Stress-related misuse of alcohol or drugs appears to be impulsive and may reflect conflict, learned helplessness or an attempt to reduce cognitive dissonance.

Six studies demonstrate the "pot calling the kettle black" phenomenon whereby people are guilty of the very fault they identify in others. Recalling an undeniable ethical failure, people experience ethical dissonance between their moral values and their behavioral misconduct. Our findings indicate that to reduce ethical dissonance, individuals use a double-distancing mechanism. Using an overcom...

The interaction of positive and negative relationships (i.e. I like you, but you dislike me - referred to as relational dissonance) is an underexplored phenomenon. Further, it is often only poor (or negative) mental health that is examined in relation to social networks, with little regard for positive psychological wellbeing. Finally, these issues are compounded by methodological constraints. ...

We explored the effects of feedback on symptom reporting. Two experimental groups (n=15 each) were given a scenario with the option to exaggerate symptoms. Compared with a control condition (n=15), both groups scored significantly higher on the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology. Next, one group was confronted in a sympathetic way about their symptom validity test failure, wherea...