Cognitive Dissornance, Cigarette Smokers, Group Assignment (Coursework Sample)

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Group Assignment
The successful discussion that we held was based on the topic: Most people who overeat or smoke cigarettes know they are jeopardizing their health. Yet they continue their bad habits. Why? As a group, we strived to find out why several people perpetrate certain kind of behaviors that are detrimental to their health or even to those that are close to them.
Based on the successful discussion we had, we concluded that scores of people tend to achieve consistency in their beliefs and discernment. In case what they are perusing is not in harmony with their beliefs and perceptions, they will strive to achieve a state of equilibrium that will be in conformity with the established beliefs as well as perceptions. Consequently, those that perpetuate smoking habit or overeating habit are aware of the devastating consequences associated with the vice, however, they will tend to reduce the risk correlated with the behavior by convincing themselves that the adverse health effects have been exaggerated.
The conclusion was based on the dissonance theory that was proposed by psychologist Leon Festinger. The theory elaborates about what happens when people tend to engage in behaviors that are not in harmony with their beliefs. I totally agree with the conclusion th...