Justification Flashcards
What is cognitive dissonance?
The discomfort that is caused when two cognitions conflict or when behavior conflicts with our attitudes
What are the three main ways we reduce dissonance
1) Changing behaviour
2) Changing attitudes
3) Adding new cognitions that can justify those beliefs (excuses)
What is a way of reducing discomfort that is not part of the three main ways
Self affirmation
What is self affirmation
Boosting self esteem through compliments of unrelated qualities: I may smoke but I am very kind to people
Why is self affiramtion different from the three main ways of reducing discomfort
Because the three ways deal with the threat at hand while self affirmation is for unrelated reasons that target the ego.
Why do we overestimate the pain of disappointment
Because dissonance reduction is usually unconcious
What is impact bias
WHen people overestimate the intensity and duration of their negative emotional reactions
How will people predict for example their feelings over the breakup with their boyfriend
Overestimate the length and intensity of their negative emotions due to impact bias but then their unconsious work of reducing dissonance will actually make them feel better faster
When is dissonance the most painful
When it is about the self: the self concept and self esteem is threatened or something that violates our view of the self
Do people with higher or lower self esteem feel greaterr dissonance
Higher self esteem people especially if it is about that thing that they think highly of
Do pyschopaths feel dissonance
Nah not that much when they something immoral
Experiment that shows the connection between self esteem level and dissonant actions
Students who were given a personality test ad given feedback:
a) Self esteem boost b) Self esteem knock down
c) no feedback
Then they had to play a cards game where they had the opporutnity to cheat: boosting self esteeming less likely to cheat, and lowering self esteem increased likelihood to cheat
“Please don’t be a cheater” vs “Please don’t cheat”
People who were told please dont be a cheater had their self concept of not being a cheater invoked so they were less likely to cheat than people who were invoked with the action of cheating
Can self affirmation backfire?
Yes because if the statements are not true and the peopel were forced tomake those statements about themselves (because they have low self esteem to begin with), they perform poorly. Also when people with low self esteem is given exaggerated praises, then they are also discouraged to do more
How can self affirmation be useful in elevating self esteem?
Must be grounded in reality and the person has to focus on their actual strength and strive to make them consonant with their action
What is post decision dissonance
Dissonance aroused after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternative
Experiment that shows postdecision dissonance and people reducing that dissonance
Asked people to rate the attractiveness of different appliances in the store, then they were asked to choose between two appliances that she rated equally, then she was asked to rerate all the appliances again and the one she chose she rated higher than before and the one she didnt choose as lower
What affects the degree of post decision dissonance
Permanence of the decision
What is an experiment with the post decision dissonance and permanence
Asking people who were going to bet on horses and people who have just placed their bets already. Clearly people who have already places their bets sais that their horse has much better chances of winning ANother more famous one is the photgraphy class one where people can either choose one photo or choose one photo that can be changed later
What is lowballing
A sales strateegy where people make customers agree to a sale and then change the conditions and so the customer will agree to buying the inflated price because it feels final already
Why does lowballing work
1) There is sense of commitment to the purchase already
2) Feeling of commitment triggered the anticipation of an event
3) Final price is higher but people convince themselves that it is probably slightly higher than other dealer so why not
Summary: illusion of irrevocability
What happens when you make a big decision about an immoral thing? (hint: cheating pyramid)
So basically if you do the bad thing, you can change your beliefs to reduce dissonance, but if you decide not to do the sthing, you can still change belief but actually feel even more strongly against it
Are there any neurological changes in the brain when there is dissonance?
Yes using fMRI can see in the striatum and other areas in the prefrontal cortex
Are there differences in dissonance across cultures
Everyone experiences dissoance but the contents are different for example in collectivist culture they can experience dissonance when their behaviour shames or dissapoints others (not just themselves) and that there is international and intergenerational causes of dissonance
What is the justification of effort
Tendency for people to increase their liking for something theu have worked hard for< if i put in this much effort then I must like it
How can justification of effort be seen in real life
Like the frat party initation and rushimg, people must agree to do the tough thing
What is an experiment that shows the justification of effort
Students were asked to participate in an epxeriment but there was different screening procedures: harsh screening, mild and no screening. They were asked to listen to a really boring discussion and then asked to rate how interesting it was.
Harsh screening poeple found it way more interesting than people who had no screening
What is external justification
A reason or an explanation for dissonant personal behaviour that resides outside the individual (to receieve a large reward or avoid punishment)
Internal justification
The reduction of dissoannce by changing something about oneself: basically the reduction that we have been talking about
When do you find internal justification
Whne there is no external justification
What is counterattitudinal advocacy
Stating an opin ion that you is against your beleifs and usually this can lead to internal justification
What is the classic experiment that shows internal vs external justification and counterattitudinal advocacy
The one where they have to do something so boring and then given either $20 or $2 to tell a next group how interesting that tsk was
Then when they were asked how they felt about the task, the people who got $20 didnt think it was good because they had external jusfitication to say that it was good whereas people who only got $1 said it was interesting because they had internal justifcation
How can you explain mild punishment and self persuasion
If the punishment is too hard then there is sufficient external justification, so people are like I dont do it because of the punishment, but if there is a mild punishment and people still follow the instructions, then there is not enough external justification and they turn to internal justifiction (changing beliefs) Deducing that you must have done something for internal reasons
What is self persuasion
A long lasting form of attitude change that results from attempts of self justification
What is hypocricy induction
Arousal of dissonance or making people realize that they are a hypocrite by making themmake statemtnts that run counter to their behaviours and then remind them of the inconsistency between what they advocated and their behaviour. The prupose is to lead indiviudals to more responsible
What is an experiment that showed hypocrisy induction
College students were asked to make arguments for safe sex and then, another group to make arguments but also record the message and finally a group where they made the arguments, record the message but also a group that was made aware that they havent been doing safe sex. and the last group had the most dissonance and reported the greatest change in behaviour
The Ben Franklin effect
Likling the person more after being induced to doing a favor for them. If i am going out of my way to do a favor for them then I must like them
How do people justify cruelty
dehumanize enemies
