Dissonance: A Mental Discomfort

Your favorite actress is on national television, denying the issue of her alleged mischievous actions last week in a private party. The issue went on headlines on showbiz news and tabloids when the actress was accused of publicly defaming and harassing another actress who was issued to be the reason of her break-up with her model boyfriend for three years.

 You gave out a sigh of relief.

“Of course she couldn’t do that”, you tell yourself. She was pretty, educated, belongs to a high-class family and a movie star. She wasn’t capable of such actions. Ever since you’ve heard that issue of her “mischievousness”, you never believed it. Any of it.

Well actually, you did avoid reading the entertainment sections of newspapers lately and the showbiz news on TV when the issue was still on its peak because you claim you get irritated by all the bombardments your favorite actress was receiving. And now that she has denied it all, you felt relieved.

Above is one of the many ways people cope up with dissonance.

Dissonance theory is one the many striking theories ever created in the world of mass communication. Dissonance is a form of an Attitude Change Theory that is meant to explain how people’s attitudes are formed, shaped, and changed and how those attitudes influence behavior. (Baran, Introduction to Mass Communication)

Among the many vital theories existing in the Attitude Change Theory is the Dissonance Theory that I have quite described above.

Clearly, I have used the word dissonance for four times already, the fifth belonging to this sentence.  But I haven’t had explained what dissonance really means and the Dissonance theory as a whole.

Dissonance theory is the argument that when confronted by new or conflicting information, people experience a kind of mental discomfort, which is dissonance. As a result, we consciously and subconsciously work to limit or reduce that discomfort through three interrelated selective processes. (Baran, Introduction to Mass Communication)

The selective processes are the influential “keys” that help us select the information we consume, remember and interpret.

·         Selective Exposure or Selective Attention

This is the process by which people expose themselves or attend to only those messages consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs.

From the definition itself, one can clearly describe the effect of mass media in this case. Taken for example, we Filipinos grew up in a conservative way of living. We we’re raised by our parents, the same way they were raised by our grandparents, in a moral way that showing of too much skin in movies is immoral, no matter what the story says; as long as there is malicious and too much violence exposure (e.g killing, rape etc.), it is not fully accepted in our society. Majority of Filipinos still think that certain movies, particularly those indie films that have been reaping awards and recognition from the international community, are unacceptable. Such indie films accept little recognition in the country where they were from because few people get to see the film and appreciate it in its true form. A lot of Filipino people are still afraid of embracing such new concepts because it contradicts their beliefs and the attitudes that they have gotten used to and were reared in such manners.

 ·        Selective Retention

This assumes that people remember best and longest those messages that are consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs.

A follower of a certain political party remembers best the messages of the group he is supporting when he watches them on TV rather than the messages of the other political party during campaign period. You chose what to retain in your memory because of the things you believed in.

·        Selective Perception

This process predicts that people will interpret messages in a manner consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs.

Let’s put it this way. Because you believe that you did the right decision and you voted the politician you voted last election is a good person, whatever decision he makes is actually leaning towards goodness. Or achieving goodness. It may take a few bumps and wrong turns, but you still believe he is on the good side. But when a politician you hated makes a move, even though a good one, you instantly believe he is very tricky and has a hidden agenda.

Dissonance of the Attitude Change Theory is a very beautiful phenomenon. It is a form of mental discomfort because as we learn new ideas and information, we tend to cope up with them in such ways that we take into  consideration the things we already know and believed in.

Source: Introduction to Mass Communication by Stanley J. Baran