I think cognitive dissonance works to shield people from taking ownership of their own contradictions, because it’s more comfortable to double down / shut down and believe you’re correct, than to concede and change your perspective or redirect your actions.

Definitely there’s lots of people who actively enjoy doing it as a method of power/control, though I’d say it tends to run in the brain’s background more than the foreground for people, hence the subconscious factor !