Cognitive Dissonance, 5

A second way in which a person might try to resolve cognitive dissonance and reduce the resulting discomfort, is to look for new information such as research studies that create some uncertainty about whether the behavior really is that detrimental. For example, an individual knows that wearing a helmet while bike riding can help protect head injury in the event of a crash. The individual finds research that states that wearing a helmet does not always project the rider’s head and prevent injury in the event of a crash. So the individual does not wear a helmet, which reduces some of the discomfort from the difference between his original belief and he behavior choice to not wear a helmet. In the person’s mind, finding that study conclusion validates the decision not to wear protective head gear.