L3 Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory

3. Attitudes and Stereotypes

Consistency of Attitude Components

The principle of Cognitive consistency states that human beings have an inner drive to hold their beliefs and behaviour in harmony and avoid disharmony

Cognitive Dissonance

The state of psychological discomfort arising from awareness of inconsistency amongst beliefs and actions or between two inconsistent cognitions

• Humans are sensitive to inconsistencies between behaviours and beliefs

Origin of Festinger’s theory

Arose out of a participant observation study of a cult which believed that the earth was going to be destroyed by a flood on a certain date and an alien species would come to Earth to whisk them away

Process of Cognitive Dissonance

1. Become aware of the Cognitive dissonance

2. Take responsibility for the dissonance

3. Feel discomfort from the dissonance

4. Work to resolve the dissonance

Effect of Cognitive Dissonance on Behavour

People adopt certain defence mechanisms when they are in cognitive dissonance

Avoidance

Individuals in cognitive dissonance avoid encountering situations and new information that could increase cognitive dissonance

Reduction

Individuals in cognitive dissonance belittle the importance of the cognitive dissonance

Rationalization

Individuals in cognitive dissonance tend to justify their behaviour

Magnitude

A subjective measure of the level of discomfort an individual feels when in cognitive dissonance, the greaater the magnitude the greater the cognitive dissonance

Factors causing the magnitude of cognitive dissonance

• As the number of discrepant cognitions increases the magnitude of the dissonance increases

• If a person is forced to comply with a belief or behaviour the person can rationalise the dissonance by saying ‘I had no choice’

• The less-free choice an individual has the lower the magnitude of cognitive dissonance

• The greater the effort or sacrifice involved to hold a belief or behaviour the greater the magnitude of the dissonance

Responses to cognitive dissonance

The individual becomes aware of their inconsistent beliefs and behaviours

Individual takes personal responsibility for action ands seeks alignment by:

1. Changing the belief

2. Changing the behaviour

3. Changing the perception of the action

Responses: Change the behaviour

Reducing dissonance by changing behaviour frequently presents problems for people, as it is often difficult for people to change well-leaarned behavioural responses

This is often very difficult (especially in the case of addiction), people frequently employ a variety of mental maneuvers to be able to continue the behaviour

Strengths of Cognitive Dissonance Theory (1)

Dissonance theory revolutionized social psychology by emphasizing the role of cognition in social behaviour

Strengths of Cognitive Dissonance Theory (2)

The concept of cognitive dissonance is supported by empirical evidence (tested scientifically) - Festinger and Carlsmith’s cognitive consequences for forced compliance experiment

Limitations of Cognitive Dissonance Theory (1)

Cannot be directly observed, it is not possible to objectively measure or quantify the exact amount of dissonance an individual feels, only the results of congitive dissonance can be measured through subjective self-report measures

Limitations of Cognitive Dissonance Theory (2)

Fails to address the issue of individual differences in the arousal of, and tolerance for, cognitive dissonance. Some people are more prone to experiencing dissonance than others, and some can tolerate more dissonance, for a longer period, than others

Real life applications of cognitive dissonance (1)

Cognitive dissonance is concept studied in marketing fields - explains post purchase consumer behaviour - buyers regret

Real life applications of cognitive dissonance (2)

Identifying and developing strategies to resolve cognitive dissonance may play an important role in some people’s psychotherapy