human
I'm writing a paper in psychology and am having difficulty understanding some of the terminology. Can you help explain the concept of "cognitive dissonance"?
assistant
Cognitive dissonance is a theory in psychology that suggests people experience psychological discomfort when holding two contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time. It is associated with the philosophy of rationalism, which states that reality is objective, and that there is a rational explanation for all events. The concept of cognitive dissonance suggests that to reduce the discomfort caused by holding contradictory beliefs, people may change their attitude or behavior to bring them in line with their beliefs. In its simplest form, cognitive dissonance can be defined as "the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two conflicting beliefs, ideas, or values."