Diandra Maria Pânișoară
Considering that we have a responsibility regarding how we behave and what we do when we observe behavior that contradicts our moral values, the logical and rational idea would be that cancel culture is a way to punish individuals who have acted in an incorrect manner. However, given that most people have discrepancies in recognizing legal immoral things, we can ask ourselves if society is capable of making decisions on distinct aspects in an objective and calculated manner. A different concept that can make us question the objectivity of individual and collective decisions is cognitive dissonance. The research “On the Cultural Guises of Cognitive Dissonance: The Case of Easterners and Westerners” describes the discrepancies between the individualistic culture found in the West and the collectivist culture in East Asia. In East Asian cultures, interpersonal relationships and collective decisions are prioritized, leading to a sense of belonging. Social Identity Theory suggests that people have a remarkable need for belonging in order to protect a superior status. They can identify as members of a group, becoming a significant characteristic of their personality. Similar to the need for belonging is the need for collective validation. An article from the National Library of Medicine indicates that a group of individuals who feel or are victimized automatically feel validated by their superior group, thus leading to a sense of collectiveness and collective validation. The feeling of validation arises from the sense of security when identifying common values. An example is the increased visibility of crime but not the criminal, thus marginalized voices can be amplified on these predefined common values. To correctly perceive the concept of cancel culture, we must note whether the need for validation and belonging hinders the reasoning of the individuals involved. A significant example is the Asch Conformity Experiment. In this experiment, a card with a line is shown alongside another card with three lines of varying lengths. The idea is to match the correct length among the three options with the line on the first card. The participants in the experiment were divided between those
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