Latin 'dis-' (apart) + 'sonare' (to sound) — originally clashing sounds in music, adopted by psychology in 1957.
A lack of harmony among musical notes; a harsh or discordant combination of sounds; conflict or disagreement, especially between ideas, beliefs, or actions.
From Late Latin 'dissonantia' (discord, disagreement of sounds), from Latin 'dissonāns,' present participle of 'dissonāre' (to be discordant in sound), itself a compound of 'dis-' (apart, in different directions, from PIE *dwis-) + 'sonāre' (to make a sound, to resound). 'Sonāre' traces back to PIE *swon-eye- (to make a sound), from the root *swen- (to sound, to resound), which also gives English 'sound,' 'sonic,' 'resonance,' 'swan' (named for its call), and 'sonnet.' The PIE root *swen- is widely attested across Indo-European:
The term 'cognitive dissonance' was coined by psychologist Leon Festinger in 1957 and became one of the most influential concepts in social psychology. Festinger borrowed the musical metaphor deliberately: just as dissonant notes create tension that the ear wants resolved, contradictory beliefs create mental tension that the mind seeks to reduce — often by changing one belief to match the other.
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