What Is Cognitive Dissonance?

Cognitive dissonance is a mainstay in vegan activism, and for good reason.  But what does it actually mean?

cog·ni·tive dis·so·nance

noun   PSYCHOLOGY

1. the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change.

Essentially, cognitive dissonance is the discomfort felt by someone who holds beliefs inconsistent with their actions.  A good example of this is to think of someone who believes that they are honest, but they have cheated on tests in the past.  The awareness of the conflict between these two things will likely make this person uncomfortable.

Need another example?  How about someone who knows that smoking causes cancer, but enjoys smoking?  It is likely that this person feels discomfort at the discrepancy between their knowledge and actions.

But it's not just about discrepancies between beliefs and actions.  Cognitive dissonance can also refer to the mental stress experiences by someone who holds multiple contrasting beliefs, values, or ideas simultaneously, or learns new information which conflicts with currently held beliefs, values, or ideas.

The cognitive dissonance theory was first proposed by Leon Festinger in 1957, who stated that a powerful motive to maintain cognitive consistency can give rise to irrational and sometimes maladaptive behaviour.

This is the second important aspect of cognitive dissonance:  the strong drive to correct the inconsistency to relieve discomfort, no matter how 'irrational and sometimes maladaptive' the method may be.

The study that lead him to come to this conclusion?  He infiltrated a cult that believed the world would end in a flood, but that they would be saved by an alien race.  When the flood didn't come to pass some cult members became even more devout, believing that the aliens had in fact chosen to save the entire planet in concern for the cult members.

You can see here the need of these cult members to achieve consonance (or agreement) between held beliefs and events and the steps they took to reduce or eliminate the unpleasant feeling of dissonance.

Examples of cognitive dissonance are all around us.

Each of us has learned knew things, or experienced an event, which have conflicted with old thoughts or beliefs and led us to change.  In fact, it can be the strongest motivator for change.

The dissonance we experience increases depending on how important something is to us, how much conflict there is between the thoughts/believes/actions/events, or our inability to rationalize the conflict (explain it away).

Humans dislike feeling discomfort.  If they cannot ignore it, or actively avoid situations and information likely to increase it, they must take steps to reduce it by:

• changing their behaviour;
• changing their thoughts or beliefs that conflict with their behaviour;
• or adding new beliefs which justify their behaviour.

Let's look at another example of this to really understand it.

I know that the air pollution in big cities is bad for my health, and yet I live in downtown Toronto.  The four methods of reducing the tension between my belief about myself (that I am health conscious) and my behaviour (that I live in a highly polluted area) are:

1. Changing my behaviour (moving out of the city to a less polluted area);
2. Justifying my behaviour by changing the conflicting cognition ("I'm really healthy in every other aspect of my life, so it doesn't really matter.");
3. Justifying my behaviour by adding new cognitions ("I can get out of the city from time to time to breathe fresh air."), or;
4. Ignoring or denying any information that conflicted with existing beliefs ("Air pollution doesn't actually have an impact on my health.").

I once saw myself as an animal lover, and yet I ate meat, dairy, and eggs on a daily basis.  The four methods of reducing the tension between my belief about myself (that I was an animal lover) and my behaviour (that I contributed to the deaths of hundreds of animals each year by eating them) I could have used were:

1. Changing my behaviour (no longer eating animal products);
2. Justifying my behaviour by changing the conflicting cognition ("It's natural to eat animals and I'm not killing them myself, anyway");
3. Justifying my behaviour by adding new cognitions ("I'll go volunteer at an animal shelter to tilt the scales in favour of my being a true animal lover"), or;
4. Ignoring or denying any information that conflicted with existing beliefs ("Animals don't suffer at slaughterhouses.  They don't even know what's happening!").

If you're reading this blog, you probably know which method of reducing the tension I went for.

Unfortunately, many people will choose methods 2 through 4.

So how can we get through to them?

That's a difficult question, with no definitive answer.

Lead by example.  Educate.  Support.  Show kindness and compassion.

Sometimes all we can do is show someone that method 1 is even possible and let them make their own choices.

