When people behave in ways that are at odds with their attitudes, they report feeling negative emotions. That seems to support the cognitive dissonance theory.
Cognitive dissonance theory is a theory in the field of psychology. According to it, when two ideas or actions are not psychologically consistent with each other (conflicting), people do everything to change them until both of them become consistent. It may occur when people seek to justify or at least explain their beliefs.
One example of cognitive dissonance is smoking. Smokers tend to use justification beliefs in order to reduce their cognitive dissonance about the negative consequences of smoking tobacco.
