Cognitive Discrepancy, Dissonance, and Selective Exposure

2017/02/22 by Stephanie Jean Tsang · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Misinformation and Its Impacts #Cognitive dissonance #Psychology #Self-perception theory #Social psychology #Self-justification #Cognition #Causation #Epistemology

paper · doi:10.1080/15213269.2017.1282873

openalex publication_date 2017/02/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01

Abstract

Although cognitive dissonance is regarded as one of the most recognized causes of selective exposure [N. J. Stroud, Niche News (Oxford University Press, 2011)], the mechanism for such causation is still unclear. By inducing dissonance in a web-based experiment, this study demonstrates how cognitive dissonance relates to information preferences—the intention to seek congruent information and the intention to seek incongruent information. The findings suggest that perceived hostility with respect to one’s belief (cognitive discrepancy) can enhance the intention to seek out for attitude-consistent information. More importantly, individuals were found to have the intention to avoid counterattitudinal information, but only when they experienced some sort of psychological discomfort (dissonance). In other words, while cognitive discrepancy leads individuals to crave for confirming information, only those who encounter negative emotions are likely to employ avoidance of disconfirming information as a dissonance-reduction strategy.

Citations

• Mood Management via the Digital Jukebox
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Cited by

• Selective exposure theory [wikipedia]