How Hypocrisy Leads to Behavioral Change - part 1 background

A recent tool in the behavioral modification arsenal used by governments and other large institutions is the dissonance paradigm of hypocrisy.

This is a very subtle technique that was developed out of cognitive dissonance theories. To state it briefly, cognitive dissonance is when a person holds two mutually inconsistent cognition. What research has shown is that people will modify their beliefs or self-concept to eliminate this conflict, without being aware that any modification has taken place.

A simple example can be shown from The Fox and the Grapes parable by Aesop. In this tale a fox see some grapes high up in vine and wishes to eat them, when the fox is unable to find a way to eat the grapes it then concludes that the grapes are probably not ripe anyway, and would just taste sour. In cognitive research research this is called the "adaptive preference formation"