Eventually the dissonance felt by an individual using methods 2, 3, or 4 to bandage the situation will be so great that the only way to find harmony will be through going vegan.

Or at least that is what I sincerely hope.

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What has been your experience with cognitive dissonance?

Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,

If you want to learn more about cognitive dissonance, this article from Simply Psychology does a great job of going into detail!

Stop Asking Vegans Hypothetical Questions

But really.  Stop it.

Remember: you can watch the video here or hop on over to YouTube!

Do you ever ask vegans hypothetical questions?

Have you ever been asked ridiculous hypotheticals as a vegan?

Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,

Everyday Makeup

Today I'm talking about the vegan and cruelty-free products that I reach for on a daily basis!  They all come from cruelty-free brands, though their parent companies may not be cruelty-free.  Remember that while all of these individual products are vegan, the brands aren't necessarily and may reformulate at any time!  Always read the ingredients to be 100% sure.

You can watch the video here, or on YouTube!

PRODUCTS MENTIONED

Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation
e.l.f. Mad for Matte Palette
Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer
Too Faced Love Flush Blush in Your Love is King (not all shades are vegan!)
Too Faced Primed And Poreless Pressed Powder
OCC Concealer in Y0
Pacifica Aquarian Gaze Mascara
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
Dose Of Colors Liquid Lipstick in Stone
Mehron Gloss Tone Lipgloss in Coral Reef
Ofra Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in Laguna Beach

LINKS & THINGS I TALKED ABOUT

Go read the blog post that goes with this video! http://www.plantbasedbride.com/blog/everyday-makeup
Cruelty-Free and Vegan Brands List: http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/cruelty-free-and-vegan-brands-list
Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation Review:
http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/kat-von-d-lock-it-tattoo-foundation-review
e.l.f. Mad for Matte Palette Review:
http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/elf-mad-for-matte-review
Pacifica Aquarian Gaze Mascara Review:
http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/pacifica-aquarian-gaze-mascara-review
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara Review:
http://plantbasedbride.com/blog/review-too-faced-better-than-sex-mascara

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What do you think of my potential wedding makeup?  Any and all tips are welcomed!

Until next time,

10 Things I Learned In My First Year Of Blogging

I recently celebrated Plant Based Bride's first birthday, and as I haven't yet covered blogging here, I thought this was the perfect time to talk a bit about the technical side of what I do.

I hope that this post serves as a source of advice for those of you new to the blogging game and as education to those who have no idea what on earth I spend my time on :)

So without further ado, the 10 things I've learned in my first year of blogging!

ONE  Blogging Takes A LOT Of Time.

You will eat, sleep, and breathe your blog.  You'll never really be done working on it.  You'll wake up in the middle of the night in a panic that you forgot to schedule your post to go live.  Your significant other will have to fight for your attention.

If you don't want to spend endless hours working on something for little or not return, a blog is not for you.

I had no idea how much time it would take to maintain a website and constantly come out with new content until I jumped into it.  I would HIGHLY suggest creating enough content for 1-2 months before launching your website so that you can get ahead and stay ahead on your content and not worry about being creative at the last minute each week!

For those of you who don't have a blog, these are just some of the things I work on each and every week:

• Creating written content;
• Filming videos for my YouTube channel;
• Planning content;
• Editing posts and videos;
• Shooting photos for my website and social media;
• Creating graphics;
• Responding to comments and emails;
• Promoting and sharing my content;
• Putting together weekly newsletters;
• Creating free bonus content;
• Working on my upcoming ebook!

With my current schedule of new videos on Mondays and Saturdays along with blog posts every Wednesday, this turns into to MANY hours of work each week!

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TWO  Your Niche Is Probably Saturated

Everyone and their mother and their cat has a blog.  (But really).  

There are likely a whole bunch of people talking about exactly what you want to talk about already struggling for eyeballs on the internet. 

This is why it's important to think about how you can fill a void for your audience or cover something in a new (or better) way!  It also leads into the next point...

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THREE  You Need To Be REALLY Passionate To Make It Work

Blog about things you REALLY CARE ABOUT.  If you only kind of like makeup, don't start a beauty blog.

