Final answer:
Cognitive dissonance can lead people to change their attitudes to align with their behavior, in order to alleviate the psychological discomfort caused by holding inconsistent beliefs.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cognitive dissonance may cause people to change their attitudes to match their behavior. This psychological discomfort arises when there is a conflict between a person's behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs that contradicts their positive self-image. To reduce cognitive dissonance and alleviate this discomfort, individuals can either alter their behavior to align with their cognitions or adjust their cognitions to match their behavior. For instance, a smoker who believes that smoking is harmful to their health might quit smoking (change behavior) or convince themselves that the health risks are overstated (change cognition).