Cognitive Dissonance within the Realm of Implicit Bias

According to research professors from Harvard University, one’s individual actions will affect his fundamental preferences or beliefs. This is in compliance to cognitive dissonance theory, which posits that an “individual experiences a mental discomfort after taking an action that seems to be in conflict with his or her starting attitude” (Acharya, Blackwell, & Sen, p. 2) Individuals will then choose to subconsciously change their attitudes or beliefs to “conform more closely with their actions” (Acharya et al., p. 2). In other words, from a starting attitude, one makes the decision to engage in contradictory behavior, which results in a change of the initial attitude. In accordance with this illustration, researchers from Stanford and Harvard University, assert that one’s attitudes are “often the consequence of actions” (Acharya et al., p. 2). An individual’s actions may not reflect his initial fixed preference, but one is then able to adjust his attitude to justify his behaviors. Basically, cognitive dissonance theory helps support the idea that actions can dictate beliefs.