Question

question 5 of 10
bella doesnt believe in cheating on school work, but then she took a spanish
test and everyone else was cheating, so she did it, too. now, she tells herself
that cheating is usually bad, but sometimes it is o.k. this is an example of:

a. social cognition.

b. fundamental attribution error.

c. cognitive dissonance.

d. a schema.

Explanation:

Cognitive dissonance occurs when there's a conflict between one's beliefs/attitudes and actions. Bella initially believed cheating was wrong (attitude) but cheated (action), then adjusted her attitude (saying cheating is sometimes OK) to reduce the dissonance. Social cognition is about how people process social info, fundamental attribution error is about overemphasizing dispositional factors in others' behavior, and a schema is a mental framework for organizing info—none fit as well as cognitive dissonance here.

Answer:

C. cognitive dissonance.