How can leaders reduce the effects of cognitive dissonance on their teams?

Acquire new information that unquestionably resolves the old dissonant belief, behavior, or attitude. The first aspect we can analyze is to change their behavior. If we have this internal conflict, sometimes we can change our behavior to help us deal with the conflict in question. In the case of the long lunch hour, we could decide that we can also eat lunch longer and thus eliminate the cognitive dissonance that is present in our mind.

By eliminating one of the conflicting issues, in a sense, making a decision or choosing between the two, we are left with no choice and, therefore, without conflict. If we justify our behavior by adding new cognitions, this can lead to an attitude of acceptance for almost any topic. Think of it as going back and accepting a positive reason for the cognitive dissonance you feel. The term “turning the other cheek” comes to mind.

A person may have cognitive dissonance with a situation and, for lack of a better term, explain it. If the task was boring, what motivated your change in attitude? His brain needed to create cognitive consistency. Since the task was not validated by a sufficient monetary reward, they invented an internal motivation that justified lying. The study also aims to describe the most feasible approaches to address the adverse effects of cognitive dissonance through conscious efforts that range from greater awareness and understanding of the causes of stress to specific reflective practices aimed at minimizing the possible negative outcome.

The purpose of this study is to establish a connection between internal conflict and cognitive dissonance in leaders, to determine its effects on leaders' teams, and to outline approaches that could minimize the effects through conscious effort. In addition, certain areas, such as cognitive dissonance in leaders, continue to be ignored despite their apparent importance to the organization. In addition, identifying the positive effects of cognitive dissonance was beyond the scope of the current study. The concept of cognitive dissonance has been recognized as an important contribution to the field of behavioral studies and was successfully used to clarify several psychological phenomena.

Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort that occurs when two beliefs or values are in conflict at the same time. Organizations must also contribute to empowering employees to identify the right strategies for managing cognitive dissonance at work. To explain this phenomenon, psychologist Leon Festinger presented the idea of cognitive dissonance. Specifically, it is necessary to understand how the internal conflict that leaders feel is related to the cognitive dissonance they experience, and if this has an impact on their interaction with the workplace teams that are trusted to them.

The first research question is about the connection between internal conflict in leaders and the rise of cognitive dissonance. The suggested positive effect of the discomfort that accompanies cognitive dissonance was directly addressed in question 15. Since its introduction by Festinger, the concept of cognitive dissonance has received wide recognition in multiple fields involving human behavioral patterns. The uncomfortable feeling a person feels when they decide to smoke a cigarette anyway is a form of cognitive dissonance.

In this context, cognitive dissonance serves as a means of retaining inspiration without compromising social status. Next, participants tend to duplicate and misplace the effects of cognitive dissonance experienced personally and those observed in their teams as a result of the interaction. From a theoretical point of view, the findings of the study are valuable primarily as confirmation of the existing understanding of the effects of cognitive dissonance on leaders in the professional environment. .

Hilary Gibbons
Hilary Gibbons

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