From
politics to relationships, conflicts are an inevitable part of human existence.
We often associate conflict with other people. But, have you ever thought about
the inner conflicts we go through on a daily basis? Often we have values and
beliefs instilled in us from birth. Those values and beliefs help shape our
thoughts, actions, and behaviors. What happens when those thoughts, actions,
and behaviors do not match up? It can feel like your brain is in a tug of war
with what is the right or wrong choice. This is called Cognitive Dissonance,
the distress you go through when making a decision that does not match up with
your opinions and views.
Let us
relate this theory to a recent comedy that came out not too long ago, Horrible Bosses. The whole movie is
based on three guys who decide they are going to try and kill their bosses. The
first guy Nick, played by Jason Bateman, has been working like a mad man for a
promotion from his horrible boss. The
next is Dale, played by Charlie Day, who works as a dental assistant to a
man-eater, vixen dentist, who is obsessed with sleeping with him. Finally,
there is Kurt, played by Jason Sudeikis, who works for his recently deceased
boss’s cocaine infused, out of control, playboy son. You can only imagine how
much dissonance is going on in this movie. When applying this theory, it is not
the situation where the dissonance occurs, it is the mental process that one
goes through when dealing with a decision made as a result of the situation.
Nick,
Dale and Kurt go through Cognitive Dissonance when in the situation, as well as
when deciding if they want to follow through with killing their bosses or not.
A great example of Cognitive Dissonance is in a scene where Nick’s boss calls
him into his office to talk about the promotion he has been working hard for.
His boss pours some whiskey into a glass, as if he planned on drinking it. He
asks Nick if he would like some. Nick replies, “its 8:15 .” His
boss then calls Nick out and says “What? A grown man can’t have a drink when he
wants to?” and offers Nick the glass. Nick takes it out of courtesy with no
intentions of drinking it. Of course, Nick asks his boss “Aren’t you going to
have some?” and his boss replies “its 8:15 in the
morning, I’m not a drunk.” Nick goes to put the glass down but his boss insists
on drinking the 20 year old whiskey. At this moment, and throughout this whole
scene, Nick is going through Cognitive Dissonance. Nick is going to do whatever
his boss tells him to do in order to get the promotion he has been working for,
regardless of it matching up with his morals and values. He goes through the
process of reassuring himself that if he just does this one thing he will be
closer to receiving that promotion. The mental battle he goes through to
justify his actions is Cognitive Dissonance.
After
going through Cognitive Dissonance, the guys decide they don’t want to kill
their bosses. After getting some “intel” on their boss’s lives, they decide
they cannot go through with killing them because of their morals and values.
But then Nick’s boss ends up killing Kurt’s boss and Dale blackmails his boss
so that she will stop harassing him. It
all worked out in the end, but the process of getting there was mentally
exhausting. Having to constantly reassure themselves that killing their bosses
was the only option, hanging out with
people with the same views and same situations, and thinking the only way to
eliminate their dissonance is to murder their bosses are all examples of how
Cognitive Dissonance played a role in this movie.
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