Chapter 6: Cognitive Dissonance and the need to Protect Our Self-Esteem

What is cognitive dissonance?

the discomfort that people feel when they behave in ways that threaten their self-esteem

What is postdecision dissonance?

dissonance aroused after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives

What is lowballing?

an unscrupulous strategy whereby a salesperson induces a customer to agree to purchase a product at a low cost, subsequently claims it was an error, and then raises the price; frequently, the purchase at the inflated price

What is justification of effort?

the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain

What is external justification?

a reason or an explanation for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside the individual

What is internal justification?

the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself

What is counterattitudinal behavior?

acting in a way that runs counter to one's private belief or attitude

What is 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

What is hypocrisy induction?

The arousal of dissonance by having individuals make statements that run counter to their behaviors and then reminding them of the inconsistency between what they advocated and their behavior. The purpose is to lead individuals to more responsible behavior.

What is self-affirmation theory?

the idea that people reduce threats to their self-esteem by affirming themselves in areas unrelated to the source of the threat

What is self-evaluation maintenance theory?

the idea that people experience dissonances when someone close to us outperforms us in an area that is central to our self-esteem. this dissonance can be reduced by becoming less close to the person, changing our behavior so that we now outperform them, or deciding that the area is not that important to us after all

What is narcissism?

the combination of excessive self-love and a lack of empathy toward others

What is terror management theory?

the theory that holds that self-esteem serves as a buffer, protecting people from terrifying thoughts about their own mortality

Humans are driven to maintain a __, __.

stable, positive self-concept

Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance:?

discomfort when we perceive inconsistency between 2 of our

Cognitive Dissonance:
- Inconsistency between 2 cognitions (about our ___, __, or __) produces dissonance
- Dissonance is ___, motivates us to reduce the tension
- We'll change the ___ or most ___ changed cognition (usually the ___)
- UNLESS- if there is ___ justification for the inconsistent cognition (the counter-___ behavior); in that case, we don't feel dissonance

- attitudes, values and behaviors
- uncomfortable
- least, easily, and attitude
- external and attitudinal

aroused after we make any important decision; it is reduced by ^ the ___ of the chosen alternative and

increasing

One way to resolve in postdecision dissonance is to proselytize (______ your decision to others).

preach

When a decision feels irrevocable, you may fall for the trick of ___ -- making the customer feel compelled to pay a higher price after 1st agreeing to pay a much lower price.

lowballing

When a person ___ works hard, then finds the goal ___ . . .
People don't want to change their self-concepts to believe they were ____;
Instead, they change their attitudes toward the __ and see it _

voluntarily and wasn't worth it
foolish
goal

Aronson & Mills (1959):

(Hazing) IV:
- No initiation
- Mild initiation
- Harsh initiation
Participants hear a boring group discussion
Participants in which IV group felt the most dissonance? harsh initiation

__ initiation group feels ^ dissonance, so they are most motivated to change their attitudes

harsh

What is Counterattitudinal advocacy?

inducing people to state an attitude contrary to their own attitude.
- If no external justification for the counter attitudinal advocacy, the person's attitude may

Nel, Helmreich, & Aronson (1969) "Counter-Attitudinal Advocacy":

participants: students who believed marijuana was harmful
procedure: asked to create a videotaped speech arguing for its use and legalization
IV: offered large incentives vs. small incentives
Can you predict the results? small incentives

DV results: the __ the incentive, the __in their attitudes toward marijuana

smaller and increase