Festinger and Carlsmith (1959)
Factors that
Invoke
Undermine
dissonance
dissonance
Dissonance in Aronson & Mills (1959)
I signed up for this group.
It was boring.
I went through a severe
initiation to join this group.
It was boring.
Persuasion theory in the early 50s
• Offer tangible rewards for compliance and clear
punishments for espousal of opposing views.
• Present an audience with a reasonable
communication attributing it to a highly credible
communicator.
• Present the individual with the illusion that
everyone else in sight agrees with one another
and disagrees with him.
Quoted from Aronson (1980)
References
• Aronson, E. (1980). Persuasion via self-justification: Large
commitments for small rewards. In L. Festinger (Ed.).
Retrospections on Social Psychology. New York: Oxford
University Press.
• Aronson, E., & Mills, J. (1959). The effect of severity of
initiation on liking for a group. Journal of Abnormal and
Social Psychology, 59, 177-181.
• Cialdini, R. B., Trost, M. R., & Newsom, J. T. (1995).
Preference for consistency: The development of a valid
measure and the discovery of surprising behavioral
implications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
69, 318-328.
References
• Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance.
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Festinger, L. & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive
consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal
and Social Psychology, 58, 203-210.
• Sherman, S. J. (1970). Effects of choice and incentive on
attitude change in a discrepant behavior situation. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 15, 245-252.