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Exercise
Using the scale that follows, rate the extent to which you agree or disagree with
each statement by circling the appropriate number.
1.Exercising at least three times a week promotes
good health.
Chapter 6
The Need to Justify
Our Actions:
The Costs and Benefits of
Dissonance Reduction
2.Conscientiously recycling used materials helps
the environment.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
PSL 215 – Social Psychology
Patricia Eid, PsyD, PhD
Exercise
Now answer the following questions by “YES” or “NO”.
1. Do you regularly exercise three times a week?
2. Do you regularly recycle cans, newspapers,
and other recyclables?
Heaven’s Gate Cult
• Believed that a space ship was coming
to transport them
– Needed to rid selves of “current containers”
(own body)
– Spaceship failed to appear behind HaleBopp Comet
– Continued with plan anyway
• Mass suicide
• Extreme example of Need to Justify
Actions
Maintaining a Stable, Positive
Self-Image
• As humans, we strive to maintain a
favorable view of ourselves
• When confronted with unfavorable view
of self
– Experience discomfort
The Theory of Cognitive
Dissonance
• Feeling of discomfort caused by
performing an action that runs counter
to one’s customary (typically positive)
conception of oneself is referred to as
cognitive dissonance.
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The Theory of Cognitive
Dissonance (Festinger, 1957)
• Important and provocative social
psychological theory
• Threats to self-image
– Induces powerful, upsetting dissonance
Three Ways to Reduce
Dissonance
1. Change behavior
2. Justify behavior by changing one of
the dissonant cognitions
3. Justify behavior by adding new
cognitions
Self-Affirmation
• Bolster the self-concept
• Reducing dissonance by adding a
cognition about other positive
attributes
– E.g., smoker who fails to quit
• Not very smart of me to be smoking, but,
I’m really a very good mathematician!
Figure 6.1
How We Reduce Cognitive Dissonance
There are three basic ways of reducing dissonance: change your behavior, change your
cognition, or add a new cognition.
Impact Bias
• The tendency to overestimate the
intensity and duration of our emotional
reactions to future negative events.
Teenagers who smoke usually justify their actions with such cognitions as “Smoking is
cool”; “I want to be like my friends”; “in movies, everyone smokes”; “I’m healthy; nothing
is going to happen to me”; or “adults are always on my back about stuff I do”
Source: Powell John/Prisma/Age Fotostock
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Why We Overestimate the Pain
of Disappointment
• Why does impact bias occur?
– Process of reducing dissonance is largely
unconscious
Self-Esteem and Cognitive
Dissonance
• High self-esteem
– Strive to keep behavior consonant with
view of self
• Work harder to reduce dissonance than
people with average self-esteem
Rational Behavior Versus
Rationalizing Behavior
• Need to maintain our self-esteem
– Associated with rationalizing instead of
rational thought
• Process information so that it fits with preexisting beliefs
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
• Every time we make a decision, we
experience dissonance.
– Chosen alternative has some negative
aspects
– Rejected alternative has some positive
aspects
Postdecision Dissonance
• Dissonance aroused after making a
decision, typically reduced by
enhancing the attractiveness of the
chosen alternative and devaluating the
rejected alternatives.
Once he is hooked on getting a truck, this young man will reason that “it certainly would
be safer than a small car, and besides, the price of gasoline is bound to drop by the time
I’m 40.”
Source: Jeremy Woodhouse/Blend Images/Age Fotostock
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Reducing Post-Decision
Dissonance
• Distort likes and dislikes
– Downplay
• Negative aspects of chosen alternative
• Positive aspects of rejected alternative
Permanence and Importance
of Decision
• More important decisions = More
dissonance
• Greater permanence = More
dissonance
– Permanence of decision
• How difficult it is to revoke
Creating the Illusion of
Irrevocability
• When decisions are permanent
(irrevocable)
– Dissonance increases
– Motivation to reduce dissonance increases
All sales are final. When will this customer be happier with her new flatscreen TV: ten
minutes before the purchase? Ten minutes after the purchase?
