Cognitive Dissonance as a Mean of Procrastination Behaviour Change
摘要： 本文探讨了认知失调理论在改变拖延行为中的应用。通过自我强化和 Hypocrisy induction 等方法，试图减少认知失调带来的不适，从而改变拖延行为。然而，实践证明这种方法效果有限，需要进一步研究和改进。
Hong Kong Baptist University
PSYG2504 Social Psychology
Final Essay
Professor: Dr. YAU Pui Lam Josephine
Introduction
Procrastination behavior refers to delaying or postponing tasks or activities that need to be accomplished, which is often related to negative mental consequences including increased stress, decreased productivity, and lower overall well-being (Ferrari et al., 1995). A study suggests that for students who procrastinate recurrently, the main complaint could have more to do with mental distress than the impact on their academic activities (Rozental et al., 2018). This situation more than fits me: I find myself constantly battling internal conflicts and external pressures as deadlines come closer and tasks are still not finished. I find it hard to stay motivated and focused even if I force myself to sit in front of the table all day. Many approaches attempt to provide a better method for improving procrastination behavior (Conner & Armitage, 1998; Rozental et al., 2018). They widely involved emotionally focused and problem-focused methods which are very likely to stress coping. In before I used to practice cognitive behaviour therapy ("CBT"), mindfulness, or techniques belonging to positive psychology. However, after learning the theory of cognitive dissonance in social psychology, I tend to try a new method in my change of procrastinating behaviour.
Cognitive dissonance is a specific type of psychological discomfort that happens when individuals hold conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors (Aronson et al., 2021). There are three classic patterns to reduce the discomfort of cognitive dissonance (Hinojosa et al., 2017): Change the behaviour to fit the cognition or attitude, change the cognition or attitude to fustify the behaviour, and add a new cognition to justify the behaviour. When people encounter cognitive dissonance, they will have the motivation to reduce the discomfort. I am thinking about whether cognitive dissonance can motivate behavior change by creating a sense of discomfort when I act in a way that contradicts my beliefs or values. This discomfort could motivate me to align my behavior with my beliefs in order to reduce dissonance. Research suggests that cognitive dissonance interventions can be effective in promoting health behavior change, particularly when tailored to specific behaviors and populations (Freijy & Kothe, 2013), but further systematic evaluation is needed to assess the strength of evidence for their effectiveness across different contexts.
Method
In order to change my behaviour, I need to reinforce my cognition against the procrastinating behaviour but not produce justifying cognitions to create a discrepancy between my procrastination behavior and my beliefs about myself. Here I used ``I am a productive person that can finish my work in a very early time'' and listed evidence for it to reinforce the attitude. This process encourages me to perceive myself as more responsible and capable of overcoming procrastination tendencies, thereby promoting positive behavior change.
I also used the technique of hypocrisy induction, which means when individuals make statements that differ from their behaviors and are reminded of this inconsistency, they are likely to have cognitive dissonance e (Aronson et al., 1991). I text my friend that "I have finished all my work." many times when we are discussing the time arrangement. While this statement is often inconsistent with my situation, it could trigger my dissonance.
Result
While this approach seemed to make some sense in theory, in practice I found it had limited effectiveness in changing my procrastination behavior. When I tell friends I have done all my work, this disingenuous declaration does not inspire enough motivation to get to work but instead makes me feel even more anxious and guilty, which would lead to even less productivity (Snyder, 2005). I also noticed that while I was trying to reinforce that I am a productive person, this construction of this self-image took time and consistent behavior. Besides, this method is more cognition focused, while some problem-focused method is also needed when motivating a behaviour. The contradiction was not accompanied by a specific action plan or strategy, making it unclear how to concretely resolve this discomfort even if I felt cognitive dissonance. I think future research should explore how cognitive dissonance theory can be integrated with other behavior change strategies and how these strategies can be implemented effectively on an individual level. Only in this way can we fully understand the role of cognitive dissonance in changing procrastination behavior and provide practical solutions for those who struggle with procrastination.
Dissucssion
In conclusion, the exploration of cognitive dissonance as a mechanism to amend procrastination behavior has offered insightful yet mixed results. While the theory posits that the discomfort arising from the misalignment of beliefs and behaviors can spur change, the application in a personal context proved less effective. Future research should investigate how cognitive dissonance can be harmoniously integrated with practical, problem-focused strategies to form a more holistic approach. By doing so, we can better understand cognitive dissonance's role in behavior modification and develop more effective interventions for procrastination, thus bridging the gap between theoretical potential and practical utility.