Dissonance theory and cognitive dissonance

What is dissonance theory? How does dissonance theory affect attitude change? Provide a personal example of a time when you experienced cognitive dissonance in your own life.
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A person’s belief system about how the world works, and how s/he functions in that world is called a paradigm. ( ” paradigm is a term used to describe the set of experiences, beliefs and values that affect the way an individual perceives reality and responds to that perception”).

Cognitive dissonance is when a person is confronted with an idea, behavioral choice, event or situation which conflicts with a person’s core belief system about how they think the world works and whom they believe they are as a person (in other words, their paradigm).

In a simple example, let’s say someone knows that smoking is bad, and believes that smoking is bad-perhaps this person even had a relative that died or has emphysema from smoking, nevertheless, this person starts smoking because s/he starts dating someone who smokes. This conflict causes cognitive, emotional, and behavioral conflicts that are typically worked out through either attitude changes, or rationalizations. An extreme example would be, a wife knows her husband is molesting their children, and rather than turn in the husband she makes excuses for his …