Final answer:
The easiest way for a person to cope with cognitive dissonance is to change their attitudes, which can be achieved by aligning their cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors to reduce psychological discomfort.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student asked about the easiest way for a person to cope with cognitive dissonance, which is the psychological discomfort that arises from inconsistent beliefs and behaviors. Changing one's attitudes is often the easiest way to cope with the unpleasant state associated with cognitive dissonance. This involves aligning one's cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors to become harmonious, thus reducing the psychological discomfort. For example, an individual who believes that smoking is unhealthy but continues to smoke may choose to quit smoking (changing behavior) or convince themselves that smoking is not that harmful (changing cognition), thereby reducing the dissonance.
Other ways to cope with cognitive dissonance may include rationalization, denial, or adding new cognitions to justify the behavior. However, engaging in groupthink or continuing the discrepant behavior without any adjustment would not effectively reduce the dissonance.