Source: Newscast/Alamy
Creating the Illusion of
Irrevocability
• Lowballing
– An unscrupulous strategy whereby a
salesperson induces a customer to agree to
purchase a product at a very low cost,
subsequently claims it was an error, and
then raises the price.
– Frequently, the customer will agree to
make the purchase at the inflated price.
Creating the Illusion of
Irrevocability
• Create illusion of irrevocability to
induce motivation to reduce
dissonance!
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The Decision to Behave
Immorally
• When is it okay to lie to a friend?
• When is an act of stealing, and when is
it borrowing?
After he cheats, this student will try to convince himself that everybody would cheat if
they had the chance.
Source: Pixtal/Glow Images, Inc.
The Decision to Behave
Immorally
• Moral dilemmas
– Implications for self-esteem
• Dissonance reduction
– People may behave either more ethically or
less ethically in the future
The Decision to Behave
Immorally
• Example—Cheating on a test
– Dissonance
• Positive view of self inconsistent with
dishonest behavior
– How to reduce dissonance?
• Change attitude about cheating
– “Not a big deal, everyone does it”
– Future behavior—less ethical
The Decision to Behave
Immorally
• Example—Cheating on a test
Figure 6.2
The Cheating Pyramid
Imagine two students taking an exam. Both are
tempted to cheat. Initially, their attitudes toward
cheating are almost identical, but then one
impulsively cheats and the other does not. Their
attitudes will then undergo predictable changes.
(Created by Carol Tavris. Used by permission.)
– Change behavior
• Do not ever cheat again
• Future behavior—more ethical
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The Decision to Behave
Immorally
• Example—Decide NOT to cheat
– Post-decision dissonance
• “Would have received better grade if
cheated”
– Reducing dissonance
• Change attitude
– To justify giving up a good grade, you
convince yourself that cheating is even worse
than you previously felt it was
Dissonance Reduction and
Personal Values (Mills, 1958)
• Measured 6th graders attitudes about
cheating
• Gave opportunity to cheat in a game
– Easy to cheat
– Cheating almost necessary to win
– Believed cheating could not be detected
• Attitude becomes more extreme
Dissonance Reduction and
Personal Values (Mills, 1958)
• Cheaters
– Became more lenient toward cheating
• Noncheaters
– Became less lenient toward cheating
Dissonance, Culture,
and the Brain
• Dissonant information
– Reasoning circuits of brain shut down
• Dissonance is reduced
– Emotion circuits activated
• Primates also show changes in what is
valued after making a decision
Dissonance and Culture
• Process of dissonance reduction
– Culturally universal
• Content of dissonance reduction
– Cultural differences
• What thoughts are added, changed differ by
culture
Justifying Your Effort
• Example
– Suppose you expend a great deal of effort
to get into a particular club and it turns out
to be a totally worthless organization
• How would you reduce this dissonance?
• How would you justify your behavior?
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Justifying Your Effort
• People may interpret ambiguities in a
positive way when it helps to justify
effort
Justification of Effort
The tendency for individuals to increase their liking
for something they have worked hard to attain.
The harsh training required to become a marine will increase the recruits’ feelings of
cohesiveness and their pride in the corps.
Source: moodboard/Fotolia
Effort Justification
Effort Justification
(Aronson and Mills, 1959)
• Cover story
– College students volunteered to join a
group that would be meeting regularly to
discuss various aspects of the psychology
of sex
(Aronson and Mills, 1959)
• IV
– Severity of group initiation
• 1/3 participants extremely demanding &
unpleasant initiation
• 1/3  mildly unpleasant
• 1/3  admitted to group without any
initiation
• DV
– Liking of group after admitted
Effort Justification
(Aronson and Mills, 1959)
• Mild initiation or no effort  less liking
of group
• Severe initiation  more liking of group
Figure 6.3
The Justification of Effort
The more effort we put into becoming members of a group, and the tougher the
initiation, the more we will like the group we have just joined—even if it turns out to be a
dud. (Adapted from Aronson & Mills, 1959.)
