Cognitive Dissonance in Call Center Leaders

When organizational choices contradict the leaders’ beliefs or behaviors, psychological discomfort can occur (Festinger, 1957). The effects of psychological discomfort have several disadvantages to organizational progress, including decreased adaptation to change, snap judgments, and ineffective decision-making. While existing research highlights the effects of psychological discomfort experienced by employees, a gap has been identified when exploring information on leader-experienced psychological discomfort (Hinojosa et al., 2016; Telci et al., 2011). This qualitative, phenomenological study explores the experiences of leaders in a continuously changing call center environment utilizing the cognitive dissonance theory framework. To provide further knowledge regarding cognitive dissonance antecedents in a call center leader role, this study was guided by the following research question: R1: What contributes to cognitive dissonance in a call center leader role? Utilizing open-ended interview questions, the findings of this study yielded 24 self-reported instances of cognitive dissonance from call center leaders (n=10) across the United States. The research shows three major themes that contribute to cognitive dissonance discomfort in the leader role: policy, autonomy, and disruption in work/life balance. The results of this study can contribute to call center retention, increased adaptation to organizational change, and add additional knowledge to the current gap of existing literature on understanding cognitive dissonance in a leader role.