Cognitive Dissonance and Narcissistic Abuse
Breaking through the fog of confusion
When American social psychologist Leon Festinger (1956) read about a cult’s fixation with the end of the world due to an apocalyptic flood predicted by extraterrestrials, he embarked on an empirical study to explore the believers' reactions to the inevitability of having their prophecy discredited.
Festinger discovered a surprising trend. Rather than dispense with their unfounded prediction, unswerving believers escalated efforts to convince others of the veracity of their catastrophic predictions. These phenomena led Festinger to devise what is known as cognitive dissonance theory.
Essentially, Festinger theorized that when incongruous (dissonant) cognitions give rise to psychological distress, reducing discomfort may result from simply nullifying that which causes conflict. Limiting the intrusion of new information or canceling out thoughts that counter pre-existing beliefs in order to return to a state of internal equilibrium is an effective (albeit detrimental) strategy.
Since we are inclined to reject that which generates uncertainty and threatens our worldview, when an unsettling contradiction occurs we will simply deny that which causes distress and choose the attitude or belief that assuages anxiety and guarantees a modicum…
