cognitive dissonance
nounDefinition of cognitive dissonance
: psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously
Examples of cognitive dissonance in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Its tone is arch and sarcastic, hitting queasy punchlines that rely heavily on cognitive dissonance. — Katie Walsh, chicagotribune.com, "‘The Art of Self-Defense’ review: Jesse Eisenberg takes a journey into the heart of male toxicity," 17 July 2019 This process is referred to as cognitive dissonance — an unconscious defense system that many of us employ to protect our ego. — Wendy Rose Gould, NBC News, "How to get better at admitting you're wrong," 6 June 2019 There's a sense of cognitive dissonance: The selection of products appears to be completely random. — Benedict Evans, WIRED, "Amazon's Revolutionary Retail Strategy? Recycling Old Ideas," 26 July 2019 As Nina O’Brien, a professor in Cal State LA’s Department of Communication Studies, talks about cognitive dissonance, a mix of students, ranging from age 30 to 60-plus, raise their hands. — USA TODAY, "No girls, parties, cellphones: California's prison inmates are getting bachelor's degrees," 12 July 2019 Just how much the role of cultural cognitive dissonance did to define the tenor of that time tends to get forgotten. — Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, "Illustrating the year 1969, when rad met trad," 10 July 2019 This is accurate, but why does cognitive dissonance induce nausea and vomiting? — Quanta Magazine, "Solution: ‘Triangulation and Motion Sickness’," 30 Jan. 2018 When the all-new 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross showed up in my driveway, there was what shrinks call cognitive dissonance. — Robert Duffer, chicagotribune.com, "Auto review: Mitsubishi shows signs of life with 2018 Eclipse Cross," 19 June 2018 The cognitive dissonance only continued from there. — Devon Maloney, The Verge, "Hollywood had a breakdown trying to justify itself at the 2018 Emmys," 18 Sep. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cognitive dissonance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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