Download Cognitive Consistency and Social Motivation

Cognitive Consistency
and Social Motivation
 What is cognitive consistency?
 How does presence of others motivate our
behavior?
 What do motives like conformity, compliance
or obey mean?
 How do situational factors influence our
helping behavior?
How do Consistency Theories produce
Motivation?
Inconsistency between thoughts,
beliefs attitudes, and behaviors can
generate motivation
• Tension
Behavior
Heider's balance theory (1946): likes and
dislikes are balanced
A
A
+
B
-
+
+
C
B
A
+
+
+
C
B
-
C
Problems with Balance Theory
 How does a person resolve balance?
 Prediction regarding a specific situation
 Importance of items?
 Some are serious and some are not
 Dichotomizing balance and Imbalance
 Grey areas
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
 One afternoon a fox was walking through the forest
and spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from over a
lofty branch.” Just the thing to quench my thirst,"
quoth he. Taking a few steps back, the fox jumped
and just missed the hanging grapes. Again the fox
took a few paces back and tried to reach them but
still failed. Finally, giving up, the fox turned up his
nose and said, "They're probably sour anyway," and
proceeded to walk away.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
 Cognitive= thought
 Dissonance= conflict
 “The distressing mental state caused by inconsistency
between a person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action.
(Griffin 8th ed., 2012)
 Whenever we behave in a way that is inconsistent a
“fierce all consuming drive state” enters your mind and
forces you to make a change in order to relieve that state.
(Eidenmuller, 2012)
A
B
C
D
• Attitude/
Behavior
inconsistency
• Dissonance
Created
• Attitude
Change
• Dissonance
Reduced
Linear Model
Reduction of Dissonance
 Selective Exposure – The tendency people have
to avoid information that would create cognitive
dissonance because its incompatible with their
current beliefs.

Exposing yourself with information that reinforces your
choice
Reduction of Dissonance cont.
 Post decision dissonance – strong doubts
experienced after making an important, close-call
decision that is difficult to reverse. (This is a type
of dissonance, but it is suggestive of a person who
can predict their future dissonance and thus
changes their current behavior.)

Over estimate the chosen alternative to reduce dissonance
Reduction of Dissonance cont.
 Minimal Justification Effort– More effort we
expend to reach a goal, the more we will value it.

Severity of initiation
Reduction of Dissonance cont.
(Additional):
 Try to acquire new information that will increase
the harmony
 Change one or more beliefs associated with the
dissonance
 Reduce the importance that caused this dissonance
1. Which statement creates Cognitive Dissonance?
a) I want to sing, and I have the voice of an angel.
b) I really need a band-aid, and there is one in my
pocket.
c) I have to have an orange, but I am allergic to
Vitamin C.
d) We want to go get a hamburger, and we have just
enough money to do so.
1. Which statement creates Cognitive Dissonance?
a) I want to sing, and I have the voice of an angel.
b) I really need a band-aid, and there is one in my
pocket.
c) I have to have an orange, but I am allergic to
Vitamin C.
d) We want to go get a hamburger, and we have just
enough money to do so.
2. Out of these definitions, which represents cognitive
dissonance?
An uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting
ideas simultaneously.
b) The distressing mental state caused by inconsistency
between a person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action.
c) Two polar opposite mental feelings caused from a
behavior and an attitude.
d) A person’s conflicting thoughts or ideas which directly
cause changes in behavior or attitudes associated with
those thoughts or ideas.
a)
2. Out of these definitions, which is closest to the definition
provided by the book?
An uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting
ideas simultaneously.
b) The distressing mental state caused by inconsistency
between a person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action.
c) Two polar opposite mental feelings caused from a
behavior and an attitude.
d) A person’s conflicting thoughts or ideas which directly
cause changes in behavior or attitudes associated with
those thoughts or ideas.
a)
3. Which statement(s) would cause the least amount of
Cognitive Dissonance?
I want to hang out with Courtney, but she is in Spain.
b) I need my phone, but it’s upstairs and I am downstairs.
c) I have to make an ‘A’ on my test, but I didn’t study very
much
d) I want some water, but I am in the desert.
a)
3. Which statement(s) would cause the least amount of
Cognitive Dissonance?
I want to hang out with Courtney, but she is in Spain.
b) I need my phone, but it’s upstairs and I am downstairs.
c) I have to make an ‘A’ on my test, but I didn’t study very
much
d) I want some water, but I am in the desert.
a)
5. Which of the following is not a hypothesis of reducing
Cognitive Dissonance?
Expectancy Violation
b) Selective Exposure
c) Minimal Justification
d) Postdecision Dissonance
a)
5. Which of the following is not a hypothesis of reducing
Cognitive Dissonance?
Expectancy Violation
b) Selective Exposure
c) Minimal Justification
d) Postdecision Dissonance
a)
Fill in the Blank
1._________ and _________ must be present to have
Cognitive Dissonance.
2. __________dissonance is when a person has strong
doubts after making an important or close-call decision
that is difficult to reverse.
3. ‘The tendency people have to avoid certain information
that would create Cognitive Dissonance is known as
_______________
Fill in the Blank
1. A Behavior and an attitude must be present to have
Cognitive Dissonance.
2. Post decision dissonance is when a person has strong
doubts after making an important or close-call decision
that is difficult to reverse.
3. ‘The tendency people have to avoid certain information
that would create Cognitive Dissonance is known as
selective exposure
Self Perception Theory
 Daryl Bem (1972): People can learn about
themselves simply by watching their own behavior.
 Self-Perception Theory: When internal cues are
difficult to interpret, people gain insight by observing
their own behavior.
 People Observe


