By Cynthia Taylor
I heard an interesting story on NPR’s Science Friday that relates to the connection between pet stores and puppy mills. The guest was Elliot Aronson, a social psychologist who has co-written a new book, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me). The theory is that human brains (regardless of cultural or gender differences) are hard-wired to reduce cognitive dissonance and increase pleasure. This means that people may internally “self-justify” their choices, even if they are given information that proves their choices are wrong. This seems to be especially true if their choices are harmful to others.
In an excerpt on the NPR website, Aronson writes: “Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension that occurs whenever a person holds two cognitions (ideas, attitudes, beliefs, opinions) that are psychologically inconsistent, such as ‘Smoking is a dumb thing to do because it could kill me’ and ‘I smoke two packs a day.’ Dissonance produces mental discomfort, ranging from minor pangs to deep anguish; people don’t rest easy until they find a way to reduce it.” Unfortunately, for many people, reducing cognitive dissonance doesn’t mean making a change but rather justifying the status quo.
This is discouraging for people trying to encourage social change. For example, the brains of people who buy animals from pet stores may be predisposed to discounting messages about the connection between some pet stores and puppy mills, in order to “protect” them from feeling torn about their personal choices. In essence, the brain “turns off” its analytical centers so it doesn’t have to process this information that is creating a conflict, which is not pleasurable. This is all done subconsciously.
Clearly, not everyone blocks out all conflicting information, or nothing would ever change. It would be interesting to see how the brains of people who do transition to pro-animal behaviors look in comparison to those who justify behaviors that are harmful to animals. Perhaps this would give us some clues to being more successful at effecting social change for animals.
Adapted from a blog article originally written by Cynthia Taylor for About.com.
