Leon Festinger
THEORY OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (1957)
BASIC HYPOTHESIS
The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will
motivate the person to try and reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance
Attitude
Behavior inconsistent
with the attitude
Creation of
dissonance
Earthquake Research by Singh in India
Epicenter
In unaffected areas far away from the epicenter, people
exhibited high levels of anxiety and spread rumors of
impending further disaster. Why?
Why was the theory of cognitive dissonance
(“insufficient justification) such a big deal?
Traditional Persuasion Techniques
A) Greater rewards lead to more responses
B) Greater punishment leads to less responses
C) Use of "credible" sources (experts, authority figures)
D) Use of conformity paradigms (e.g., Asch, Sherif)
Some Weaknesses of Traditional
Persuasion Approaches
•
•
•
Effects not very strong
Short-term effects
Limited to less important issues
Attitude-Behavior Inconsistency
Attitude: “I’m not going to smoke cigarettes anymore”
Behavior: Smoke cigarettes
Some Options
1) Change behavior (e.g., Throw pack away)
2) Change cognitions (e.g., “Smoking isn’t all that bad”; “I
don’t really smoke that much”)
3) Add supporting cognitions (e.g., “ Smoking relaxes me”
“it helps me think better”
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
FESTINGER & CARLSMITH (1$ - $20 Study)
Asked to tell participant
that the task was
interesting (to lie)
Perform
boring task
$1
$20
$20
|
Boring
Rate
task
$1
|
Interesting
• Which group rated the task as more interesting after lying,
those paid $1 or $20?
Key is lack of sufficient external justification for one’s behavior
“TOY” STUDY
Children rate desirability of toys
Attractiveness
Told not to play with the most desirable toy
High
Attractiveness
High
MILD THREAT
SEVERE THREAT
Children did not play with the desired toy
Low
Low
Children rate the desirability of the toys a 2nd time after not playing with
the desired
Which group viewed the desirable toy most attractive?
ATTITUDES REGARDING MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
Original belief = “No”
Asked to give speech
opposite of their attitude (for
legalization)
Speech watched
by research team
Told speech taped and
would be shown to high
school students
More positive
views of
legalization
Attitudes regarding marijuana legalization
More Cognitive Dissonance Occurs When:
•
Choice is involved
•
Individuals are responsible for any consequences of their
behavior (and if the consequences could be anticipated)
•
Negative consequences are believed to be likely to occur
•
One’s self-concept is involved
Self-Perception Theory
(Bem)
Internal States (e.g., “So-called “private” stimuli,
physiological)
“Gross” evaluation (e.g., “I feel happy”; “I feel sad”)
Use of external social cues for precise discriminations (e.g.,
other people’s behavior or one’s own actions, statements,
thoughts)
Attitudes formed
Components of Attitudes
 Affective (Emotional)
 Behavioral
 Cognitive (Thinking)
SELF-PERCEPTION STUDY
(Pretest) Various scales
to assess attitudes on
environmental
issues e.g., favorability,
attitudes
(good-bad,
wise-foolish); extent
consider oneself an
environmentalist;
cognitions regarding
environmentalism
WEAK
STRONG
Behavioral salience
survey/manipulation -what people actually
did about
environmental issues
(“I occasionally pick up
other people’s garbage
and take it to the trash
can,” I occasionally carpool
rather than drive separately,”
“I frequently litter.”
Post-test (attitude
scales on
environmental
issues)
Those with weak initial environmental
attitudes had their attitudes affected by
their responses to the behavioral
questionnaire
Low affective-cognitive consistency role
What are the “big picture” implications of this research?
One’s overt
behavior
“Weak” attitude
One’s verbal statements
One’s thoughts,
self statements
Form general attitude (e.g.,
I’m politically
conservative or liberal)
What’s one’s
attitude regarding
a specific issue?
Strive for
consistency
with overall
attitude