Cogprints

Speculations on a privileged state of cognitive dissonance

Montell, Conrad (2001) Speculations on a privileged state of cognitive dissonance. [Journal (Paginated)]

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF
122Kb

Abstract

This paper examines two commonly held and conflicting cognitions in the modern world, each based on a belief vital to the individual's sense of self, both maintained in what is here considered as a chronic state of dissonance. This psychological inconsistency consists of an inherent practical belief in the goodness of empirical knowledge and a culturally-developed transcendent belief denying, or at least mitigating, empirical evidence about the finite nature of individual life and affirming a counter-empirical belief in supernatural: supra-cause-and-effect forces that influence life. I argue that since both beliefs are highly resistant to change, they lead to an impasse that individuals in diverse cultures have borne and been motivated to maintain. They have borne it, as I hope to show, because the consonant “cure” has proved to be more discomforting than the dissonant condition.

Item Type:Journal (Paginated)
Keywords:cognitive dissonance, religious behavior, imagination, evolution, language
Subjects:Philosophy > Philosophy of Mind
Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology
Psychology > Social Psychology
ID Code:2388
Deposited By: Montell, Conrad
Deposited On:27 Jan 2003
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:54

References in Article

Select the SEEK icon to attempt to find the referenced article. If it does not appear to be in cogprints you will be forwarded to the paracite service. Poorly formated references will probably not work.

Armstrong, K. (1993). A history of God. New York: Ballantine Books.

Aronson, E., & Mills, J. (1959). The effect of severity of initiation on liking for a group. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 177-181.

Ayer, A.J. (1952). Language, truth and logic. New York: Dover Publications.

Batson, C.D., Schoenrade, P., & Ventis, W.L. (1993). Religion and the individual: A social-psychological perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.

Baumeister, R.F. (1991). Meanings of life. New York: The Guilford Press.

Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. New York: The Free Press.

Beres, D. (1960). Perception, imagination, and reality. The International Journal of

Psycho�analysis. 41, 327-34.

Bronowski, J. (1977). A sense of the future. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.

Brown, N.O. (1959). Life against death: The psychological meaning of history. New York: Vintage Books.

Chaplin, J.P. (1985). Dictionary of psychology. New York: Dell Publishing Co.

d'Aquili, E.G., & Newberg, A.B. (1998). The neuropsychological basis of religion, or why God won't go away. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 33, 187-201.

Deacon, T.W. (1997). The symbolic species: The co-evolution of language and the brain. New York: W.W. Norton and Company

Dennett, D.C. (1978). Brainstorms. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books.

Dennett, D.C. (1995). Darwin's dangerous idea: Evolution and the meanings of life. New York: Touchstone.

Donald, M. (1991). Origins of the modern mind: Three stages in the evolution of culture and cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Drever, J. (1964). A dictionary of psychology. Baltimore: Penguin Books.

Eccles, J.C. (1989). Evolution of the brain: Creation of the self. London: Routledge.

Einstein, A. (1982). Ideas and opinions. New York: Crown Publishers.

Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson.

Goldstein, L., & Connelly, M. (1998). "Teen-age poll finds support for tradition." The New York Times. April 30.

Harmon-Jones, E. (1999). Toward an understanding of the motivation underlying dissonance effects: Is the production of aversive consequences necessary. In E. Harmon-Jones and J. Mills (Eds.), Cognitive dissonance: progress on a pivotal theory in social-psychology (pp. 71-99). Washington: American Psychological Association.

Holman, H.C., & Harmon, W. (1992). A handbook to literature. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

James, W. (1936). The varieties of religious experience. New York: Random House.

Koestler, A. (1964). The act of creation. New York: Dell Publishing.

Langer, S.K. (1967). Mind: An essay on human feeling (I). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Langer, S.K. (1972). Mind: An essay on human feeling (II). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Langer, S.K. (1982). Mind: An essay on human feeling (III). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Langs, R. (1996). The evolution of the emotion-processing mind. London: Karnac Books.

Lorenz, K. (1973). Behind the mirror: A search for a natural history of human knowledge.

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Malinowski, B. (1954). Magic, science and religion. Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.

Mele, A.R. (1987). Irrationality: An essay on akrasia, self-deception, and self-control. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mithen, S. (1996). The prehistory of the mind: The cognitive origins of art, religion and science. London: Thames and Hudson.

Montell, C. (1999). Creative imagination: evolutionary theory's recalcitrant problem child. Psychological Inquiry. 10, 342-343.

Persinger, M.A. (1987). Neuropsychological bases of god beliefs. New York: Praeger.

Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg J., & Solomon S. (1997). Why do we need what we need? A terror management perspective on the roots of human social motivation. Psychological Inquiry. 8, 1-20.

Rangell, L. (1988). "Roots and Derivatives of Unconscious Fantasy." in Fantasy, myth, and reality. Edited by H. P. Blum, Y. Kramer, A. K. Richards, and A. D. Richards. pp. 61-78. Madison, Conn: International University Press.

Rank, O. (1978). Truth and Reality. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Searle, J.R. (1997). Consciousness and the philosophers. The New York Review of Books. 44 (4), 43-50.

Smith, H. (1958). The religions of man. New York: Harper and Row.

Stark, R. & Bainbridge, W.S. (1985). The future of religion. Berkeley: University of

California Press.

Stephen, M. (1989). "Self, the sacred other, and autonomous imagination." in The religious imagination in New Guinea. Edited by G. Herdt and M. Stephen. pp. 41-64. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Stephen, M. (1989). "Constructing sacred worlds and autonomous imagining in New Guinea." in The religious imagination in New Guinea. Edited by G. Herdt and M. Stephen. pp. 212-236. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. (1971). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Unamuno, M. de. (1954). Tragic sense of life, New York: Dover Publications.

Webster's New World College Dictionary. (1996). New York: Simon and Schuster.

Metadata

Repository Staff Only: item control page