Celia, who is a college student, has always thought of herself as an environmental activist.Recently, she "inherited" a gas-guzzling car from her parents, which she has been driving around campus.To reduce the cognitive dissonance that she feels from these clashing images of herself, the environmental activist and the gas-guzzling car owner, she might say that "it is an old car and keeping it on the road makes good use of the resources consumed when it was manufactured," which illustrates the strategy of

Question

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Adding consonant thoughts is a strategy of reducing cognitive dissonance by seeking out and emphasizing thoughts that are consistent with one's beliefs or self-concept. In this case, Celia is trying to justify her behavior of driving a gas-guzzling car by emphasizing its positive aspects, such as making use of the resources that went into manufacturing it. This is an attempt to bring her behavior in line with her self-concept as an environmental activist.

Celia, Who Is a College Student, Has Always Thought of Herself