Lecture 06 Cognitive Dissonance Flashcards

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1
Q

Cognitive Dissonance

A
  • Discomfort that is caused when two COGNITIONS conflict, or when our BEHAVIOR CONFLICTS with
    our ATTITUDES
  • Dissonant cognitions challenge our SELF-ESTEEM
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2
Q

What is the goal of cognitive dissonance?

A

To maintain consistency among humans’ thoughts

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3
Q

What does cognitive dissonance lead to?

A
  1. Change behavior
  2. Justify behavior by changing one of the
    dissonant cognitions
  3. Justify behavior by adding new cognitions
    - e.g. “Smoking is cool”, “I want to be like my friends”
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4
Q

Self-Affirmation

A
  • Bolster the self-concept
  • Reducing dissonance by adding a cognition about other positive attributes
  • e.g. “Not very smart of me to be smoking, but, I’m really a very good lawyer”, “Donate the corrupted money to earn merit”
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5
Q

How can cognitive dissonance implement in campaigns?

A
  1. Create a gap between audiences’ belief or behavior, and their desired outcomes by generating dissatisfaction with social proof
  2. Provide one or more choices for them to weigh and justify their decision with benefits or values
  3. Challenge their belief by providing facts, evidence, or logic to refute a common misconception that they believes, and then propose a new perspective or insight that aligns with your message
  4. Resolve a conflict from a negative experience, a complaint, a mistake, or a crisis by acknowledging, compensating, and improving.
  5. Reinforce a behavior by using confirmation, appreciation, or recognition to validate and praise your audience’s decision, action, and sharing to others
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6
Q

Impact Bias

A

Overestimate the intensity and duration of our emotional reactions to future negative events
- Anticipate that emotions will be more intense and last longer than what actually happens

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7
Q

The Effect of Cognitive Dissonance on Impact Bias

A

The process of dissonance reduction often helps us back bounce quickly from the experiencing emotion

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8
Q

Downplay

A

Distort likes and dislikes
- Negative aspects of chosen alternative
- Positive aspects of rejected alternative

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9
Q

The Effect of The Permanence of the Decision on Cognitive Dissonance

A

More important decisions and greater permanence lead to more dissonance

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10
Q

Creating the Illusion of Irrevocability

A
  • When decisions are permanent (irrevocable)
  • Dissonance increases
  • Motivation to reduce dissonance increases
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11
Q

Lowballing

A

Present a more preferable choice first and then replace by a less preferable choice
- Sense of commitment
- Triggers the anticipation of an exciting event

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12
Q

Cheating Pyramid

A

Attitude change in bidirectional way after cheating
- Positive toward cheating -> will do it again in the future
- Negative toward cheating -> never do it again

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13
Q

Justification of Effort

A

Increase their liking for something they have WORKED HARD to attain.

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14
Q

Counter-attitudinal Advocacy

A

Stating an opinion or attitude that runs counter to one’s private belief or attitude

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15
Q

External justification

A

Use external sources to reduce cognitive dissonance
- e.g. money

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16
Q

Internal justification

A

Use internal sources to reduce cognitive dissonance
- e.g. changing attitude, believing the lie someone told

17
Q

How can someone’s hypocrisy be induced?

A
  • Make person aware of conflict between attitudes and behavior
  • Hypocrisy creates dissonance
  • Reduce dissonance by changing behavior
18
Q

The Effect of Counter-attitudinal Essay on Cognitive Dissonance

A
  • Writing an essay requires the individual to CAREFULLY consider and articulate arguments in favor of a position they do not actually hold
  • The more EFFORT they put into constructing a convincing argument, the greater the dissonance they experience
19
Q

Dissonance Reduction

A

+ Induced compliance
- Justification of behavior
- Trivialization
- Acquiring new information to support argument

20
Q

Selective Exposure

A

Choose to receive message that align with their beliefs

21
Q

Self-persuasion

A

A form of internal justification

22
Q

How does different degrees of punish severity affect self-persuaion?

A
  • Mild punishment -> Creates greater need for internal
    justification -> DEVALUING of the behavior or object
  • Severe punishment: No attitude change
23
Q

Explain why does behavior induce attitude change in terms of cognitive dissonance

A
  • The behavior is dissonant with attitude
  • Change attitude because of the dissonance
  • Acknowledging mistakes and taking responsibility is easier said than done
  • Process of self-justification is unconscious which mean saying out loud is conscious and doesn’t induce anything change