In: Psychology
give an example of dissonance theory?, describe the two forms of conformity?
Cognitions can be considered as a set of beliefs. Two beliefs that are closely related but contradictory to each other lead to cognitive dissonance. An example would be that knowing that alcohol consumption is harmful to health (first cognition) but wanting to drink alcohol at every social event (second cognition) will lead to a cognitive dissonance.
Two types of conformity are normative conformity and informational conformity. Normative conformity is a form of compliance wherein people are motivated to conform to a set of rules by the desire to be liked and accepted by other members of their group. For instance, a teenager may begin smoking because all his friends smoke and he feels the need to engage in similar behaviours in order to be accepted by his peers. On the other hand, in informational conformity, people are motivated by a desire to be have knowledge and be correct about a situation. For instance, if a doctor is presented with new revelations about an existing treatment, he may change his beliefs as he would want to update his knowledge.