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The Psychology of Insufficient
Justification
• Example
– If you tell a friend that you like her ugly
dress very much, do you experience much
dissonance?
• Many thoughts are consonant (consistent)
with having told lie
– E.g., it is important not to cause pain to
people, not hurt feelings
The Psychology of Insufficient
Justification
• What if there is no good external
justification for lying?
The Psychology of Insufficient
Justification
• If there is insufficient external
justification for counterattitudinal
advocacy, the attempt to reduce
dissonance may result in attitude
change!
The Psychology of Insufficient
Justification
• Believing it is important not to cause
pain to people you like provides ample
external justification for having told
lie
External Justification
A reason or an explanation for dissonant personal
behavior that resides outside the individual. E.g., in
order to receive a large reward or avoid a severe
punishment.
The Psychology of Insufficient
Justification
• Internal Justification
– The reduction of dissonance by changing
something about oneself.
– E.g., one’s attitude or behavior
Festinger and Carlsmith
(1958)
• Cover story
– The effect of “interest instructions” on
performance on a boring task
Counterattitudinal Advocacy
Stating an opinion or attitude that runs counter to
one’s private belief or attitude.
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Festinger and Carlsmith
(1958)
• IV = $ for telling a lie
– $ 20.00 large external justification 
“sufficient”
– $ 1.00, small external justification 
“insufficient”
– control no $, no lie
• DV = enjoyment of the task
Festinger and Carlsmith
(1958)
• Students paid $20 for lying—for saying
that the tasks had been enjoyable
– Rated the task as dull and boring
– $20 was sufficient external justification for
lying
• $20 reduced dissonance between positive
view of self (honest person) & behavior
(lying)
– Lied because was paid to do so
Festinger and Carlsmith
(1958)
• Students paid only $1 for lying (saying
the boring task was fun)
– Rated the task as significantly more
enjoyable
– External justification was insufficient
– Reduced dissonance via internal
justification
• Changed attitude about task
• Believed the lie they told
Punishment and
Self-Persuasion
• Insufficient Punishment
– The dissonance aroused when individuals
lack sufficient external justification for
having resisted a desired activity or object,
usually resulting in individuals’ devaluing
the forbidden activity or object.
Punishment and
Self-Persuasion
• If threat of punishment for engaging in
a forbidden behavior is severe
– There is sufficient external justification for
refraining from behavior
• If punishment is less severe
– There is insufficient external justification
– Creates greater need for internal
justification
• Change attitudes via self-persuasion
Punishment and
Self-Persuasion
• When external justification for resisting
an object or activity is insufficient:
– Dissonance is aroused
– Reduce dissonance by
• Self-persuasion
– E.g., devaluing forbidden activity or object
.
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Forbidden Toy Study
(Aronson and Carlsmith 1963)
• Children rated the attractiveness of
toys, then were forbidden to play with
toy they found most attractive
• IV = Severity of threatened punishment
– ½ children threat of mild punishment if
they disobeyed & played with toy
– ½ children  threat of severe punishment
• DV = Rating of toy attractiveness
Parents can intervene to stop one sibling from tormenting another right at the moment
of the incident, but what might they do to make it less likely to happen in the future?
Source: Shannon Fagan/The Image Bank/Getty Images
Forbidden Toy Study
(Aronson and Carlsmith 1963)
• Threat of severe punishment
– Forbidden toy remained highly attractive
• No change in attitude
• Had sufficient external justification for
resisting toy
Forbidden Toy Study
(Aronson and Carlsmith 1963)
• Threat of mild punishment
– Forbidden toy was rated as less attractive
– External justification was insufficient
– Resolved dissonance through internal
justification
• Change attitude about toy
Punishment and
Self-Persuasion
• Self-Persuasion
– A long-lasting form of attitude change that
results from attempts at self-justification.
