In this episode, I talk about cognitive dissonance in the horse world: why we do what we know we shouldn’t – and how to move from maybe to integrity. We revisit Festinger’s theory, real barn-life examples, and research showing how humans often adjust perception when they don’t want to change behaviour. Pop-culture bridge: Fettes Brot – “Jein”. The perfect anthem for ambivalence.

Key references:

Hausberger, M., Lesimple, C., & Henry, S. (2021). Detecting Welfare in a Non-Verbal Species… Animals, 11(8), 2249. 👉 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/8/2249

Harmon-Jones, E., & Mills, J. (2019). An Introduction to Cognitive Dissonance Theory and an Overview of Current Perspectives (chapter sample, APA). 👉 https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/Cognitive-Dissonance-Intro-Sample.pdf

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