I don’t think that article is correct.

I’ve never understood subsequent realization to be integral to the dissonance itself, which already exists regardless of one’s awareness of it.

It’s like insisting that you are not depressed unless you “realize” you’re depressed.

unless by “realization” that article simply mean experiencing conflicting emotions, which is the cognitive dissonance itself.

requiring “realization” of a feeling as a prerequisite to that feeling existing doesn’t check out.