COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY

Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or

behaviors. This produces a feeling of mental discomfort leading to an alteration in one of

the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance.

For example, when people smoke (behavior) and they know that smoking causes cancer

(cognition), they are in a state of cognitive dissonance.

Just like in the given example about smoking, most of my students are really

become so addict in smoking that they may feel discomfort when they cannot be able to

smoke in a day. I eventually suspected them of bringing cigarettes inside the school then

I found out that they really have it with them. They do that daily. In one of the learned

theories, it stated there that once their desire in the mouth which they call as in the oral

stage of a child’s development cannot be satisfied fixations will occur. Most of the fixations

started from their childhood. Eventually as they grow older, they find something that can

be felt in the mouth because it has been habitual and customary. Their mouth already

wanted to have something to suck on. Students may also have been influenced by peers

or adults who do the same way or just to say “Men always do it”. I don’t think that it can

add coolness for someone’s personality if they smoke. It can only kill the internal organs

of the body particularly in the respiratory system. Other parts might get affected by its

killing effect and could entirely put yourself at risk to diseases.

Every minute counts. Time with our loved ones is limited. Smoking can only lessen

the limited time we have. Once the body will surrender, everything will fall into pieces.

There is always a consequence for every behavior that is why I always tell my students

to take good care for themselves because our very own self is the temple of God. We

should not abuse our body just to gratify our desires for there is no greater satisfaction.

Regrets always come at the end of every failure.