TOEFL การพูด Task 3

In psychology, the concept of 'cognitive dissonance' refers to the mental discomfort experienced when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes. This discomfort often motivates individuals to reduce the inconsistency by changing their beliefs, adding new cognitions, or minimizing the importance of the conflict. For example, a person who values health but smokes may feel dissonance, leading them to either quit smoking or rationalize that smoking is not that harmful. Cognitive dissonance is a powerful driver of attitude and behavior change.

Professor: Now, let me give you a real-world example to illustrate this. A student named Sarah strongly believed that she was an honest person. One day, she found a wallet on the campus bus with a hundred dollars inside. She wanted to keep the money to buy concert tickets, but that would contradict her self-image of honesty. This caused her significant discomfort—she felt anxious and guilty. To reduce this dissonance, she first tried to justify keeping the money by telling herself, 'The owner probably doesn't need it, and I really want those tickets.' But the guilt persisted. Finally, she decided to turn the wallet into the lost-and-found office. After doing so, she felt relieved and even proud, reinforcing her identity as an honest person. Her behavior changed to align with her belief, resolving the dissonance.