Lecture 5 - Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger, 1957)

The theory that people dislike inconsistency because it creates psychological discomfort, which drives a motivation to restore balance by rationalising or reinterpreting things to reduce the dissonance

Festinger (1956) - "When Prophecy Fails"

Study infiltrating a doomsday cult; when the predicted world-ending flood did not occur, members reduced dissonance by recalibrating clocks (believing theirs were ahead) and removing metal items as instructed by a "past communication"

Dissonance in Everyday Life

Many everyday beliefs can be inconsistent; the greater the dissonance (inconsistency), the greater the discomfort and tension aroused

Confirmation Bias (in Dissonance)

People tend to select sources of information consistent with their worldview, in order to avoid the discomfort of encountering inconsistent information

Ways of Dealing with Dissonance

Changing your behaviour to match your attitudes, changing your attitudes to match your behaviours, or adding/changing cognitions to justify the tension

Brehm (1956)

First experimental study of dissonance; found that choosing between multiple desirable options evokes dissonance due to the nature of compromise, with closer preferences making decisions harder and dissonance worse

Brehm (1956) - Reappraisal Methods

Dissonance from choice was reduced by upscaling attitudes about the chosen option, downplaying attitudes about the rejected option, or adding new cognitions (e.g. "my choice will also help me make new friends")

Brehm (1956) - Findings

Reappraisal resulted in liking the chosen option more and the rejected option less; this effect was stronger when the choice was between more closely ranked/preferred items