What Causes ‘Cognitive Dissonance’ and Why Does It Affect Our Choices?

Cognitive dissonance happens when your brain feels confused because it has two different ideas about something at the same time.

Imagine you really love ice cream, but you also know that eating too much of it can make you feel sick. Now, suppose you eat an entire tub of ice cream and then feel super full, maybe even a little queasy. Your brain is trying to figure out what’s going on: “I love ice cream, but I just felt bad after eating so much of it.” That mix-up makes your brain feel a bit confused or even a little annoyed, like when you promise yourself you’ll only eat one cookie, but then you end up eating five.

When your brain is confused like this, it might try to fix the problem. Maybe you tell yourself, “This ice cream was so good, it was worth feeling a little sick.” That helps your brain feel better, it’s like when you say, “It was totally worth it!” after eating too much candy.

Cognitive dissonance affects our choices because we want to feel happy and consistent. If something doesn’t match up with what we believe, our brains work hard to make everything seem okay again, just like when you try to convince yourself that your favorite toy is still the best one even if it breaks.