Postdecision dissonance is defined as, “strong doubts experienced after making an important, close-call decision that is difficult to reverse.” There are three things that play a role within this term. The more important the decision that needs to be made, the more time one will take in making the actual decision, and the greater the difficulty it is to stay with your decision once its been made if one feels it needs to be reversed. The example used in the book is what an individual feels after having bought a new car. They start to question if they made the right choice, but its too late to do anything about it. It is almost like having buyers remorse.
For example, in the movie, John Tucker Must Die, four girls try to destroy a guy named John Tucker. Three of the four have previously dated him and the fourth, Kate, becomes his new love interest on purpose. The three girls use Kate to get back at John by manipulating him to fall in love with her. In return, John does end up falling for Kate. Once Kate realizes he is starting to fall for her she immediately starts to feel bad and wants to stop, yet she is in too deep. Even though she feels doubt, the decision she made to help the girls cannot be taken back.
This example from John Tucker Must Die is just like the example used in the book about buying a new car.