The Behavior Itself
Environmental forces working on the individual
 Observed Behavior
+
 Environmental Forces
=
 Attributions or the Cause of the Behavior
Example
 Behavior: I am eating asparagus
+
 Environment: I am alone at home
=
 Cause: I like asparagus
 The old attribution question arises:
 Is the cause of the behavior personal or situational?
 Since there is no situational (environmental)
explanation for my behavior, I must conclude that
the cause is personal: I must like asparagus.
Example
 Behavior: I am eating asparagus
+
 Environment: A man has a gun pointed at me
=
 Cause: I am eating asparagus because I might
otherwise be shot
 I might also ask, “Why was it necessary for someone
to point a gun at me to get me to eat asparagus?”
 I might decide that I must not like asparagus. I end
up inferring a different disposition in me.
To Change the Example:
 Behavior: I am eating asparagus
+
 Environment: My parents have said that I will not
be allowed up from the table until I have finished the
asparagus
=
 Cause: I don’t like asparagus
 Here, there is considerable environmental cause for
the behavior, so I must conclude that I am eating
asparagus for a situational reason – the gun
 To summarize what self perception theory is saying
about the cause of behavior:

If there is minimal environmental explanation for a behavior,
we conclude that the cause is personal (dispositional)

If there is strong environmental explanation for a behavior, we
conclude that the cause is situational (something in my
environment)
 Behavior: I told the guy that I liked the experiment
+
 Environment: I got $20 for it
=
 I hated that experiment
 In the $20 case, the money is a strong explanation
for the behavior. Why should I have to be offered so
much money to tell the guy that I liked the
experiment? Because I must dislike it.
 Strong environmental cause implies lack of personal
desire to perform the behavior.
 Behavior: I told the guy that I liked the experiment
+
 Enviroment: I got $1 for it
=
 Cause: The experiment was okay
 Here, there is very little environmental explanation
for the behavior, so I must conclude that the cause
for my telling the guy that the experiment was fun
was personal – I said it was okay because it was
okay.
 The important thing to note is that cognitive
dissonance was not used in self-perception theory to
explain the behavior. All it took was examination of
the behavior and its circumstances.
 Self perception theory argues that internal drive
states are not necessary for explanation of behavior
and attributions.
Which Theory is Correct?
 We can’t say that one theory is better than the other.
 We can say that these are two different ways to
explain the cause of behavior – one requiring
inference of internal drive states, the other not
needing examination of internal drive states.
Issues
 Getting paid for grades – does it cause you to like
school more?
 Getting paid to babysit – does it cause you to like
babysitting more?
 Getting paid to mow the lawn – does it cause you to
like mowing the lawn more?
Social Facilitation
Social facilitation: improvement in
performance in the presence of others (both
audience and coaction)
Triplett’s (1898) early study of the influence of
other people on performance of simple tasks.
Coaction effect
Audience Effect
Performance
in the
Presence of
Others
Zajonc’s motivational analysis of
social facilitation (1965)
9
Social facilitation occurs
on simple tasks that
require dominant
responses
Presence
of others
Dominant
responses
increase and
Social interference
occurs for complex
tasks that require
nondominant responses
Task requires
dominant
responses
Social
facilitation
Performance
gain
nondominant
responses
decrease
Task requires
nondominant
responses
Social
interference
Performance
loss
Empirical Examples:
Zajonc’s Cockroach
Study
Performance in the
Presence of Others
Speed in
seconds
140
120
100
80
Coacting
Alone
60
40
20
0
Simple
Complex
Type of Maze
Why Does
Social
Facilitation
Occur?
Theories of social facilitation
Two types of responses in performance settings
• Challenge response (readiness to respond)