This seems obvious, I know.  But even things you REALLY like might not conjure enough passion in you to spend the amount of time required to make your blog a success.

For example, I thought about starting a blog solely about vegan nutrition and recipes.  But I realized even before launching that I needed to cover a wider berth of topics to have enough foder for new posts every single week.  While I love vegan food, I'm no great chef.  I do, however, LOVE talking about nutrition, ethics, the environment, minimalism, fashion, beauty, feminism, and more!  I realized very quickly that the passion I feel for veganism and making this world a better place would be the driving force and motivation behind this blog.

Find something you're so passionate about that you would be glad to talk everybody's ears off about it 24/7, and there you have the fuel for a (potentially) successful blog!

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FOUR  Numbers Don't Matter

I've learned not to worry so much about numbers.  After I started my blog, I realized how often I would click a link, scan a post, and leave - maybe spending 30 seconds on a website, never to return.  If my attention span was that short, why wouldn't others' be as well?

I didn't start my blog to get thousands of views (though amazingly, I have!); I started it to reach at least one person who could benefit from what I have to say.  While having good numbers can help for opportunities and means you're reaching more people, focusing on the numbers is stressful and frustrating.

I've found so much more happiness in blogging since I switched over to checking my stats and recording them once a month, rather than compulsively checking them daily.

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FIVE Social Media Will Take Over Your Life

Social media is the best way to get the word out about your blog and content.

The problem?

There are so many different platforms, and each and every one rewards those who post frequently and engage with others.

You could spend a lifetime learning everything there is to know about ideal posting times, image types, hashtags, and descriptions for just one platform, let alone all of them!

My best advice would be to stick with 2-3 platforms to start and to focus on developing just one at a time.  I'm on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest... and to be honest, it's a bit much.  Start small and grow from there, you'll thank yourself later!

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SIX  You'll Get Excited About Each And Every Comment

Every blogger wants to create community.  It can be difficult to spend hours working on a post, see that people are reading it, but get no response!  Sometimes it can feel like talking to a brick wall.

Comment notifications will set your heart racing - someone cared enough to comment!  And then the immediate follow-up thought - is is a troll?

But each and every comment, question, encouragement, and piece of constructive criticism is cherished.  I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have taken the time to leave a comment on my blog.  You are so appreciated!

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SEVEN  You Will Become A Jane Of All Trades

Since I began my blogging journey a year ago I have learned to:

• Create websites on Squarespace (and trouble shoot issues);
• Use Mailchimp for email marketing;
• Be fast in Photoshop;
• Edit videos in Adobe Premiere Pro;
• Grow my social media followings;
• Multitask like a timelord;
• and so much more.

There are so many skills that I have developed over the past year that I never would have dreamed of picking up in such a short period of time, and these are skills that are helping me out far beyond Plant Based Bride (I designed our wedding invitations in Photoshop and sent them through Mailchimp!)

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EIGHT Your Friends And Family Will Think You're Bonkers

It's tough being a blogger.  People just don't understand what goes into it, including your spouse or partner.

This is why it is SO important to reach out to other bloggers!  It's such a relief to speak to people who know exactly what you're going through and can give you advice and support.  And also actually know what SEO means without you having to explain it.

NINE  You'll Celebrate The Little Things

Never have I ever been so excited to make 25 whole cents in a month.

Every little victory is so important, and no one but other bloggers will understand your excitement levels!

I'm lucky to have the most supportive fiance in the whole world.  Jason celebrates with me no matter how small the victory!  And I really love him for it :)

TEN  You'll Find You Absolutely Love It

I.  Love.  Blogging.

It's not always easy.  It's a lot of work.  I get writer's block.  I get tired and frustrated.

But it is so so worth it.

I would have never thought a year ago that I would have made connections with so many incredible people, written such a wide variety of posts, gotten back on YouTube, and had more than a hundred thousand views on my website.

If you're considering starting a blog of your own, I say go for it!  It really is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.

Every time I get an email or a comment thanking me it reminds me exactly why I'm working so hard - to help people make the connection and for us to, ultimately, change the world!

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Would you be interested in more content on the topic of blogging?  Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,