Cognitive dissonance and The Lottery: Why people observe the unreasonable traditions.

Cognitive dissonance refers to the psychological discomfort that arises when a person holds
contradictory beliefs, attitudes, or values, or when their behavior conflicts with their beliefs
or values. In The Lottery, the villagers blindly follow the unreasonable tradition which
sacrifices a villager just because he or she is picked for the village; cognitive dissonance can
help us understand why people continue to participate in and support a practice that may
seem unreasonable or even harmful.

Firstly, it is a sort of justification and rationalization. When faced with cognitive dissonance,
individuals tend to justify or rationalize their behavior to reduce the discomfort. In the case of
the lottery, villagers may rationalize their participation by only accepting the perceived
benefits or positive aspects of the tradition, such as community bonding, entertainment, or the
potential for a life-changing win. They may downplay or reject any negative aspects, such as
the unfairness or potential harm caused by the lottery.

Moreover, social conformity would be blamed. Human nature is often driven by a desire for
social acceptance and a need to fit in with the community. The villagers may conform to the
tradition of the lottery because it is deeply ingrained in their social fabric and has been
practiced for generations. Whatever things break away from the tradition could lead to social
ostracism or exclusion, causing significant discomfort. To avoid this, individuals may choose
to maintain consistency by blindly following the lottery tradition, even if they have doubts or
criticisms.

Furthermore, ‘limited information and exposure’ caused villagers just to do without any
critical thinking as the unjustifiable ritual orders. Cognitive dissonance can also arise when
individuals lack information or exposure to alternative viewpoints. The villagers may have
limited access to information that challenges the validity or fairness of the lottery. They may
be unaware of alternative systems or perspectives that could potentially lead them to question
or reform the institution. Without exposure to differing viewpoints, cognitive dissonance can
persist, and blind adherence to the tradition can continue.

Lastly, sunk cost illusioned villagers with fallacy. As the villagers continued to participate in
the lottery, they may also be influenced by the sunk cost fallacy. To illustrate, if they have
invested time, money, or emotional attachment to the tradition over the years, they may be
hesitant to abandon it. All times and money with emotional obsession were the sunk cost that
dragged them into back. The psychological discomfort of admitting that their investment has
been in vain can create cognitive dissonance, leading them to continue participating in the
lottery to justify their past involvement.
As seen above, cognitive dissonance is helpful for understanding why villagers blindly
comply with the tradition despite its potential unreasonableness. People often engage in
cognitive processes such as justification, conformity, limited information, and the sunk cost
fallacy to reduce the discomfort of contradictory beliefs and maintain consistency with their
past actions.