Cognitive Dissonance

Here is a little piece of creativity from YouTube on Cognitive Dissonance at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp39qSdyTc4&feature=player_embedded. Watch as much of it as you can stand.

1) Consider Pat who is active duty military or in the Reserves. Pat enlisted during a time when jobs were scarce, and our country had not been involved in armed conflict for a number of years. At the time it seemed like enlistment was the best chance of getting job skills, and perhaps a college education when the period of enlistment ended. Considering these very real benefits, Pat mentally blocked the possibility that a war could break out and military and Reserve personnel could be required to serve in it: the mere thought was scary and, besides, Pat grew up in a family with shared opposition to war and hearing from older relatives about all the problems associated with the Vietnam War. Just months before Pat’s period of enlistment was to end, a war broke out and deployments were rapidly underway. If you were Pat, how do you suppose you would feel about this war and your involvement in it? In particular, how do you think you would feel when hearing from those who took the position, “I support our troops, but I oppose the war”? Using the concept of cognitive dissonance, reflect on whether such a belief system is even truly possible (i.e., how can one hold both those two beliefs in the same mind and feel both supportive and oppositional?) Supplement your reply with an article from the APU library about cognitive dissonance that you find interesting.  Be sure to cite your source(s), and remember that direct quotes and references do not count toward the minimum word count.

2) Describe a situation not associated with war that you have observed that would be likely to arouse dissonance?

APA format. 400 word minimum.