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Social Psychology
The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Not only do our attitudes influence what we do,
what we do can sometimes influence our attitudes.
“Dissonant” means “not harmonious”, conflicting.
Cognitive Dissonance is an unpleasant state that
can occur when we hold two conflicting attitudes,
or when our attitudes conflict with our behavior.
The theory says that when we experience dissonance,
we immediately (and unknowingly) take steps to reduce
it. This often involves attitude change.
Changing Attitudes Through
Cognitive Dissonance
Here’s what can happen if you say something you
don’t really believe.
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You hold an attitude, X.
You say the opposite, not-X, with a
minimum amount of justification.
Attitude, X, and statement, not-X,
are dissonant.
To reduce the dissonance, you
change your attitude to not-X. You
now believe what you said.
Classic Experiment on
Cognitive Dissonance
(Festinger & Carlsmith)
Control Group:
Performs dull task;
Goes for interview;
Expresses negative attitude toward the task.
Experimental Group:
Performs same dull task;
Asked to lie to waiting participant and say the task
was interesting and fun;
Half are paid $1 to lie and half are paid $20;
Goes for interview.
In the interview, one of these groups ($1 or $20)
expressed a negative attitude toward the task
(similar to the Control Group’s) while the other
group expressed a positive attitude.
?
Question: According to the Theory of Cognitive
Dissonance, which group should form a positive
attitude, and why?
Answer: The $1 group should form positive attitude.
They said something they didn’t believe with a
minimum amount of justification.
This prediction was supported.