Researchers have found real-world evidence that cognitive dissonance, or the psychological discomfort or tension we feel when there is an inconsistency between our cognition and our behaviour, can generate pain in the body.
Cognition is the process of acquiring knowledge and wisdom through thought, experience, and the senses.
In a study completed by Ohio State University and the University of Michigan and published in the journal Ergonomics in February, the researchers arranged 17 volunteers —nine men and eight women aged 19-44—to lift lightweight boxes and presented them with a conflicting situation where first they told them how great of a job they are doing, and then they expressed strong criticism about the quality of their work.
The participants were fitted with wearable sensors and motion-capture technology that detected the peak spinal loads in the neck and low back for both compression of vertebrae and vertebral movement—which is also known as shear.
The workplace scenario found that even this simple amount of psychological distress generated pressure on the volunteers’ necks and lower backs, with the peak spinal loads on cervical vertebrae in the neck being 11.1 percent higher in compression, 9.4 percent higher in A/P shear and 19.3 percent higher in lateral shear.
“This increased spine loading occurred under just one condition with a fairly light load,” William Marras, executive director of the Spine Research Institute at The Ohio State University and one of the study’s authors, told Ohio State University News.
“You can imagine what this would be like with more complex tasks or higher loads.”
Marras’ lab has been examining the links between occupational forces on the spine for decades, with his research finding 20 years ago that psychological stress could influence spine biomechanics.
Marras argues there is a link between cognitive dissonance and spinal health, which has significant outcomes for workplace health and safety where the stress factors and the cognitive dissonance can be overwhelming.
“We ended up finding that when you’re under that kind of psychosocial stress, what you tend to do is what we call co-activate muscles in your torso. It creates this tug of war in the muscles because you’re always tense,” he said.
“Our tolerance to shear is much, much lower than it is to compression, so that’s why that’s important. A small percentage of load is no big deal for one time. But think about when you’re working day in and day out, and you’re in a job where you’re doing this 40 hours a week – that could be significant and be the difference between a disorder and not having a disorder.
Additionally, the study also found that your personality type can also increase the pressure placed on the spine.
“We found that in certain personality types, the loads in the spine increased by up to 35 percent,” Marras said.
The human body pain perception is the process by which the brain interprets and responds to painful stimuli, which is a complex physiological and psychological phenomenon that involves the transmission and processing of signals from various sensory receptors in the body.
When someone experiences pain, specialized nerve endings called nociceptors detect painful stimuli, such as heat, pressure, or chemical signals. These nociceptors are present throughout the body, including the skin, muscles, organs, and other tissues, and once activated, they send electrical signals through nerve fibres to the spinal cord and to the brain.
The brain plays a crucial role in pain perception. The signals from the nociceptors are processed in several brain regions, including the thalamus, somatosensory cortex, and the limbic system, which is involved in emotions and motivation. The brain then integrates the sensory information and generates a subjective experience of pain.
Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is an inconsistency between two cognitions or between cognition and behaviour. This concept was first introduced by the psychologist Leon Festinger in the 1950s.
When individuals experience cognitive dissonance, they feel a sense of discomfort, unease, or internal conflict. This discomfort motivates them to reduce the dissonance by resolving the inconsistency and restoring a sense of cognitive harmony. To achieve this, people may employ various cognitive and behavioural strategies.
There are a few ways in which individuals typically reduce cognitive dissonance.
By changing beliefs or attitudes—people may modify their existing beliefs or attitudes to align with their behaviour. For example, if someone smokes even though they know it harms their health, they may convince themselves that smoking has fewer risks or downplay the negative consequences.
Another way is to acquire new information, and individuals may seek out further information or reinterpret existing information to support their beliefs or justify their behaviour. They may selectively focus on information confirming their beliefs and ignore contradictory evidence.
Further, people may alter the importance or value they attribute to certain beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours. For instance, if someone values their social connections but engages in conduct that isolates them socially, they may convince themselves that solitude is more fulfilling or that their social relationships are not as crucial as they previously believed.
Finally, people can seek out activities or information aligning with their beliefs or behaviours, thereby avoiding situations that may trigger cognitive dissonance.