Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Festinger
Last summer I relocated from Barrie, Ontario to Sudbury to finish school. I had become involved with a male from Barrie and he wanted to move to Sudbury with me. Shawn had always worked construction and never had difficulty finding and maintaining employment in southern Ontario because of the rapid development and housing projects. He was very concerned about finding work in Sudbury as the wages for labor are not as high in northern Ontario. I had suggested that perhaps he could put down his hard hat and enroll in post secondary education. I thought it was a great idea. Shawn however was extremely apprehensive about the idea.
He indicated that he had always wanted to go to school but now at the age of 26, he did not feel that he could afford to go to school or do well for that matter. Throughout many discussions regarding the matter he displayed signs that fears of failure were holding him back and he built a defense based on his own hypothesis that because he had been in the trade industry for so long it would make more sense to just work longer and obtain a trade ticket rather than a degree or diploma and that way he could still make money while working towards certification.
Sheila
Coat of arms of Barrie
Location of BarrieHe was very set on his defense and was very firm when stating he would continue working and not be applying to college. Shawn even included statistics regarding the growth of the trade industry to support his argument.
Of course, I disagreed. I was aware that persuading Shawn to consider enrolling in college was not for my own purposes. I knew that he really did want to do this but was very anxious about debt and the possibility of failure. I...