Cognitive dissonance and trichotillomania - link?

Can prolonged cognitive dissonance produce self-directed behaviours?

The following was written as part of my school studies, where I am trying to link the concepts of cognitive dissonance and displacement behaviours, such as hair pulling.  Hopefully, it sheds some light on how being caught in two minds functions in different ways.

Within the wide field of psychology are two concepts known as displacement behaviour.   
Originally, Freud coined the term displacement behaviour to refer 
to libidinal impulses which are channeled towards objects when the actual or natural object of desire has been blocked, or its attainment prevented.  He identified fetish objects which are invested in sexualised meaning and significance separate from their cultural value as objects of utility or aesthetic satisfaction. The other concept referred to as displacement behaviour is derived from the field of ethology, and in particular the work of ethologist Niko Tinbergen.  He was one of the first to study how animals caught between two contradictory impulses can manifest modes of behaviour that seemingly bear no relevance to the situation in which the animal finds itself.  Since then there have been a number of animal studies that reveal displacement behaviours across a range of species, including humans too.

In nature, displacement behaviour has been observed as a naturally occurring event that marks a

transition. For example, Tinbergen observed apparently inexplicable fanning movements by male

stickleback fish in a certain proximity to each other.  Tinbergen realised that this fanning marked

the territorial boundary line between the two fish and the tipping point between aggression (approach behaviour)

and retreat (withdraw behaviour). In nature, displacement activities are short-term responses to

temporary frustrations which soon resolve themselves (e.g. they end when conflict with a

potential aggressor is avoided).

In a domestic context, I have often observed how cats manifest grooming behaviours when they are

thwarted in their attempt to achieve a goal state, such as obtaining food.  A hungry cat presented

with an empty dish or a dish of food it does not find appetising will commonly begin to groom itself

prior to repeating the cycle of seeking food once again.  It would seem then that displacement

behaviour exists to calm an excited animal when the situation falls short of what is expected,

or in some way thwarts its desire, or only partially fulfills an internal criteria for

activating an automatic species-specific response. This partial activation implies

that two impulses are possibly occurring together and a third behaviour is needed to reduce

the discomfort until the situation changes and the goal state can be attained.

The most common forms of displacement behaviour are found in captive animals, often in laboratory

settings.  Here species-specific behaviours may not be supported by the artificial environmental

conditions.  For example, animals may not have enough space to regulate their natural range of proximity

from animals or humans and be unable to avoid/hide or use aggression to ward off an unwanted human

or animal presence.  Other typical situations involve being housed with siblings so that sexual impulses

served by approach behaviour are equally met by the need to avoid incest.  Typically, mice in

these conditions either bite their siblings' fur or their own. 

Self-directed behaviours have been particularly highlighted as indicators of displacement activity.

Laboratory studies show that self-directed hair pulling is common in many animals, including cats,

mice, rats, sheep, parrots and rhesus monkeys which have been kept in captive conditions and/or

where outlets for species-typical behaviours have not been incorporated (Akgul et al, 2000),

(Bordnick et al, 1994), (Chiezey, 2010), (Garner et al. 2004,2006),(Reinhardt 2005).

However, in natural habitats such self-directed behaviour has not been reported, possibly indicating

that the disorder reveals a disturbance in the organism’s relationship to its social and ecological

environment.  Perhaps the activity may help switch off the evolved response (e.g. fight or flight

response, seeking or vigilance etc) and reduce anxiety by switching attention away from the source

of stress.  It should be emphasised again that displacement activities are not necessarily pathological

and do occur in nature but not for prolonged periods.  But it is when the conditions behind the

displacement action are prolonged or permanent that it can become stereotypical. 

In humans, displacement activity is an everyday occurrence.  It is manifested in chin rubbing, gaze

aversion, hair manipulation, scratching or coughing.  For example, a person caught in two minds

between going in one direction or another will commonly manifest a behaviour such as chin scratching

as a way of limiting the agitation that comes with his temporary confusion.  However, a more stereotypical form of such behaviour may be found in the condition known as

trichotillomania, or hair pulling disorder (Christenson et al. 1999).  This is where a person seeks out suitable hairs to pull from their scalp or body, often as a means to obtaining a lipid fat sebum hair root before eating it.  Over time this condition can create bald patches and is known to be a behaviour that is very resistant to change.

In comparison, Festinger's concept of cognitive dissonance is also understood as the means by which discomfort or agitation from being in two minds about a choice or decision can be reduced. In this respect cognitive dissonance can be viewed as an inverted process of displacement behaviour.  By this I mean that displacement behaviour emerges in response to a situation that is being endured in the present moment and involves a certain level of anticipation towards attaining a future goal state.

However, cognitive dissonance appears to relate to the discomfort of hindsight, of attempting to adapt to a situation where the goal state has to some extent been attempted but not to a satisfactory degree.  This may produce a persistent sense of failure, a sense of achieving a non-optimal outcome that cannot be altered; and with no way to reverse time or the decision-making process this creates a mode of distinct internal or cognitive discomfort.  For example, a football fan who expects his team to score in a high pressure game, only to see the ball narrowly miss the goal may run his hands through his hair in exasperation.  But the expectation of scoring remains ongoing, and he anticipates that there will be further chances later in the match. Only after the game has ended, when there are no more opportunities for scoring, will he experience cognitive dissonance as he attempts to reconcile his disappointment in his team's performance with his passionate belief that his team are special and superior to the opposition.

