According to the balance theory identified by Psychologist F. Heider in 1958, people are motivated to maintain harmony with their perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. If, for instance, we share the same attitudes with people we trust and respect, all is well and balanced. Conversely, if we disagree with the position of somebody that we do not like, we are able to maintain balance and we may feel nonbalanced if we agree with the position of a person whom we do not like. People who intend to control our behavior understand that we strive to be balanced. Governments, advertisers and the news and entertainment industries design elaborate programs around the knowledge that we do not like to think that our attitudes are inconsistent with our behavior.
Cognitive dissonance is an unpleasant state that is accompanied by heightened arousal.
Governments in particular, with the aid of the dominant news media, intend to control public perceptions and behaviors by incessantly employing scenarios which create cognitive dissonance among the masses. This is the the recipe for totalitarianism. An excellent example of how cognitive dissonance works in contemporary society is the issue of vaccines as a method of disease prevention. For people who believe in the Bible, there is no doubt that God places tremendous importance on blood. The First Testamant in particular labors the importance of blood and blood purity and that the corruption of blood is against the wishes of God.