The concept of the human self as one of the central phenomena of Social Psychology appears to be complex and multisided. Striking discrepancies might occur between the public presentations and inner processes in human mind. Appearance is always deceptive and attempts to see the private realities of somebody’s self are not always crowned with success. Cognitive dissonance defining the simultaneous co-existence of contradicting ideas takes place in everybody’s inner struggle depends upon the processes of self-monitoring and impressions management and has a significant impact on my attitudes and the process of decision-making.
The process of balancing the cognitive dissonance is complicated with human desire to control and improve the impressions they produce on others. These techniques and well-planned strategies aimed at improving the public opinion of a person are referred to as impressions management. One’s aspiration for making friends and gaining authority in the community is quite natural. Being aware of the behavior that is most likely to be socially appreciated, people try to predict the attitude of the community to their actions and make the appropriate decisions. For example, trying to socialize in a new community, I pay attention to the system of relations adopted by the members of this social group. In case if certain schemes do not coincide with my accustomed beliefs, it may result in cognitive dissonance.
I may have certain doubts, whether it is worth to take the initiative and contribute to the successful work on the project or to be led by others. On the one hand, this uncertainty is caused by self-monitoring trying to detect whether my skills and knowledge are sufficient for taking the lead. On the other hand, as an impressions manager, I have to take into consideration the public opinion of my behavior trying to predict the community’s reaction. At the same time the impressions management techniques might be easily detected by others and have negative effect on their impressions. “High self-monitoring individuals may be especially fond of those who avoid strategic posturing” (Snyder 107). No matter how long the process of making the choice takes, I proceed to actions only after weighing all pros and cons of my decision and estimating possible consequences. Effective self-monitoring and reaching a compromise between inner self and impressions management is required for balancing of the cognitive dissonance and making the appropriate decision suitable for a certain situation within it context.
Besides the strategies aimed at creating the socially appreciated image of one’s self, balancing the contradicting ideas in one’s mind is important for acquiring the appropriate attitudes to the events of the surrounding world and molding the self-concept. For example, when I decide to buy something, I often experience the buyer’s remorse. With the present day level of development of marketing strategies, it is not that easy to resist the temptation of buying certain goods which a person does not actually needs. For example, buying something in a sale and coming home, I may realize that I was persuaded by the salesmen to make the purchase. Recollecting the process of decision making, I make a conclusion that the process of balancing the cognitive dissonance may be influenced by the outer factors, such as marketing efforts of the salesmen, for example.
The process of balancing the cognitive dissonance precedes my every action. It may be influenced by both inner and outer factors always having significant impact on my attitudes to the surrounding world as well as affecting the public opinion of my behavior.
Bibliography
Snyder, Mark. “The Many Me’s of the Self-Monitor”. Psychology Today. 1980: 13. Print.