PSYC2012 - Chapter 6 - Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance theory

Discrepancies between attitudes and behavior can produce psychological discomfort/adverse arousal, which motivate people to either change their attitudes or their behavior to reduce said arousal

How is cognitive dissonance evoked?

1. Behavior produces negative consequences (embarrassment, shame)

2. Feeling of personal responsibility; negative consequences were freely chosen

3. Physiological arousal

4. Attribution of arousal to the consequences of one's own behavior

In what scenario would cognitive dissonance not arise?

One in which the person can justify their behavior by external reasons

Change behavior to align with attitude

Dissonance reduction strategy where people change their behavior so that it no longer goes against the attitude causing cognitive dissonance

Change one of the dissonant cognitions (or attitude)

Dissonance reduction strategy where people change the cognitions that cause dissonance into ones that align with the initial behavior that caused dissonance

Add consonant cognitions

Dissonance reduction strategy where people introduce supportive beliefs on top of existing ones to reduce dissonance.

Minimize the importance of the conflict

Dissonance reduction strategy where people suggest that the conflict between their cognitions and behavior is not important; "I don't care if I'm (x)"

Change your perception of the behavior

Dissonance reduction strategy where people suggest that they do not perform the activities that produce dissonance as frequently as they actually do

Reduce perceived choice

Dissonance reduction strategy where people suggest that they had no choice when partaking in acts that produce dissonance.

Justifying Attitude-Discrepant Behavior

Individuals tend to change their attitudes if they have acted in a way that goes against that attitude

internal justification

the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself

external justification

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

Which type of dissonance justification produces the most attitude change?

Internal

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

Insufficient justification

reduction of dissonance by internally justifying one's behavior when external justification is not as strong

Ben Franklin effect

doing someone a favor with little or no external justification can create a more favorable attitude toward that person

Forbidden Toy Study

Children in mild threat condition rated the toy as less attractive than those in the severe threat condition, as there was a higher external attribution

narcissism

Combination of excessive self-love alongside a lack of empathy for othrs

Terror-management theory

The idea that people adopt cultural values and moral principles in order to cope with their fear of death. This system of beliefs protects individuals from anxiety about their mortality and bolsters their self-esteem.

Justifying effort

The tendency to increase liking for something one has worked hard to attain or complete. This can be physical work or emotional endurance.

IKEA effect

When people are given the option of either buying a box pre-built or building it themselves, the ones who built the box themselves ended up liking the box.

Aronson and Mills Experiment

-College students volunteered to join a group that would regularly to discuss the psychology of sex. Students in the difficult initiation condition liked the group more than students in other conditions due to them going through more effort to complete it.

postdecisional dissonance

Reducing dissonance by reducing the attractiveness of a chosen alternative, while devaluing the rejected alternative

In what scenarios is dissonance most abundant in?

In decisions that are more important and permanent

Self-affirmation theory

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

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory

The idea that people experience dissonance 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.

Hypocrisy Induction/counterattitudinal advocacy

Occurs when people state an opinion or attitude that runs counter to one's private attitude, belief, or behavior. When confronted publicly, people are more likely to adjust their behavior to the one that is stated

Stone & Colleagues

Participants write essay about importance of condom use for High School sex education class. The participants who also had to list the amount of times they failed to use condoms were more likely to use them more in the future

What conditions must be true for cognitive dissonance to change behavior?

1. People must publicly advocate desired behaviors

2. People must become aware of their failures to uphold said behaviors

3. Direct access to means of decreasing said dissonance.

ben franklin effect

a person who has done a favor for someone is more likely to do another favor for them than if they had received a favor from that person

forbidden toy study

insufficient punishment /threat leads to lasting attitude change.