Using the theory of cognitive dissonance to persuade students to participate in Prosocial activities.

Since we already know that in psychology, cognitive dissonance refers to the mental discomfort that
arises in people every time they make a decision or take an action that doesn’t align with their beliefs,
values, and prior commitments. In this case, we are trying to persuade students to engage in pro-social
behavior by helping fix up the homes of the elderly and disadvantaged.

We can look at this from two different contexts. First, what are the beliefs for the students about pro-
social behavior in general? and secondly, do they consider helping the elderly and disadvantaged a pro-
social behavior?

We can not overlook pro-social behavior and specifically "helping" in this context. Since cognitive
dissonance deals with a conflict that arises when our actions or behavior doesn't match with our beliefs,
attitudes, or values, we must first know what the belief of the students are in relation to helping and
helping the less elderly and disadvantaged specifically. When we know this, then we can know how to
apply the rules of resolving cognitive dissonance to align their actions (behavior) to their beliefs or to
produce an action that is against their belief without creating discomfort within them.

Now before we go deeper into how to persuade these students to participate in this pro-social act, let us
look at the link between cognitive dissonance and persuasion.

Many of us have noticed that when we try to persuade others, they, in turn, try to resist.

If, for instance, we were looking to convince someone to buy something and they sensed it, the chances
are that it won’t work. It is the case even when that person wants, needs, and can afford that item.

It is in these scenarios where dissonance will work to your advantage. In a way, it will help people
persuade themselves.
Over the years, neuroscientists have made great strides in understanding how the human brain
processes information. And as it turns out, our brains are incredibly biased, particularly regarding
religion and politics.

When playing the role of the persuader, you can’t merely slam people with facts and hope that they will
view things your way. You need to make cognitive dissonance work in your favor, not against you.

Here is how it works: you need to make these students experience this dissonance by showing them
where they are (current belief) and where they want to go. In other words, you need to paint a picture
of the problem they have and how you can solve it.

One fascinating aspect of cognitive dissonance is that it subconsciously urges people to remain
consistent with their beliefs or commitments. By understanding the beliefs of these students, we can
then use our persuasion skills to help them move towards our goals.

Due to our Africa roots or background, we are brought up with the belief that we should respect and if
the opportunity comes, help the elderly and disadvantaged. Though our actions most times may not
conform to these beliefs, but if we are brought to the conscious that it is an action that actually
demonstrates what will belief not the other way round then we will create a dissonance in these
students that will be resolved.

I will outline in few steps the way to use cognitive dissonance to persuade these students.

Discover their Belief – What do they believe in, what are their past experiences and attitude towards
pro-social behavior or helping the elderly and disadvantaged in particular,?

Confirm Commitment – Get these students to voluntarily admit and commit to their beliefs, preferably
in front of others.

Generate Dissonance – Once you get them to admit and commit to their beliefs, then create dissonance
by showing them that their actions have not been consistent with their beliefs.
Offer the Solution – Whenever you create dissonance, you should also offer a way to deal with the
conflict by helping them see how healthy it is if they practice what they believe and the reward that
follows or by overweighing their beliefs by introducing convincingly another belief.