Jeanine has just been admitted to two colleges, college a and college b, both of which she would be equally interested in attending. after lots of internal conflict and confusion, she decides on college
a. after sending in her deposit to college a, she can't stop thinking about all the negative things about college b and how she knows she made the right decision not to go there. jeanine's original confusion is now resolved, reducing the dissonance she experienced.

The correct answer is cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance (CD) refers to a situation in which a person experiences feelings of discomfort from conflicts that results from holding two contradictory thoughts or attitudes. The discomfort that a person feels from such a situation leads him or her to alter one of the two beliefs or attitudes. Jeanine changing her attitude and beliefs about college B has made her feel more assured and comfortable with her decision about picking college A.