We tend to think our actions follow from our beliefs — but cognitive dissonance means we often rewrite our beliefs to justify what we’ve already done, not the reverse

Source Summary

In 1959, Stanford students sat through a deliberately tedious task, then were paid to tell the next participant it had been fun. Some were paid $20 to lie. Some were paid just $1. When asked afterward how enjoyable the task had actually been, the $1 group rated it higher than the $20 group. The people ... Read more