Cognitive Dissonance

The term Cognitive Dissonance emerged from the research of social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957. Festinger indicates a cognition as having any thought, knowledge, or belief about the environment, oneself or one’s behavior. Dissonance is a deep internal discomfort, similar to what one would feel with hunger but on a psychological level. Cognitive Dissonance is an attempt to relieve or alleviate the deep discomfort brought about by some thought, knowledge or belief about the environment, oneself or one’s behavior. 

Festinger (1985) A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California.