Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Wilson & Russell Experiment (see if you can guess the results)

1. P’s are first asked to lift a weight. The weight is either 10 lbs. or 50 lbs..

2. They are then paid 50 cents or $1.50 for their work. 3. Next they are asked to estimate how high they lifted

the weight. 4. According to Festinger’s theory of cognitive

dissonance, which two groups would be the most accurate? A) The 10 lbs. for 50 cents and the 50 lbs. for $1.50 groups, or B) the 50 lbs. for 50 cents and 10 lbs. for $1.50 groups.

I. BackgroundA: Most influential statement in 40 years

1. Makes non-intuitive predictions, e.g., If I want to make you like sorting garbage, I’d have someone you hate get you to sort it.

2. Simple and accounts for a large amount of previously unexplained phenomenon, e.g., earthquakes and other disasters.

CORE

PERIPHERY

TYPICAL DISASTER SCENARIO

3. Gut feeling (we all have experienced it), e.g., course loads and teacher ratings, reading about things after we purchase them, mad professor.

4. Integrates Field Research with laboratory research, e.g., When Prophecy Fails.

5. Demonstrates biological continuity with rats AND people.

II. Basic Statement

When the opposite of one cognition follows from the other, dissonance exists,

i.e., If A, then B (no dissonance)

If A, then not B (dissonance)

e.g. 1 --see cartoon

II. Basic Statement(Con’t)

e.g. 2. My theory is the greatest, everyone disagrees

e.g. 3. Smoking can kill you, you smoke

•III. Dissonance as a drive. When people experience dissonance, they are motivated to reduce it.

•IV. The Magnitude o f Dissonance: The greater the magnitude, the greater the dissonance. Magnitude is determined by:

A. Ratio of consonant to dissonant elements (e.g. Smoking)

Social Weight control Complements

alcohol Complements

coffee or tea Relaxation Reward self Other

.003 chance of cancer

Blood pressure Emphysema Negative social

pressure Harmful to others Smells very bad Looks disgusting

B. Relevance: The greater the personal relevance, the greater the dissonance.

E.g. 1. Clinton dirty old man; people like Clinton. Why?

E.g. 2. You are smart, but you are failing your courses.

V. Dissonance Reduction: Three ways:

A. Add new elements, e.g. Professor is like “When Prophecy Fails,” goes on Geraldo, Donahue, and Oprah shows.

B. Change original element, e.g. I’m not smart or I didn’t study hard enough or a “D” is not such a bad grade.

C. Reduce importance, e.g., Who cares about grades anyway? I’m just here for fun.

Note: A valid criticism of the theory is that it cannot predict which of the three ways a person will choose to reduce dissonance.

VI. Research A. Post-Decision Dissonance: Dissonance is

greatest following a decision between two or more alternatives.

Why?

Alternative A Alternative B ++++++ --- +++++ ---- --- +++++

1. Study by Erlich et al.

Predicted that new car owners would read more ads about the car they purchased than ads about other cars. Why?

See cartoon

Your’s Truly:

Mustang vs. Camaro

2. Brehm (1956) Women ratings of domestic products

High Dissonance Group - chose between the two most attractive items

Low Dissonance Group - chose between most and least attractive items

Control - given item they rated most attractive

Post -Experimental Ratings

************

**********

**********

3. Walster’s Study of Regret Phase

05

10152025303540

pre 4 min. 15 min. 30 min.

time of rating

Soldiers ratings for chosen and not chosen alternative

chosennot chosen

B. Dissonance and Attitude Change : If you want to change someone’s attitude, first create dissonance; the person will change his or her attitude in order to reduce it.

1. Series 1. Rats and people come to love the things they suffer for.

E.g. 1, Aronson & Mills: Dissonance Group: read obscene

literature No Dissonance Group: did not

read obscene literature Both Groups listened to boring

tape of sexual behaviour of rats Results ? Dissonance Group liked the

session and wanted to come back the most

Alternative Explanations? *******. *******. E.g. 2, Gerard & Matheson: replicated Aronson & Mills: Instead of reading dirty words, they used electric shock Half the Dissonance Group was told that they passed,

Half that they would have to wait until after the session Results: Shock worked just as well and both

Dissonance Groups liked the session more than the control group

E.g. 3, Festinger and insufficient rewards in rats

What kind of reinforcement is best for learning?

Continuous What kind is best for resistance to

extinction? Partial Festinger says this is so because rats

develop a dissonance-like preference when they go to the goal box and there is no food.

2. Series 2. Dissonance and Reinforcement

Festinger & Carlsmith Study: Dissonance Predicts $1.00 group

should like the study more than the $20.00 group. Why?

Reinforcement Theory Predicts the opposite. Why?

Dissonance wins in series of studies.

Other Research on Reinforcement:

Threat. Low or High? *****, e.g., Aronson & boys with

toys; Korean war and brainwashing effects (Brehm & Cohen).

Research on insufficient justification: sorting garbage, eating grasshoppers with a nice vs. insulting experimenter

VII. Attacks on Dissonance Theory A. Reinforcement theory: lost B. Self-perception theory (Bem): Individuals come to know their

own attitudes, emotions, and other internal states partially by inferring them from observations of their own behaviour and the circumstances in which this behaviour occurs. Thus to the extent that internal cues are weak, ambiguous, or uninterpretable, the individual is functionally in the same position as an outside observer, an observer who must necessarily rely upon those same external cues to infer the individual’s inner states. $1.00? Must have liked it.

C. Impression Management Theory: We try to be consistent to the experimenter and tell him or her what makes us look good. $1.00? Must have liked it.

VIII. Retaliation. Dissonance and Arousal. E.g., Dissonance and the Pill (Zanna & Cooper)

02468

101214

Attitude Change

No

ne

Aro

usa

l

Rel

axat

ion

Conditions

Effects of Placebo onattitude change

Hi Choice

Lo Choice

Note: Hi Choice = High Dissonance, Low Choice = Low Dissonance

IX: Other ResearchA. Cognitive Control of Motivation (Zimbardo) e.g. Hunger study

05

10152025303540

Free Fatty Acids in Blood

Hi Choice Lo Choice

Conditions

Anount of Free Fatty Acids after 8 hours

Note: Hi Choice = Hi Dissonance, Lo Choice = Lo Dissonance

B. Dissonance and Psychotherapy (Cooper)

02468

1012

Distance

Flooding Exercise

Therapy

Distance from snake as a result of choice and therapy

Hi Choice

Lo Choice

Note: Hi Choice =Hi Dissonance, Lo Choice = Lo Dissonance

C. Dissonance and Commitment People who suffer in their relations

with their partner or with their jobs come to love them more (Brickman)

We go through: Thesis Antithesis Synthesis

That’s All Folks!