ABSTRACT
The theory of cognitive dissonance is a consistency theory, where consistency theories are understood to be a class of theories that elucidate human aspirations. Cognitive dissonance always arises whenever a person feels that there is an opposition between two perceived cognitions, which is to say that dissonance arises when psychologically, based on the assumptions of cognition, the opposite then follows based on the assumptions of cognition. Apart from sales marketing, another area of application for dissonance theory is personnel management. Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance is focused on the arising of cognitive dissonance after actions and on the subsequent information gathering and processing behavior that, toward the end of reducing it, characterizes the dissonance. The communication within groups can also be explained according to the striving for social support. It examines Heider's balance theory, which seems relevan there although it is not necessarily considered to fit within the confines of the theory of cognitive dissonance.
