Cognitive dissonance.

​Have you ever been in a situation where you had conflicting information? Maybe you heard that one person was doing something but then saw them do something else. Perhaps you kept hearing from one person that he doesn't like a specific brand of coffee, but when he buys it, he loves it.

It can be hard to reconcile those two things—the one thing we've heard and the thing we've seen—but cognitive dissonance theory says we can make sense of those things if we give them time and attention.

For example, if someone tells us that they don't like a certain brand of coffee and then we see them drink it, cognitive dissonance theory says that we might have a hard time accepting this new information because it runs counter to what we were told by that person before. This is why some people might accuse us of trying to trick or manipulate them into changing their opinions about something!

But cognitive dissonance theory also says that if we give ourselves enough time and attention (so more than just an initial glance), then our minds will start working together so that they can reconcile these conflicting thoughts so that our minds can operate coherently once again—and then we'll feel better about the new information.

Cognitive dissonance theory says that it's important to take some time to think about new information before you act on it because it's hard for our brains to process conflicting thoughts at first glance. But if we give ourselves enough time, our minds will work together to resolve the conflict, making us feel better about the new information.