Why Politics Makes Us Bend Our Own Values

"Over the last few weeks, many of us have found ourselves wading through two very different corners of social media. In one, people who normally stand against gun violence were openly celebrating a political assassination. In the other, people who usually defend free speech were calling for dissenters to be fired from their jobs. It's been a strange and unsettling time, leaving people on both sides of the political spectrum calling each other hypocrites."

"Simply put, cognitive dissonance is the tension we feel when we hold two contradictory beliefs at once (Festinger, 1957). When we notice it in other people, we call it hypocrisy. When it happens within ourselves, we call it nuance. But really, it's all cognitive dissonance, and it's a very human experience. It's what happens when we say, "There should be no billionaires," but do the majority of our shopping on Amazon."

"When emotions are high, our social identities are at stake, and events are difficult to comprehend, it's not uncommon to act in ways that contradict our beliefs. Instead of sitting with the tension, we bend our principles-justifying why, in this case, it's acceptable to abandon our values-while pointing fingers at the "other side" for doing the same."

Cognitive dissonance arises when people hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously, producing tension between values and actions. Political situations intensify dissonance by elevating emotions, threatening social identities, and prompting rapid meaning-making. High-emotion events often lead individuals to justify departures from stated principles while accusing opponents of identical breaches. Common examples include decrying wealth inequality while shopping on large platforms and endorsing small government while supporting intrusive laws. Recognizing dissonance reframes perceived hypocrisy as a human psychological response. Intentionally confronting dissonance enables reflection, principle realignment, and behavioral change, turning a threat into a tool for personal and collective growth.

Read at Psychology Today