Cognitive dissonance is the idea that

a. political leaders learn from previous successes and failures and adjust their behavior accordingly to maximize the likelihood of future successes.
b. explains both individual political behavior and collective actions.
c. assumes, short of a crisis, that government officials will make small changes to existing policy rather than start from scratch when making policy decisions.
d. highlights the extent to which initial contact or experiences are filtered through past contacts or relationships with similar individuals or settings.
e. people do not like to hold obviously contradictory positions, leading them to reject evidence that may run counter to their initial beliefs about a particular topic.

E