The theory of "identity dissonance": Mass communication, romance fiction, and the self-concept

Why are there so many paradoxical representations of women in North American media? It is the assumption of this paper that the antithetical character of mass media is both a reflection and result of the multifaceted nature of our Self-concept and the fundamental process of identity development. Expanding Festinger's (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance to encompass identity, I created the theory of identity dissonance specifically in order to explore identity development and its relationship to characteristics inherent in mass communication. Identity dissonance is an unsettling feeling of psychological disquiet, occurring when there is roughly equal commitment to two or more conflicting identities; to be dissonant, these identities must contain information and values that an individual considers contradictory. Dissonance theory is a theory of relevant relationship: it is a person's psychological makeup—his or her sense of Self—that dictates how relationships between identities are to be organized (for example, as conflictual, consonant, or irrelevant). Identity dissonance occurs when an individual regards particular identities as essential components of his or her Self-concept yet also recognizes, consciously or unconsciously, that these identities oppose each other. Agreeing with perspectives put forth by Radway (1991) and Jensen (1984), this paper argues for an important relationship between women's psychosocial realities and romance novels. I specifically propose that the gendered characterizations of heroes and heroines in Harlequin romance novels, along with plotlines dedicated to the management or resolution of identity dissonance in the heroine's life, strongly indicate that romance novels provide an excellent environment in which to explore the presence of the psychological phenomenon of identity dissonance. It is postulated that romance readers are drawn to this reading experience because romance novels are able to depict, in the narrative lives of heroes and heroines, situations and emotional realities, analogous to their own personal experiences with identity dissonance.