Cognitive Dissonance.

After reading Leon Festinger's article "The Motivating Effect of Cognitive Dissonance" I was completely confused. The only part of that article that made any sense to me was the concept of cognitive dissonance. The two studies that he discussed in the article made the concept of cognitive dissonance even more confusing to me. Cognitive dissonance occurs when one of our beliefs conflicts or goes against another one of our beliefs. Humans typically like consistency and stability, even when it comes to our beliefs. When one of our beliefs being being conflicted against another one of our beliefs we start to feel uncomfortable and we have a desire to eliminate that feeling. After comprehending what cognitive dissonance was I realized that it happens in daily lives of the majority of individuals. One example of cognitive dissonance that I face on a regular basis deals with my obsession with shopping. When I am out and about and I see something that I want I always ask myself questions. These questions typically are "Do I really need this?" or "Am I really going to use it?" The majority of the time I convince myself that I definitely need it, I will use it constantly and that it will make my life easier or better. Unfortunately, most of the things I buy are poor purchases that I wish I never brought in the first place. When I realize that I made a bad purchase I begin to second guess my decision-making skills and if I should ever leave the house with my wallet. Then the next time I venture out into a store I buy something else in hopes of regaining my confidence on my decision-making skills.