people to bring his word about and how to connect with people. He chose to use the FLOOD to connect with Noah because as sin approached its epic proportions as human race became involved more and more. Noah stood out as a righteous man who walked with God every step of the way, which God went to him and told him to build a arch because he was going to flood the world and everything in it to restore creation. The creation of human government with the power of capital punishment was a deterrent to prevent humanity to regress back to violence. Genesis 1-11 on these topics it mostly shows me that the world mostly grew on Sin. Sin was a big time factor we had growing up from Adam and Eve and their descendants. This teaching regarding Adam and Eve shows how their sinful acts of rebellion against God. This goes to show how people in everyday life disobey God or break the Ten Commandments. Genesis 1-11 teaches me that human relationships should involve man and women. Not man and man or women and women. Adam and Eve were created to show the world a human relationship. Adam and Eve also showed me human Identity they were the first human’s created. Adam was created as a symbol of God himself with the Hebrew word Adam known for â€Å"Mankind† and Eve is known for â€Å"To Live†. Chapters 1 through 11 teach how the world’s creation, the mankind of origins and what the Hebrews thought about in the creation of the world. The story of Adam and Eve tells the myth of the truth about our mankind. The last chapter says that there was only one language that God put in because of what people built in the babel tower. Genesis of the Babylonian Exile, added the story of anthropologists developing languages over thousands of years and created new languages and evolved older languages. Which seemed to develop the story of the Tower of Babel. (Yates, 59) This changes my view of the world because in the first passage it is said that God created heaven and earth. Before he created those things he existed prior to making those two. The book only speaks of one God; it shows the creation of the Lord by making the universe. Since, he created heaven and earth, he must be above his creation. The Book of Genesis is given readers an accurate understanding and interpretation of the world. This should teach individuals how they look at the world. Through all these teachings I understand that the world portrays God in many ways and they do not even know it!

Discrimination Can Affect Anyone Anywhere Essay - 1792 Words

Discrimination can affect anyone anywhere. Major focus points of discrimination are based off race, gender, or sexuality. However, there is a form of discrimination that is often invisible to the public eye and did not even have a proper name until 1981 (FWD Forward). This form of discrimination affects many Americans everyday. This type of discrimination is known as ableism. Ableism is defined as the discrimination of disabled people in favor of able-bodied people. Ableism is not as noticed or as mainstream as other forms of discrimination. Fifty-four million Americans currently have some form of disability, yet the discrimination towards the disabled community is still out of focus in many aspects (HRFnd). While the United States of America has come a long with shaping civil rights for the disabled people, the country still has a long way to go. Issues that disabled people struggle with today include, unemployment, social isolation, and stereotypes that demean the disabled p opulation. These are all issues that should have been addressed and resolved back when laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in the United States back in 1990 by the George H. Bush Administration. However, these issues have not been resolved and ableism is still a huge issue in the United States that needs to be solved. The disabled community is still fighting battles that should have ended a long time ago. With more consideration though, society could put an end toShow MoreRelatedDiscrimination And Discrimination1032 Words   |  5 PagesDiscrimination is a monster lurking in the shadows, it can be found almost anywhere and can affect anyone. Discrimination is bad treatment or judgement of a certain group of people, similar to prejudice. It affects the teens and young adults of the world, especially those still in school. 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