The psychology term cognitive dissonance is used to describe a state of inconsistency in thoughts, the belief system, or attitudes about the decisions concerning behaviour and changes in opinion. The cognitive dissonance theory proposes a situation in which there is a tension existing between the attitudes of a person and his/her behaviours because of the incongruence that exists between them (McMinn, 2006) . An individual faced by cognitive dissonance tends to alter his/her attitude, beliefs or behaviour so that the result would be a reduction in the discomfort to ensure that balance has been restored .
If I were Pat and had been redeployed in the war, I would have to comply with the needs of the troops because if I do not do so, who would? Moreover, the fact that I signed up as a soldier means that I surrendered to any command that would be given during the time of war. I would, therefore, go back to the field to defend my country from the threats that come from a lost war effort.
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Since as Pat I have my reservations concerning the war, I will have to engage myself in a forced compliance setting. Soldiers are usually coerced to follow the orders of their superiors where failure to do so leads to some serious repercussions. These include the court-martial because of insubordination, ostracization or death. There are situations where Pat will be faced with an order to kill others during the war. Soldiers like Pat who have no intention of going to war and killing have a moral code (you shall not kill) which results in tension. The tension can be resolved when attitudes are shifted so that they are in line with an individual's behaviour. Here, Pat will not be required to change his view concerning killing; murder will remain to be unacceptable to him. The change in him will be towards the target where the humanity of the target is questioned (Sturman, 2012) . Therefore, Pat can resolve his dissonance by dehumanizing his target.
The belief system stating that "I support the troops but oppose the war" is entirely possible. However, this belief is dissonant in structure. The reason for troops is to wage war when dimmed necessary so that those within the borders can assert their right to defend themselves when attacked or threatened with attack. Sometimes war is not needed; that results in the moral position of some soldiers or onlookers to be opposed to a war effort while retaining their support for the troops.
One situation that can arouse dissonance is supporting the existence of pubs for economic gain while opposing the activities that go on in those pubs. A religious individual is always inclined to oppose the presence of joints such as pubs because they harbour numerous activities that may oppose the moral stance of such an individual. However, such an individual may be in support of a robust economic plan that can help grow the country's Gross Domestic Product by boosting the position of local Breweries. Such a situation can result in dissonance.
References
McMinn, J. G. (2006). War, Death, and Cognitive Dissonance: A Case Study for Social Psychology. Retrieved March 21, 2018, from Citeseerx:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=46C1C4A94D466618245B58AE09BE5815?doi=10.1.1.369.6754&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Sturman, E. D. (2012). Dehumanizing Just Makes You Feel Better: The Role of Cognitive Dissonance in Dehumanization. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 6(4) , 527-531.
