Cognitive Dissonance Theory explains how psychologically inconsistent beliefs, choices, or actions can motivate efforts to restore coherence. People may revise behavior or attitudes, justify their position, or avoid challenging information, so exposing inconsistency does not guarantee learning, rational correction, or agreement with a message.
- FamilyModel
- CategoryTheories & Explanatory Models
- DomainPersuasion & Argument
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.