Clearing Belief Dissonance Away for Promoting Change

Change is hard enough without having conflicting beliefs, negative and positive, clashing with each other. Or without competing for cognitive space in your mind and causing mental dissonance. 

Dissonance is defined as a tension or clash resulting from the combination of two disharmonious or unsuitable elements. Dissonance can occur at any point of the change process.

To achieve change in one’s subconscious script, the person’s old negative beliefs need to be identified and removed, so new positive beliefs can be inserted in vacant place in his or her script. 

Belief dissonance is the state of having two inconsistent core beliefs in conflict with each other, especially relating to decisions making, emotions, mindset change or problem situations. Typically, dissonance happens when a new positive core belief forms and vies for inclusion into the subconscious script, and then clashes with an established and embedded old negative core beliefs.

3 Types of Dissonant Beliefs

1. Constant beliefs: When two beliefs are consistent with each other 

2. Diametrical beliefs: Two beliefs are the opposite of each other

3. Dissonant beliefs: Two beliefs inconsistent with each other

Dissonance happens when a person’s subconscious mind simultaneously holds two or more contradictory core beliefs. This occurs when performing a behavior, emotion, or thought that produces a positive new core belief. This action causes the beliefs to surface into the conscious triggering of an informational confrontation with an old embedded negative core belief present in one’s script. 

The theory of core belief dissonance focuses on how a natural response of a human being during an experience strives for inner consistency or balance. Whereupon when the person experiences belief dissonance it causes an inconsistency or unbalance. This causes the person to become psychologically and emotionally uncomfortable. It also motivates the person to try to reduce the belief dissonance, and actively avoid negative emotions, ideas, information, or thoughts from being triggered, which would likely increase the psychological discomfort.

The disconfirmation of two clashing beliefs causes belief dissonance to increase and can only be resolved by removing the conflicting old negative core belief and allowing the new positive belief to take its place. 

Once the old negative core belief is removed and replaced with the new positive core belief, the result in stress reduction, and restores psychological balance in the subconscious script.