A used-car salesman who knows that he is dishonest does not feel dissonance when he conceals the dismal repair record of the car he is trying to unload; a woman who believes she is unlovable does not feel dissonance when a man rejects her; a con man does not experience dissonance when he cheats his grandmother out of her life savings.
This is the same as successful people on weight watchers. Those for whom failure was consonant took it in stride. Those for whom it wasn’t found ways to explore and change.
