Looking at cognitive dissonance and motivational conflicts through the lens of the interplay between self-regulation and motivation

Motivation and self-regulation might be two of the most prominent and encompassing constructs in psychological research. Self-regulation refers to the processes by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior in pursuit of their goals. Motivation refers to the question of why people pursue their goals. In this chapter, we focus on two classic theories in psychology-cognitive dissonance and motivational conflicts-through the lens of the unique interplay between self-regulation and motivation. In both theories, motivation and the regulation of internal conflict are weaved into each other, and this bond and the feedback loop it creates are the essence of the theories. We discuss internal conflicts within the framework of self-regulation to set the stage for an elaborate discussion of the cognitive dissonance and motivational conflicts theories portraying a pivotal role for both motivation and conflict resolution.