Interestingly, as far as I know, Festinger never identified any accompanying physical manifestations

of cognitive dissonance.  The resolution of the discomfort was achieved from inside out, not outside inwards.  In other words, by changing one or both of the cognitions, or introducing a new one the agitation could be reduced (Hewstone et al.,2012)  But whether the process of changing or introducing new cognition leads to chin rubbing, hair pulling or skin scratching is not something which appears to be Festinger's focus. I would suggest that (from outside inwards) external physical stimulation is a form of homeostasis, when there is no social means by which the agitation can be avoided, such as asking a car passenger which direction one should drive. But I would add that where cognitive dissonance occurs for a prolonged period of time, some form of physical manifestation would also be apparent. 

In examining some similarities and differences between displacement behaviour and cognitive dissonance I would suggest that both phenomenon seek the same outcomes via different means to the problems of internally felt discomfort.  Ultimately, this outcome involves adapting to the prevailing situation as a means to moving forwards; it safeguards against an organism becoming stuck for too long in one mode of being or becoming rooted in the past.  In other words, both processes are necessary for mental health and reveal the emergent nature of human experience.

Bibliography

Akgul, Y., Agaoglu, Z.T., Kaya, A., Sahin, T., (2000) The relationship between the syndromes of wool eating and alopecia in Akkaraman and Morkaraman sheep fed corn silage and blood changes (haematological, biochemical and trace elements). Israel  Journal of Veterinary Medicine 56: 23-37.

Azrin, N.H., Nunn, R.G. (1977) Habit control in a day (New York, Simon and Schuster)

Berridge, K.C., Fentress J.C. and Parr H., (1987): Natural syntax rules control action sequence of rats. Behav Brain Res 23: 59-68.

Bohne et al., (2005) Visuospatial abilities, memory, and executive functioning in trichotillomania and obsessive-compulsive disorder, J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 27 (4), pp. 385–399.

Bordnick P.S., Thyer B.A., Ritchie B.W., (1994) Feather picking disorder and trichotillomania: an avian model of human psychopathology, J. Behav. Ther. Exp. Psychiatry 25 (3) (1994), pp. 189–196.

Chiezey, N.P. (2010)  Hair pulling in confined sheep fed a finely ground ration: case report Livestock Research for Rural Development 22 (3).

Christenson, G.A., Mansueto, C.S., (1999) Trichotillomania: descriptive statistics and

phenomenology. In: Stein, D.J., Christenson, G.A., Hollander, E. (Eds.), Trichotillomania.

American Psychiatric Press, Washington, pp. 1–41.

Deluca AM (1997): Environmental enrichment: does it reduce barbering in mice?

AWIC Newsletter 8:7-8.

DSM-IV, (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV), American Psychiatric Association

Fentress JC (1968):  Interrupted ongoing behaviour in voles (Microtus agrestis and Clethrionomys britannicus) II. Anim Behav 16: 154-67.

Fentress JC (1991): Analytical ethology and synthetic neuroscience.  In: Bateson P, ed., The Development and Integration of Behaviour.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 77-120.

Fraser A. F. (1995) Sheep. In: The Experimental Animal in Biomedical Research. Volume II – Care, Husbandry, and Well-Being (Rollin B E, Kesel M L eds editors). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 87–118.

Freud, S (1975) Introductory Lectures On Psychoanalysis. Lecture 25: Anxiety pp. 440-60 (Penguin)

Galski, T. (1983) Hair Pulling (Trichotilllomania), Psychoanal Rev, Vol. 70, 3, 331-46.

Garner, J. P., Weisker, S. M., Dufour, B., & Mench, J. A. (2004). Barbering (fur and whisker trimming)

 by laboratory mice as a model of human trichotillomania and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. Comparative Medicine, 54, 216–224.

Garner, J. P., Meehan, C. L., Famula, T. R., & Mench, J. A. (2006). Genetic, environmental, and

neighbor effects on the severity of stereotypies and feather picking in Orange-winged Amazon

 parrots (amazona amazonica): An epidemiological study.

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 96, 153–168.

Hall, F.S., Wilkinson, L.S., Humby, T. et al. (1998) Isolation rearing in rats: pre- and post-synaptic changes in striatal doperminergic systems, Pharmacol Biochem Behav 59:859-72.

Hewstone, M, Stroebe, W., Jonas, K., (2012) An Introduction to Social Psychology, Fifth Edition (Blackwell, Chichester)

Kalueff, A.V., Laporte, J.L., Bergner, C.L. (2010): Neurobiology of Grooming Behaviour (Cambridge University Press)

Moberg,G.P, Mench, J.A, (2001) The Biology of Animal Stress: basic principles and implications for

animal welfare (CABI publishing, Wallingford/New York)

Moon-Faneli, A.A, Dodman, N.H., and R.L. O'Sullivan, R.L. (1999) Veterinary models of compulsive

self-grooming:

Reinhardt, V. (2005). Hair pulling: A review. Laboratory Animals, 39, pp.361–369.

Reinhardt V, Reinhardt A, Houser D. (1986) Hair pulling and eating in captive rhesus monkey troops

Folia Primatol (Basel) 47(2-3):158-64.

Robbins, T.W., Jones, G.H., Wilkinson L.S. (1996)Behavioural and neurochemical effects of early

social deprivation in the rat, Journal of Psychopharmacology 10:39-47.

Schrijver N.C.A., Wűrbel, H.: (2001) Early social deprivation disrupts attentional, but not affective, shifts in rats. Behav Neurosic 115: 437-42.

Winnicott, D.W., (1971) Playing and Reality  (Tavistock Publications)

Wűrbel H (2001): Ideal homes? Housing effects on rodent brains and behaviour. 

Trends Neurosci 24:207-11.