The cognitive dissonance that Ash Donaldson experienced as a trainee pilot could have cost his life. In spite of the instructions given by the flight instructor, Ash strived to be right by internalizing what appears to be correct based on his belief that he is as good as any experienced pilot. Instead of heeding the advice of an expert, the cognitive dissonance takes over Ash by rationalizing his behavior with knowledge (goodness and intelligence) that is part of a self concept. (Aronson, p. 182)
Described as a …show more content…
(Aronson, p. 206) In the process, the change of attitude in Ash occurred by convincing himself that his previous attitude were incorrect. (Aronson, p. 207) Referred to as internal justification which is a process of finding external justification for his behavior, that is taking his instructor’s advice to trust the plane’s instruments instead of relying on his intuitions. As stated by Aronson, “if an individual states a belief that is difficult to justify externally, that person will attempt to justify it internally by making his attitude more consistent with the statement.” (Aronson, p.