Imagine for a moment all the hard work you’ve put in, the late-night studying, the endless revisions and the sacrifices you’ve made. You’ve been building up to this one moment where you finally get to see the fruits of your labour: your matric exam results.
But then, the moment arrives and it’s not what you expected. Instead of jumping for joy, you are standing there paralysed by a wave of disappointment.
It’s hard because of something scientists and psychologists call “cognitive dissonance”. This is when there’s a disconnect between our beliefs – in this case, about our expected success – and the outcome.
Our mind tries to reconcile the two, but it can’t, resulting in psychological discomfort that we experience as disappointment.
Moreover, our
