Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Have you ever done something even though you knew it was wrong? The resulting anxious feeling is called cognitive dissonance — an internal conflict when someone’s actions do not align with their beliefs. People experiencing cognitive dissonance will often try to justify their actions to themselves. Some brain studies reflect this mental conflict as people race to rationalize morally ambiguous behavior.
This is a video from the 2023 Brain Awareness Video Contest.
Created by Fiona Chou.
Have you ever done something even though you knew it was wrong? The resulting anxious feeling is called cognitive dissonance — an internal conflict when someone’s actions do not align with their beliefs. People experiencing cognitive dissonance will often try to justify their actions to themselves. Some brain studies reflect this mental conflict as people race to rationalize morally ambiguous behavior.
This is a video from the 2023 Brain Awareness Video Contest.
Created by Fiona Chou.
