Sarah Stein Lubrano
Sarah Stein Lubrano is writer, a content strategist, and a researcher at Oxford University. Her academic research focuses on the role of emotion in political communication, and specifically cognitive dissonance. Sarah is the Head of Research for the Future Narratives Lab. For many years she was the Head of Content at The School of Life, where she is still a content lead. She writes and speaks publicly on a variety of topics. Her website is sarahsteinlubrano.com and she is on twitter and instagram. In earlier lives, she made films and worked as a prison tutor and obituary writer.Cognitive Dissonance
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Sarah explains one of the most important discoveries in psychology from the last 100 years: cognitive dissonance. It's the mental discomfort we feel when we encounter a contradiction between our own beliefs and actions, part of what makes conspiracy theories so appealing, and part of what makes it so difficult to change other people's minds. Sarah will tell the story of the alien cult that first brought cognitive dissonance to light, describe how we all deceive ourselves regularly as a result of this phenomenon, and teach how to spot cognitive dissonance in our own own lives. By the end of the session, you'll know your own mind a bit better, and perhaps even be prepared to change your own, and other people's, points of view.
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During the expert session, Sarah Stein engages the audience by using the Mentimeter app for interactive exercises and a Q&A session. She discusses cognitive dissonance, its impact on everyday life, and ways to recognize and address it. Sarah shares insights into deep canvasing, emphasizing the importance of empathy, trust, and building social infrastructure for meaningful conversations.
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- Discovering the Power of Deep Conversations: Delve into deep canvasing, a technique that fosters understanding and empathy through lengthy discussions, and learn how it can lead to meaningful change and relationships.
- Overcoming Barriers to Change: Understand why changing deeply held beliefs or values can be challenging, especially when it involves significant lifestyle adjustments, and explore strategies for dealing with cognitive dissonance and promoting productive conversations.
- Building Effective Infrastructure for Dialogue: Recognize the limitations of existing methods like war or marketplace debates in fostering genuine understanding, and learn how creating social infrastructure that supports open dialogue can lead to more impactful interactions and long-term change.
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In this expert session, Sarah Stein Lubrano explores the psychological phenomenon of cognitive dissonance and its implications in everyday life. Cognitive dissonance arises when individuals hold contradictory beliefs or values, leading to feelings of discomfort and stress. Sarah uses the example of a study on cognitive dissonance conducted in a cult context but emphasizes that this phenomenon is not exclusive to such situations.
Sarah begins by discussing the findings from a study where participants were asked to lie about their enjoyment of a dull task and received different incentives. The results revealed that individuals paid smaller amounts felt compelled to change their beliefs to reduce cognitive dissonance, despite initially acknowledging the task's boredom.
Moving beyond cults, Sarah explains how cognitive dissonance manifests in everyday life. She covers ways to measure it, techniques for dealing with it in individuals and groups, and relatable examples, such as justifying reasons to dislike someone or putting off making a change due to convenience. Sarah emphasizes that deeply held beliefs about ourselves can be particularly challenging when experiencing cognitive dissonance.
The session then delves into the related concepts of rationalization and confirmation bias. Sarah encourages the audience to reflect on their own experiences with these phenomena, as they are often more prevalent in specific areas of our lives than others.
Sarah introduces the concept of deep canvassing, a technique used to help people acknowledge ambivalence about a particular issue and work towards change. She also discusses its inspiration from motivational interviewing in addiction treatment. Sarah emphasizes the importance of open dialogue and allowing individuals to explore their thoughts and values to overcome cognitive dissonance and foster positive change.
However, deep canvassing is not a quick-fix solution for resolving conflicts or changing people's minds. Instead, it's about building trust, understanding, and empathy through genuine curiosity and active listening. Sarah acknowledges that reaching a larger audience in a shorter time with this method might be challenging but suggests finding ways to engage them in other areas first before revisiting the deeper conversation later.
Sarah emphasizes the importance of creating social infrastructure, such as shared public spaces where people from diverse backgrounds can build relationships and engage in meaningful conversations that last longer than brief encounters. She highlights existing methods like war or marketplace debates as ineffective in changing minds, as they do not offer a fertile ground for genuine understanding.