• Threat response (appeared to be stressed for
readiness in action)
Role of Arousal
 Arousal is critiqued because of lack of definition
 Social Facilitation
 Threat Motivation= novel task; blood pressure high
 Challenge Motivation= Well learned; blood pressure
not high
Social Influence-Conformity
Sherif's (1936) autokinetic effect studies
Participants just judged the distance a dot of light moved in a darkened room
Autokinetic Effect
It moved about
3.5 inches
But, unbeknown to the participants, a
stationary dot of light will seem to move
What if people make their judgments
with others, and state estimates aloud?
Looks like 1 inch
I’d say 2 inches
7.5 inches
Initially, they differ; but
over trials, they converge
The creation of a norm
Average distance
estimates
Person A
Convergence
Person B
Person C
Alone
Group
Session 1
Group
Session 2
Group
Session 3
Even when the confederate was
replaced, the norm remained
Person B
New
member
Average distance
estimates
Person C
Person D
Group
Session 4
Group
Session 1
Group
Session 2
Group
Session 3
Conformity &
Independence
Example of the
“stimulus lines”
1
Standard Line
2
3
Comparison Lines
Trial 1
Trial 2
1
Standard Line
Distortion of Judgment
Distortion of Action
2
3
Comparison Lines
Factors Influencing Conformity Motivation
• Degree of Ambiguity
• Unanimity of majority
• Another dissenter (even if incorrect)
• Strong vs. weak situations (e.g., face-toface, remote)
• Size of the group
Behavioral Change in response
to direct requests
Compliance
Foot-in-theDoor Technique
Small request
followed by a
much larger
one
Door-in-theFace Technique
Large request
followed by a
much smaller
one
Reciprocal
Concessions
Contrast Effect
We treat
others like
how we are
treated
Previous
small request
may seem
smaller
because it is
preceded by a
large request
Milgram
Study
4
•Rigged drawing (teacher, learner)
•Shock machine
•Basic condition: series of errors, pounding on the
wall at 300 volts, refused to answer at 315 volts
•Prods: "The experiment requires that you continue"
5
100
Pounding
sound
90
Percent Obedient
80
Pounding
Voice
Heart
“Ugh!”
70
60
50
“Let me
out of
here.”
40
30
20
10
0
Shock Level
“I absolutely
refuse to
answer any
more. You
can’t hold me
here.”
Maximum
obedience
(450 v)
Why do People Obey?
 Detached responsibility
 View oneself as instrumental
 Deindividuation
 Personal responsibility
 Proximity condition: If teacher was put in the same room as
learner obedience dropped
 Obedience vs rebellion
 Prestige
When Influence
Inhibits: The
Bystander Effect
People help less when in
groups rather than alone
22
The Kitty Genovese Tragedy
In 1964 Winston Moseley attacked a young women,
Katherine (Kitty) Genovese as she returned to her
apartment after working. When one of her neighbors
shouted at him Moseley retreated to his car. But no one
called the police, and Moseley returned 20 minutes
later to renew his attack. He raped her and stabbed her
to death. The police receive the first call from a witness
at 3:50. They are on the scene in two minutes, but 37
minutes after the first attack. Journalists who
described the incident claimed that as many as 38
people witnessed the murder.
Rachel Manning, Mark Levine, and Alan
Collins (2007) point out that the Kitty
Genovese is something of a parable.
What causes the bystander effect?
23
Multiple causes
• Bystander effect
• Normative
influence (helping is
“normal” in sympatico
cultures)
• Diffusion of
responsibility
“Diffusion of responsibility” seems the
most likely explanation for this result. If an
individual is alone when he notices an
emergency, he is solely responsible for
coping with it. If he believes others are
also present, he may feel that his own
responsibility for taking action is lessened,
making him less likely to help.
Mechanisms
 Bystander Effect
 Tendency to help less when others are present
 Pluralistic Ignorance
 Don’t want to declare emergency, appear emotion less
 Diffusion of Responsibility
 Others are present
What Motivates People to Help?
 Altruistic vs Egoistic
 Unselfish concern for others
 No desire for reward
 Empathy