Introduction to Cognitive Dissonance -
"It has frequently been implied, and sometimes even pointed out, that the individual strives toward consistency within himself. His opinions and attitudes, for example, tend to exist in clusters that are internally consistent." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 1)

"There is the same kind of consistency between what a person knows or believes and what he does." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 1)

"Granting that consistency is the usual thing, perhaps overwhelmingly so, what about these exceptions which come to mind so readily? Only rarely, if ever, are they accepted psychologically as inconsistencies by the person involved. Usually more or less successful attempts are made to rationalize them. (Festinger, 1957, pg. 2)

"But persons are not always successful in explaining away or in rationalizing inconsistencies to themselves. For one reason or another, attempts to achieve consistency may fail. The inconsistency then simply continues to exist. Under such circumstances--that is, in the presence of an inconsistency--there is psychological discomfort." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 2)

Basic Hypothesis of Cognitive Dissonance-
1. "The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try to reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance."
2. "When dissonance is present, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely increase the dissonance." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 3)

Dissonance is a motivator -
"In short, I am proposing that dissonance, that is, the existence of nonfitting relations among cognitions, is a motivating factor in its own right." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 3)

Causes of Dissonance -
1. "New events may happen or new information may become known to a person, creating at least a momentary dissonance with existing knowledge, opinion, or cognition concerning behavior." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 4)
2. "Even in the absence of new, unforseen events or information, the existence of dissonance is undoubtedly an everyday condition. Very few things are all black or all white; very few situations are clear-cut enough so that opinions or behaviors are not to some extent a mixture of contradictions." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 5)

Dissonance and Consonance -
"The terms 'dissonance' and 'consonance' refer to relations which exist between pairs of 'elements.'...These elements refer to what has been called cognition, that is, the things a person knows about himself, about his behavior, and about his surroundings. These elements, then, are 'knowledges,' if I may coin the plural form of the word. Some of these elements represent knowledge about oneself: what one does, what one feels, what one wants or desires, what one is, and the like. Other elements of knowledge concern the world in which one lives: what is where, what leads to what, what things are satisfying or painful or inconsequential or important, etc." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 9)

"A person does not hold an opinion unless he thinks it is correct, and so, psychologically, it is not different from a 'knowledge.'" (Festinger, 1957, pg. 10)

"Consequently, the major point to be made is that the reality which impinges on a person will exert pressures in the direction of bringing the appropriate cognitive elements into correspondence with that reality." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 11)

How are elements dissonant?
"Two elements are dissonant if, for one reason or another, they do not fit together. They may be inconsistent or contradictory, culture or group standards may dictate that they do not fit, and so on." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 12-13)

Reasons for Dissonance -
1. "Dissonance could arise from logical inconsistency."
2. "Dissonance could arise because of cultural mores."
3. "Dissonance may arise because one specific opinion is sometimes included, by definition, in a more general opinion."
4. "Dissonance may arise because of past experience."
(Festinger, 1957, pg. 14)

Magnitude of Dissonance -
"If two elements are dissonant with one another, the magnitude of the dissonance will be a function of the importance of the elements." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 15)

Definition of Consonance -
"If, considering a pair of elements, either one does follow from the other, then the relation between them is consonant." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 15)

Reducing Dissonance -
"The presence of dissonance gives rise to pressures to reduce or eliminate the dissonance. The strength of the pressures to reduce the dissonance is a function of the magnitude of the dissonance." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 18)

Reducing Dissonance by changing the Behavioral Cognitive Element -
"When the dissonance under consideration is between an element corresponding to some knowledge concerning environment (environmental element) and a behavioral element, the dissonance can, of course, be eliminated by changing the behavioral cognitive element in such a way that it is consonant with the environmental element. The simplest and easiest way in which this may be accomplished is to change the action or feeling which the behavioral element represents."
"This method of reducing or eliminating dissonance is a very frequent occurrence."
"It may not always be possible, however, to eliminate dissonance or even to reduce it materially by changing one's action or feeling."(Festinger, 1957, pg. 19)

Reducing Dissonance by changing the Environmental Cognitive Element -
"Just as it is possible to change a behavioral cognitive element by changing the behavior which this element mirrors, it is sometimes possible to change an environmental cognitive element by changing the situation to which that element corresponds."
"Changing the environment itself in order to reduce dissonance is more feasible when the social environment is in question than when the physical environment is involved." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 19-20)

Adding New Elements to Eliminate or Reduce Dissonance -
"It is clear that in order to eliminate a dissonance completely, some cognitive element must be changed. It is also clear that this is not always possible. But even if it is impossible to eliminate a dissonance, it is possible to reduce the total magnitude of dissonance by adding new cognitive elements." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 21)

Resistance to Reduction -
"If dissonance is to be reduced or eliminated by changing one or more cognitive elements, it is necessary to consider how resistent these cognitive elements are to change." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 24)

"The first and foremost source of resistance to change for any cognitive element is the responsiveness of such elements to reality." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 24)

"What, then, are the circumstances that make it difficult for the person to change his actions?...
1. The change may be painful or involve loss.
2. The present behavior may be otherwise satisfying.
3. Making the change may simply not be possible."
(Festinger, 1957, pg. 25-26)

Limits to the Magnitude of Dissonance -
"The maximum dissonance that can possibly exist between any two elements is equal to the total resistance to change of the less resistant element. The magnitude of dissonance cannot exceed this amount because, at this point of maximum possible dissonance, the less resistant element would change, thus eliminating the dissonance." (Festinger, 1957, pg. 28)