Gender Differences in Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance explains how humans strive to attain internal consistency. The theory of cognitive dissonance was proposed by Leon Festinger(1956). This particular study is aimed at studying the gender differences in cognitive dissonance. The tools used were a socio-demographic questionnaire developed by the researcher along with the DISS-R questionnaire (Cassel and Chow, 2000). The scores were analyzed with the help of a one-way ANOVA to assess for gender differences in the scores obtained on the eight different areas of dissonance assessed by the DISS-R. It was found out that females were more dissonant in the Internal and Personal areas specifically the Personal Adjustment and Health and Wellness, whereas males were more dissonant in the External and Impersonal areas especially in Schooling and Learning and Subservience/Dominance divisions. .