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This remins me of Stokholm Syndrome. It's facinating to see how people will react differently in situations of pressure, stress, or discomfort.
Cognitive Dissonance is basically: if learning something has been difficult, uncomfortable, or even humiliating enough, people are not likely to admit that the content of what has been learned is not valuable. To do so would be to admit that one has been tricked at personal expense.
I've seen this in clients over the years. People become more proud if their accomplishment has come at a greater cost. Not all similar situations will give you the same result, but overall the defensiveness and assurance is there more with the harder work.
Cults are a great example of disonance. We see people who give up their posessions and lives and devote them to a religious cause or group. Because of their great sacrafice, it is more difficult for them to be convinced of their poor decision (assuming it is a poor decision, we don't been to get into that).
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