Karen smokes two packs of cigarettes a day. However, she is aware that smoking is harmful to her health; therefore, she holds two conflicting or dissonant thoughts. If Karen were to reduce her cognitive dissonance by reducing the amount of her perceived choice, she might say to herself,

Question

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Reducing the amount of perceived choice involves convincing oneself that there is little or no alternative to the current behavior. By saying "Smoking is a habit that I have little control over," Karen is reducing her cognitive dissonance by suggesting she doesn't have much choice in her smoking behavior, rather than directly addressing the dissonance between her action and the knowledge of its harm.

Karen Smokes Two Packs of Cigarettes a Day