The complex path between Cognitive Dissonance and Spiritual Bypassing

That uncomfortable feeling you have when your beliefs are challenged by discovering new information can be described as cognitive dissonance. We all aim to seek consistency throughout our lives, whether via our attitudes, behaviours, spirituality perceptions or beliefs. However, when this consistency is challenged and the possibility of inconsistency in our values becomes real then something must change to combat the disagreement and reduce the dissonance.

 

The dissonance of our cognitions and behaviours plays a key part in our values, decision making and judgements. Having an understanding of how conflicting beliefs can help us shape our experiences and decision making processes is a first step to making more accurate and ultimately more comfortable decisions. Inconsistencies and mismatches between our behaviours and beliefs can lead to cognitive dissonance, and therefore feelings of discomfort.

 

Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance usually presents as a conflict between thoughts, emotions and spirituality that impact on daily functioning. The source of said uncomfortable feeling can initiate from not knowing one’s true core spiritual self which causes disruption and tension between belief systems.

Spirituality includes a sense of connection to something bigger than us, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. A sense of spirituality is adopting the concern with the human spirit as opposed to material or physical objects.
A very basic example cognitive dissonance could be, a spiritually minded father who is very much concerned with environmental health and wellbeing has been left a large family vehicle they so desperately need via a death in the family. He then finds their new car is a fuel guzzling high mileage wagon that has an impact on the environment.

 

The interchanging between the uncomfortable feelings associated with cognitive dissonance, personal belief systems and spirituality causes mental tension that needs to be quickly resolved.

 

In order to settle mental strain that results from cognitive dissonance the father must utilise a sense of empowerment to allow for decisions to be made. In feeling empowered and having the ability to make choices he can then develop thinking skills to manage his situation, adapting the he thinks and behaves to enable restoration of life spirituality. From resolving issues of cognitive dissonance he then becomes more consistent in his cognitions and thinking power, making more coherent decisions

 

Spiritual Bypassing

Refusing to take the initiative and adopt the burden of responsibility as one might within an episode of cognitive dissonance, then this encourages more dissonance and more negativity. As a father to continue doing what he perceives as best for the family and using the vehicle to suit his families’ needs the father may choose to spiritually bypass the situation as a whole.
Spiritual bypassing suggests the use of spiritual practices and beliefs to avoid dealing with uncomfortable feelings, unresolved issues and fundamental emotional and psychological needs (1)

 

Our thoughts, spirituality and behaviours shape our beliefs, which help us decide where we should place our validation and approval. Therefore the route of cognitive dissonance provides us with the platform to enable how we measure and review situations and in turn, make effective decisions (2). Bypassing opportunities to evaluate how we make discussions, learn and grow can most certainly lead us to repress our true selves.  As we establish a base of self-awareness we can grow past cognitive dissonance, resolve conflict more effectively and make coherent decisions. This then lends itself to adopting a concern with the human spirit and fundamentally making use of overarching spirituality.

 

1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/emotional-sobriety/201110/beware-spiritual-bypass
2. https://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/01/22/3-powerful-tips-to-avoid-spiritual-bypassing/

 

^{*P.S. some excerpts may have been corroborated to make this an easy read and provide clear context}