unit 6- dissonance Flashcards
Describe cognitive dissonance
When confronted with information implying that we may have behaved in ways that are irrational, immoral or stupid- we experience discomfort known as cognitive dissonance
The theory of cognitive dissonance
Dissonance is most powerful and most upsetting when people behave in ways that threaten their self-image
What are the three basic ways we try to reduce cognitive dissonance?
- changing our behavior to bring it in line with the dissonant cognition
- by attempting to justify our behavior through changing one of the dissonant cognitions
- by attempting to justify our behavior by adding new cognitions
Self affirmation
distortions aimed at protecting one’s self image as a sensible, competent, person.
Ways to reduce cognitive dissonance (to reduce feeling this discomfort, we tell ourselves these things)
-Changing attitudes: “I don’t really need to quit smoking, I like smoking”
- adding cognitions: “smoking relaxes me and keeps my weight down, which benefits my health
- Altering the importance of the discrepancy: “ It’s more important to stay relaxed and slim than to worry about maybe getting cancer 30 years from now”
- Reducing perceived choice: “I have no choice but to smoke. I have so much stress in my life right now that smoking is one of the only things that calms me down”
- Changing behavior: “I’m going to stop smoking again”
Impact bias
The tendency to overestimate the intensity and duration of our emotional reactions to future negative events
Post decision dissonance
Dissonance aroused after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives.
Creating the illusion of irrevocability
-The irrevocability of a decision increases the dissonance and motivation to reduce it.
-Because of this, unscrupulous salespeople develop techniques for creating the illusion that irrevocability exists
Lowballing
sales induces a customer to agree to purchase a product at a very low cost and subsequently claims it was an error, and then raises the price
Suppose you cheat on a test, how do you reduce the dissonance?
- likely that you would try to justify the action by finding a way to minimize the negative aspects of the action you chose.
- you could adopt a more lenient attitude towards cheating, convincing yourself that it is a victimless crime that doesn’t hurt anybody, that everybody does it, and so it’s not that bad.
Justification of effort
the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something that they have worked hard to attain
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 avoid a severe punishment)
Internal justification
the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself (ex. one’s attitude or behavior)
Counterattitudinal advocacy
stating an opinion or attitude that runs counter to one’s private belief or attitude
Insufficient justification
Dissonance theory predicts that when our actions are not fully explained by external rewards or coercion, we will experience dissonance, which we can reduce by believing what we have done
