Cognitive Dissonance

People have all kinds of different explanations for calling off work sick when they really aren’t. What can we attribute the reasoning for this to? Looking at all internal and external factors can help with explanations for this behavior. Internal factors are hard to figure out. When looking from the outside in. We can make an automatic inference about someone after they have a behavior. This is called spontaneous trait inference. (Myers, 2010) This is something everybody does or has done on many occasions in their life. Our assumptions are automatic and we really do not think about our judgment until after we come to our first conclusion. These inferences are often times unintentional and unconsciously made.

There are could be several reasons this employee called in sick and was not sick. It can be attributed to being rejected for paid time off. It could also be attributed to transportation issues. This is just some situational attributions that can take place. Dispositional attributes could be lack of motivation. The employee could be dissatisfied with his/her salary which could lead to depression. Salary can be a mark of self worth. “Money is a mood changer, and people still display their wealth as a way of asserting their worth” (Berger, 2011). If this employee is feeling like the job is not paying what is deserved the employee then develops a negative attitude towards the employer.

According to Myers we can “think ourselves into a way of acting but also act ourselves into a way of thinking” (Myers, 2010, p. 131). Our behavior can determine our attitudes and vice versa. People will often times behave or play a role to fit in a social situation. After playing the role for so long it becomes part of that person’s personality. A person that has been promoted on the job will act like a manager until it becomes second nature to them. The saying that comes to mind is “fake it until you make it”. Attitudes can also predict behavior. An example of this...