This is a brief review on Leon Festinger's "Theory of Cognitive Dissonance"(1957).

1. Definition The term "dissonance" refers to relations which exist between pairs of "elements." These two elements are in a dissonant relations if they do not fit together. These elements refer to what has been called "cognition" that is the things a person knows about himself, about his behavior, and about his surroundings.

2. Occurrence of cognitive dissonance First, individual cognitive dissonance; The individual strives toward consistency within himself. This opinions and attitudes tend to exist in clusters that are internally consistent. There is a different kind of consistency in a person. For example, a person think that Negroes are just as good as whites, but he does not want any living in his neibourhood.

Second, dissonance between two persons; Two persons or more persons think of one issue differently. It may come from different knowledge, opinion, or belief about the different environment and behavior. For example, democracy vs.

Confucianism; In general, Americans mentality which comes mostly from the spirit of Christianity respect freedom and human right. However, Koreans' mentality which mostly stems from Confucianism respects loyalty and filial piety.

The incident of the General Shaman explains the cognitive dissonance between Americans and Koreans. When the crew of the ship kidnapped a high ranking official, they thought that the negotiation between Korea and the United States would be successful. But Koreans, on contrary, thought that "the minority sacrifices for the majority." It can be explained that the incident of the General Sherman stemmed from the result of cultural gaps and the lack of information between them.

3. The occurrence of dissonance Between two or more parties, dissonance may arise from: (1) logical inconsistency; (2) because of cultural mores; (3) because of specific opinion; and (4) because of past experience.

4. The method of reducing cognitive dissonance This method of reducing or eliminating dissonance is a very frequent occurrence. There are a few possible ways in which this can be accomplished, depending upon the type of cognitive elements involved and upon the total cognitive context. They are as follows:

First, changing a behavioral cognitive element Our environmental behavior and feelings are frequently modified in accordance with new information, and changing a behavioral cognitive element.

For example, there are many smokers who do not quit smoking even they know it is bad for their health. Therefore, it may not always be possible to get rid of dissonance or even to reduce it materially by changing one's behavior or feeling.

Second, changing an environmental cognitive element.

It is sometimes possible to change an environmental cognitive element by changing the situation to which that element corresponds. For example, a person might be able to change his opinion about a political officials, and the political environment generally, remain unchanged.

Lastly, adding new cognitive elements.

We have seen, in order to elimiate a cognitive dissonace completely, some cognitive element must be changed. It is also correct that the complete elimination of the cognitive dissonance is not always possible. But it is possible to reduce it. It is also available to reduce the total magnitude of dissonance by adding new cognitive elements. For example, if there were a cognitive dissonance between come cognitive elements regading the effects of smoking and cognition relating to the behavior of continuing to smoke, thetotal dissonance could be reduced by adding new cognitive elements that are "consonant" with the fact of smoking.

In conclusion, I think that the most cognitive dissonance occurred between the two elements or among more parties comes from the cultural gaps and/or the lack of information regarding each other. The possible method of reducing or eliminating the cognitive dissonance, therefore, is to exchange new information between the dissonant elements.

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