Cognitive Dissonance processes Flashcards
define cognitive consistency
‘beliefs, values, attitudes, behaviours and mental representations that are mutually interdependent parts of a system that tends toward a state of harmony, balance of consonance’ - Eagly & Chaiken, 1993
define cognitive dissonance
a state of emotional discomfort experienced when attitudes of behaviours are inconsistent with their attitudes of beliefs
what are the causes of dissonance
- insufficient justification
- effort
- decision making
define insufficient justification as a cause of dissonance and provide an study
when we are forced to behave in a way that contradicts our beliefs or attitudes
festinger & carlsmith 1959 - people who were only paid $1 rated the study more enjoyable than those who were paid $20 for being asked to lie to participants that the study was enjoyable
define effort as a cause of cognitive dissonance and provide a study
when a lot of effort is put in and it does not turn out as well as hoped
aronson & mills 1959 - participants who had to read a sex scene rated the objectively uninteresting discussion afterwards as more interesting compared to those who just read embarrassing words
define decision making as a cause of cognitive dissonance and provide a study
when we are forced to reject options that also had benefits
Brehm 1956 - women asked to rate all the items, then choose an item, then rate them all again. when rating after having chosen an item, the rating for their item was made higher than what they rated before they chose an item.
what methods can be used to reduce cognitive dissonance?
- change our attitude of behaviour so that no conflict exists
- try to reduce your perception of conflict:
- adding extra info, eg. exceptions to the rule, ad positive info that outweighs the negatives
- decrease the importance of the conflicting cognitions, eg. rationalising, deny responsibility for the conflicting behaviour
