Ch. 6 The Need to Justify our Actions Flashcards
cognitive dissonance
a drive or feeling of discomfort, originally defined as being caused by holding two or more inconsistent cognition and subsequently defined as being caused by performing an action that is discrepant from ones customary typically positive-conception
-always produces discomfort and we try to resolve it
self-affirmation
a way to reduce cognitive dissonance by reminding oneself of one of our positive attitudes
-example; i’m stupid for smoking but a great cook
impact bias
the tendency to overestimate the intensity and duration on one;s emotional reactions to future negative events
post-decision dissonance
dissonance arousal after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives
justification of effort
the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain
-the harder a goal is to obtain the more people will like it even if it is not what they expected, they will convince themselves it was worth it
external justification
a reason or an explanation for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside the individual
-ex. in order to receive a large reward or to avoid punishment
internal justification
the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself
-ex. ones attitude or bahaviors
conterattitudinal advocacy
studying an opinion or attitude that runs counter to one’s private belief or attitude
insufficient punishment
the dissonance arousal when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually resulting in individuals devaluating the forbidden activity or object
hypocrisy induction
the arousal of dissonance by having individuals make statements that are counter to their behaviors and then reminding them of the inconsistency behavior what they advocated and their behavior.
-the purpose is to head individuals to more responsible behavior
