Lecture: Cognitive Dissonance Flashcards
Cognitive Dissonance
By Festinger
Inconsistent cognitions which we are motivated to reduce
Smoking causes Cancer
Dissonance: Smoking vs Rational Person
Reduce by stop smoking, discount the information, decide you don’t care, or recruit consonant cognitions
When is dissonance intolerable
Something important
Bid discrepancy
Public commitment
Illusion of choice
Festinger & Carlsmith 1959
Induced (forced) compliance
$1 folks:
Task was boring (confirmed w/control condition)
Said boring task was interesting
Only paid $1for it
Resolution: Task was interesting
Called insufficient justification
$20 folks:
Task was boring
Said boring task interesting
Paid $20 ($120 today) - justified to lie
“No” dissonance
Darley & Cooper 1972
Asked participants to write an essay in favor of students wearing uniforms.
They were offered 0.50 or 1.50 to write the essay.
Mostly all declined
For those offered 1.50, they experience dissonance they might not have any attitude towards uniforms, but due to them declining the money to write the essay, the resolution is that they had to have a strong conviction against high school uniforms.
Freedman Forbidden Toy Study 1965
Trying to prevent a behavior
Preschoolers were told not to play with the toy with a mild vs severe threat
40 days later the experimenter comes back, and now the kids can play with any toy including the forbidden toy. The mild threat group ends not playing with the robot
Dissonance:
I’m not playing with the robot
I was given only a mild warning
Resolution: I do not like the toy
No Dissonance:
I’m not playing with robot
I was given severe warning
Aronson & Mills (1959)
Mild vs severe initiation
Join the group if you pass initiation (all female participants)
Severe case: read obscene words from cards and read vivid descriptions of sexual activity
Mild: read related words to sex
Designed to fail
Everyone passes the initiation
Then heard a conversation and they would be able to join the group the next week
Find the group is dull and boring
Who likes the dull group?
Severe initiation
Dissonance: severe
I suffered to join the group
Group seems dull
Resolution: still likes the group
No Dissonance: mild
It was easy to get into the group
Group seems dull
Spreading of alternatives effect
We like the one we chose and then derogate (devalue) the one we didn’t choose
Lyubomirsky & Ross (1999)
Rate/Rank 10 desserts
Get 2nd choice
Then re-rate 2nd and 3rd
Typical result: you like the one you chose and derogate the one not chosen
The exception- happy people are happy with either choice
Unhappy people resolve dissonance
Steele 1988 Self Affirmation Theory
Engage in dissonance activity (counter attitudinal essay) thus to resolve dissonance attitude change
But if affirmed with a white lab coat then no attitude change
Since self-affirmation repairs threat to self
Regret
Regret actions in the short run
We reduce dissonance
Regret inaction in the long run
Why?
Pain quick for actions
But also easier to target specific action for “repair” - reduce dissonance
Easier to rationalize
With time, inaction harder to justify
Infinite universe of inaction
What is the Monty Hall Problem?
There are three doors and behind two doors: is a goat. Behind one door: car
You pick a door
Monty reveals another door where no prize
You: switch
Pick door number 1, bound to open a different door, and can’t pick the one with the prize (restrictions), there is a goat. Pick door number 3 with a goat. Then asked if you wanted to switch doors.
It is favorable for you to switch
Gilovich & Medvec 1995
Confederate convinces you to either stay (using faulty logic) or switch
Regardless, you lose
Those who switch engage in more dissonance reduction
Then told to sell the prize back, the higher they sold the prize since they reduced dissonance
