Cognitive consistency
theories
Humans as cognitive creatures
Cognitions form “associative
networks”
• associative networks include beliefs,
attitudes, and other cognitions
• the associations are often
unconscious, implicit
• changes in one belief or attitude may
produce a “ripple effect” elsewhere
in one’s cognitive system
Three basic assumptions of
consistency theories
•
People expect, prefer
consistency
 Individuals strive to maintain
psychological harmony among their
beliefs, attitudes, behaviors
•
Inconsistency causes
psychological discomfort, tension
 “Dissonance” is uncomfortable,
may even be accompanied by
physiological symptoms
•
Individuals are motivated to
restore cognitive consistency
 “Drive-reduction” model
 a form of face-saving, identity
management
Angelina Joile replaced her “Billy
Bob” tattoo
Example of an empirical study on
consistency
• Sherman & Gorkin (1980) females
who scored high on a feminism
scale tried to solve a “sex-role”
problem (which they were set up to
fail).
• A control group with similar scores
on the feminism scale completed a
different task.
• The failure of the treatment group to
solve the problem induced a state of
psychological inconsistency in the
feminists.
• Both groups then read a transcript
about a sex discrimination case.
Their task was to decide who was
wrong in the case and make an
award.
• What do you think happened?
• The Riddle: A man and his
son were driving down an icy
mountain road. Suddenly the
car skidded off the road and
down a ravine. The man was
killed instantly and the boy
was rushed to the hospital for
emergency surgery. Upon
seeing the child, the surgeon
exclaims, "Oh my god,I can’t
operate on him. That’s my
son!"
• How is this possible?
Results of Sherman & Gorkin’s
(1980) study:
• The feminists who experienced dissonance were more
likely to find that sex discrimination had occurred and
gave much larger awards compared to the control
group.
• Why? Their decision helped to restore their selfconcept as feminists.
• Threats to one’s self image lead to attempts to bolster,
reinforce, or reestablish the threatened attitudes.
Revisions to cognitive
consistency theories
• More recently, consistency has also been viewed as socially
motivated
• the appearance of consistency matters to us
• Individuals can tolerate a certain amount of inconsistency
• especially if core beliefs, attitudes aren’t involved
• examples: Log Cabin Republicans, driving an SUV but
being pro-environment, being a vegetarian, but wearing
leather shoes
• In some cases, individuals may even strive to create
inconsistency
• example: dysfunctional relationships
Fritz Heider’s “Balance theory”
(1958)
• The “granddaddy” of all consistency theories
• The most basic, simple model
• Involves three cognitive elements, P,O,X:
• P: Person (perceiver, self)
• O: Other person
• X: Attitude object (thing, event, action)
Example of Heider’s P-O-X triad
• A child admires Popeye
• The child doesn’t like to
eat spinach
• Popeye is positively
associated with Spinach
• This is a cognitively
imbalanced state, which
should motivate the child
to change one of the
associations.
Popeye
+
+
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Consistency theory in
advertising
• A female consumer is thinking
of buying a new car
• She has a negative attitude
toward high gas prices
• The Toyota Prius is advertised
as a high mileage vehicle
• She forms a favorable
impression of the Toyota Prius
hybrid car
+
-
female
consumer
high gas
prices
Balanced versus imbalanced
psychological states
balanced (consistent) psychological states
+
+
-
+
-
-
+
+
-
-
+
imbalanced (inconsistent) psychological states
-
-
-
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
-
Limitations of Balance theory
• Model is incapable of handling more than one
triad at a time (not complex psychological
relationships)
• Only one element of the triad is assumed to
change (not several elements)
• No provision for the degree or strength of the
attitudes
• No clear indication of how balance will be
restored (which element will change). Heider
states “the least effortful means” will be
employed.
Congruity Theory (Osgood,
Tannenbaum, & Suci, 1957)
• Congruity theory also presumes that people strive
to maintain consistency among their cognitions
• The theory is based upon the “semantic
differential” scale
• Congruity exists when a person holds identical
attitudes toward a source and a topic or issue.
