Could somebody explain cognitive dissonance, please, thanks?
Desiring two outcomes which cannot co-exist is one easy way to conceptualize cognitive dissonance. For example, if you were given the choice of either going to Yale or going to Harvard on a full scholarship, you might experience cognitive dissonance. Both are excellent schools, but you cannot do both. It may not always be a choice between to positive outcomes. Sometimes the choice may be among the least vile of two negative outcomes. Consider a scenario where a mother can only save one of two children when she is clinging to a tree in the midst of a hurricane (this actually happened). Neither option is appealing, but she has to let go of one child in order for the other to live. ~Dr.