Figure 6.4
The Forbidden Toy Experiment
Children who had received a threat of mild punishment were far less likely to play with a
forbidden toy (orange bar) than children who had received a threat of severe punishment
(blue bar). Those given a mild threat had to provide their own justification by devaluing
the attractiveness of the toy (“I didn’t want to play with it anyhow”). The
resulting self-persuasion lasted for weeks. (Based on data in Freedman, 1965.)
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The Hypocrisy Paradigm
• Induce hypocrisy
– Make person aware of conflict between
• Attitudes
• Behavior
– Hypocrisy creates dissonance
– Reduce dissonance by changing behavior
Figure 6.5
External versus Internal Justification
As this graphic summarizes, insufficient punishment or reward leads to self-justification,
which in turn leads to self-persuasion and lasting change. Larger rewards or punishments
may produce temporary compliance, which rarely lasts.
• E.g., attitudes about condoms and use of
condoms
The Hypocrisy Paradigm
• Students in the hypocrisy condition
were subsequently more likely to buy
condoms than students in any of the
other conditions.
Figure 6.6
The Hypocrisy Paradigm
People who are made mindful of their hypocrisy (blue bars)—in this study, being made
aware of the discrepancy between knowing that condoms prevent AIDS and other STDs
but not using condoms themselves—begin to practice what they preach. Here, more of
them bought condoms, buying more condoms than did students in other conditions—
those who were simply given information about the dangers of AIDS, or who promised to
buy them, or who were made aware that they weren’t using them. (Adapted from Stone,
Aronson, Crain, Winslow, & Fried, 1994.)
Justifying Acts of Kindness
• Dissonance theory predicts that when
we dislike someone, if we do them a
favor, we will like them more
– Behavior is dissonant with attitude
– Change attitude about person to resolve
dissonance
• “The Ben Franklin Effect”
Figure 6.7
The Justification of Kindness
If we have done someone a personal favor (blue bar), we are likely to feel more
positively toward that person than if we don’t do the favor (orange bar) or do the favor
because of an impersonal request (yellow bar). (Based on data in Jecker & Landy, 1969.)
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Justifying Cruelty
• Cruel behavior is dissonant with view of
self as a decent human being
– Resolve dissonance by changing thoughts
about victim
Justifying Cruelty
• Participants convinced themselves
– They didn't like the victim
– He deserved to be hurt
• Davis and Jones (1960)
– Participants told a young man
(confederate) they thought he was shallow,
untrustworthy, boring.
Dissonance and the Iraq War
• President Bush’s decision to initiate a
“preemptive” war against Iraq was
dissonant with:
– The fact that Iraq not involved in 9/11
attack on USA
– Iraq not an immediate threat to USA
The American guards at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison treated their prisoners with a casual
brutality that scandalized the world. What does dissonance theory predict about the
consequences for the guards of dehumanizing the enemy?
Source: HO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Newscom
Dissonance and the Iraq War
• To resolve dissonance
– Search for evidence consonant with
decision to start war
• Try to find WMD (Weapons of Mass
Destruction)
• However, WMD not found
Dissonance and the Iraq War
• Resolve dissonance by adding
cognitions
– Change reason (justification) for war
• Operation “Iraqi Freedom”
– Instead of preemptive strike to protect USA
from WMD
• Dissonance reduction unsuccessful
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Summary and Review
• Cognitive Dissonance
– Self-affirmation and self-esteem
– Post-decision dissonance
• Self-Justification
– Justification of Effort
• Insufficient and sufficient external
justification
– Hypocrisy Paradigm
These athletes blew a big lead and lost the game. Will they make excuses, or will they
learn from their mistakes?
Source: Jose Carlos Fajardo/MCT/Newscom
• Dissonance, Kindness, and Cruelty
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