Studying the Trends of Cognitive Dissonance in Young Adults in Indian Context

Purpose: This paper aims at understanding, measuring and analyzing the cognitive dissonance and the impact that it has on the young-adults from the age of 18 to 25. It is focused on giving an Indian context to the topic based on 5 different spheres of a Gen-Z person – personal relationship, academic environment, professional working environment, health and nutrition, and personal life thoughts/functioning. Design/Methodology/‌Approach‌: ‌Around 105 participants from the age of 18 to 25 (Gen-Z cluster from the population) were selected and asked to fill a cognitive dissonance questionnaire that included statements in the form of situations from their day-to-day lives. They were asked to answer each question by selecting one option off the 5-point Likert scale and the data, along with certain pieces of literatures (such as research papers, articles, journals, etc.) were analyzed. Findings: Through the study, we can see that there is an increased presence of dissonance amongst the Gen-Z community and that there is a higher rate or intensity of dissonance in the young-adults along the spheres of academic environments and health & nutrition with an average rate of 77% and 75% respectively. Practical Implications/Recommendations: The findings from this study can be used to understand the behavior of Indian young-adults from a modern 2023 context and can also help in converting the theoretical findings into a practical model that can be used for personality upliftment, academic and work motivation or satisfaction, mental health wellbeing, etc.