Cognitive dissonance is among most respected psychological theories. It is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting cognitions. Tens of thousands of papers have been published, however, nobody asked a question: is this discomfort an emotion? It certainly feels like it. If it is an emotion, is it like other 'basic emotions", like grief, happiness, anger? if you are in restaurant choosing between fish and meet, there is an emotion of choice separate from hunger. Anticipation of good meal is a positive basic emotion related to hunger, but choice might be difficult. If you are choosing between two good job offers, every offer could be enjoyed (basic emotions), but choice could be very difficult. So what are these difficult emotions of choice? What are emotions of cognitive dissonances? How many different emotions exist?

More Leonid Perlovsky's questions See All
Similar questions and discussions