Cognitive Dissonance and Emile Durkheim - Essay Example

People come up with reasons to vindicate why they smoke despite the warning on the label this is called rationalizing.

The next reason is social structure where we as humans build the society and its structures and end up believing in it so strongly that it becomes very difficult to change those beliefs. Our cultures play a great role in the beliefs we have about all aspects of our lives. This means that everyone has different beliefs about issues due to the different societies' beliefs from our backgrounds. The psychologist Emile Durkheim echoes an issue that we grow up in a society, where values and norms are inculcated in us, and we feel like we are going against our norms if we go against those beliefs.

It is almost normal not to believe in new information as it challenges what we have designated as normal. Having grown up differently, we have specific acuities for new knowledge, but we all eventually end up believing in it anyway. That is why science moves so slowly, but this change with evolution, which is the mother of all changes. Evolution helps in building up the evidence that has already been put into theory by science and people have no choice but to believe in the evidence.

Summary

The sociological interest in this article is what makes people not believe things even those with scientific evidence. This is mostly explained by our psychological makeup and our beliefs. Cognitive dissonance involves rationalizing things or making excuses for doing things that we know are wrong (Sally et al). We alter existing cognitions not because we want to, but because there is a motivational force behind this. A good example is given on the blog about smoking which has gone on over the years despite the death of millions and the ever-present warning on the cigarette box. Everyone knows it is wrong, but smokers rationalize or give excuses (Sally et al).

When a child is born, society looks up to it for the continuity of its beliefs and norms. The child is brought up according to the rules and regulations of the society, and it is expected that they will bring up their children in the same way. These beliefs are so strong that the introduction of anything new is looked at as unwanted interference. When making such rules, society does not keep in mind that the world keeps changing neither is there room for improvement. This affects the dissemination of new information. Social psychology plays a big part in what we believe in and how fast we accommodate new information. They say that evolution is the mother of all science, and I believe that this is very true. Evolution leads to discoveries, and it is the main reason why we accept new information. Read More