• When incongruity exists, there is a tendency to change
cognitions so as to achieve psychological equilibrium
• When two or more attitudes are linked by an assertion
there is a tendency for both attitudes to change
Improvements over Balance
theory
• Allows for more than one attitude to change
• Allows for degrees of attitude change
• An accompanying formula allows for
precise predictions regarding the extent and
direction of attitude change
• When incongruity exists, more extreme
attitudes are less susceptible to change
• Congruity theory makes a number of
interesting, counterintuitive predictions
• Assume a person likes both
Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama
• The person perceives that
Barack made a disparaging
remark about Hillary
• A dissociative assertion
between two positive attitude
objects results in the
decreased evaluation of both
attitude objects
-3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3
Example of Congruity theory
Hillary
Barack
“mudslinging” hurts
both sources’ credibility
Limitations of congruity theory
• Model and formula only accounts for
one triad at a time.
• Counterintuitive predictions aren’t
always fulfilled in practice
• The importance and relevance of the
attitude(s) to the person is ignored
• There are other ways to achieve
congruity besides changing
evaluations of the sources or objects
Applications of consistency
theory
• Image-based advertising
• the feelings and images
associated with a brand are
powerful purchase influencers
• brands are associated with
favorable images and idealized
lifestyles
• Public information/awareness
campaigns
• D.A.R.E. program
• Seat belts save lives
• Don’t drink and drive
• Social movements
• P.E.T.A. (animal rights)
• Operation Rescue (pro-life)
maintaining and restoring
psychological consistency
•
•
•
•
•
•
denial
bolstering
differentiation
transcendence
attitude modification
communication
favorable
attitude
?
-
+
+
favorable
attitude
marketing consistency: have
your cake and eat it too!
• consumer guilt and environmentally, socially
conscious products
• Green stock funds
• Fair trade coffee
• Sweatshop free goods
• cause marketing
• Partnering with a high profile cause or a
non-profit organization with whom the
public sympathizes
• healthy labels
• organic
• anti-oxidants
• hypo-allergenic
marketing inconsistency:
fostering brand-switching
• sloganeering
• “Think different” (MacIntosh)
• “Think outside the bun” (Taco Bell)
• “There’s fast food, then there’s KFC” (KFC)
• “Not your father’s Oldsmobile” (Oldsmobile)
• “I could have had a V8” (V8 juice)
• introductory offers, special promotions, interactivity
Creating psychological
inconsistency
• Smoking prevention programs
try to undo “glamorous”
associations with smoking
Creating psychological
inconsistency
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory
explains what happens when
an individual’s beliefs,
attitudes, and/or behaviors are
incompatible
• The amount of dissonance
created depends upon:
• How volitional the decision is
• The importance or
consequences of the decision
• The time, effort, or sacrifice
involved in making the decision
A guilt appeal on the bus bench is designed to
induce cognitive dissonance in patrons of this
nudie-bar
cognitive dissonance theory-continued
• counter-attitudinal advocacy (CAA)
• advocating a position that is contrary to one’s
own beliefs tends to shift one’s attitudes toward
the contrary position
• commitment and cognitive dissonance
• public commitments
• fraternity initiations
• marriage rituals
• “true love waits” program
• commitments can “grow legs”
Marine “bloodpinning” ritual
Four dissonance paradigms
• Free choice paradigm: volitional •
behavior is more likely to produce
dissonance
• the more free choice one has in
making a decision, the more
dissonance one will experience.
• Belief disconfirmation: dissonance
is aroused when a person
•
encounters information contrary to
his or her beliefs.
• people engage in selective
exposure to avoid dissonant
information
Induced compliance paradigm:
external inducements, rewards
reduce dissonance
• When a person is compelled to
do something, little dissonance
is aroused because the person
can rationalize the action by
saying “I had no choice.”
Effort justification: we appreciate
things more when we work for them
• The greater the effort or
sacrifice, the greater the
dissonance
Psychological commitment
• Once people become
psychologically committed to an idea
their commitment may “grow legs.”
• Michael Jackson fans: "This is a
very widespread phenomenon
where fans take a celebrity into their
hearts…and that celebrity becomes
almost bulletproof to the fan,“ (Paul
Levinson, professor of
communication and media studies at
Fordham University in New York)
Psychological commitment
• Kimmy Cash founded the “punx4dean”
Website
• Her 35th tattoo read “Dean Hope Truth 04”
• After Howard Dean dropped out of the
presidential race, she declared on her
Website:
• “we have been through entirely too much
in this campaign to quit now. Punks don’t
give up…Do not let this discourage you”
• She later renamed her site
punxfordemocracy. She may have joined
the Green Party since.
• http://www.crocuta.net/Dean/Kimmy_Cas
h's_Story.htm
A tattoo honoring a presidential
drop-out