351 chapter 6 (Cognitive dissonance "the last portion of the chapter") Exam 2

// WHAT ARE THE 4 STEPS NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR COGNITIVE DISSONANCE?

(1) IT MUST PRODUCE UNWANTED NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES; (2) A FEELING OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY; (3) PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL; (4) AROUSAL TO ATTRIBUTED TO HIS OR HER OWN BEHAVIOR

// Cognitive Dissonance Theory: A New Look (2 of 2)

-Physiological arousal that produces a state of discomfort and tension that the person seeks to reduce -A person must make an attribution for that arousal to his or her own behavior

// IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT THEORY SUGGESTS THAT PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES TO MATCH THEIR BEHAVIORS IN AN EFFORT TO _______ __________

APPEAR CONSISTENT

CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH INDICATES THAT COGNITIVE DISSONANCE EXISTS IN SIMILAR SITUATIONS AND MANIFESTS ITSELF THE SAME WAY IN COLLECTIVIST AND INDIVIDUALISTIC SOCIETIES. (T/F)

CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH INDICATES THAT COGNITIVE DISSONANCE EXISTS IN SIMILAR SITUATIONS AND MANIFESTS ITSELF THE SAME WAY IN COLLECTIVIST AND INDIVIDUALISTIC SOCIETIES. (T/F) F

// The Dissonance Classic

Figure 6.12 The Dissonance Classic Participants in a boring experiment (attitude) were asked to say that it was enjoyable (behavior) to a fellow student. Those in one group were paid $1 to lie; those in a second group were offered $20. Members of a third group, who did not have to lie, admitted that the task was boring. So did the participants paid $20, which was ample justification for telling a lie. Participants paid only $1, however, rated the task as more enjoyable. Behaving in an attitude-discrepant manner without justification, these latter participants reduced dissonance by changing their attitude. Based on Festinger, L. and Carlsmith, J. M., "Cognitive Consequences and Forced Compliance," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology vol. 58 (pp. 203-210).

// Necessary Conditions for the Arousal and Reduction of Dissonance

Figure 6.13 Necessary Conditions for the Arousal and Reduction of Dissonance Research suggests that four steps are necessary for attitude change to result from the production and reduction of dissonance.

// Theories of Self-Persuasion: Critical Comparisons

Figure 6.14 Theories of Self-Persuasion: Critical Comparisons Here we compare the major theories of self-persuasion. Each alternative challenges a different aspect of dissonance theory. Self-perception theory assumes that attitude change is a matter of inference, not motivation. Impression-management theory maintains that the change is more apparent than real, reported for the sake of public self-presentation. Self-affirmation theory contends that the motivating force is a concern for the self and that attitude change will not occur when the self-concept is affirmed in other ways.

// Justifications

Figure 6.15 Ordinary people often behave badly but still feel moral. How is this discrepancy possible? As shown, temptation may lead us to misbehave, which threatens our moral self-concept both beforehand (when ethical dissonance is anticipated) and afterward (when ethical dissonance is experienced). Once tempted, pre-violation justifications excuse what we are about to do. Afterward, post-violation justifications compensate for what we did. In these ways, people manage to behave immorally yet maintain a moral self-concept. Shalvi et al. 2015

// Cognitive Dissonance as Both Universal and Culturally Dependent

Figure 6.16 Cognitive Dissonance as Both Universal and Culturally Dependent Researchers compared Canadian and Japanese research participants in a post-decision dissonance study in which they rank ordered items on a menu, chose their top dishes, then ranked the list again. Half made the choices for themselves; the others were asked to imagine a close friend. When deciding for themselves, only the Canadians exhibited a significant justification effect; when deciding for a friend, however, Japanese participants exhibited the stronger effect. Hoshino-Browne et al., 2005

// HOSHINO-BROWNE AND COLLEAGUES' (2005) POST-DECISION DISSONANCE EXPERIMENT FOUND THAT CANADIAN PARTICIPANTS FELT MORE DISSONANCE WHEN MAKING A DECISION FOR A FRIEND RATHER THAN THEMSELVES. (T/F)

HOSHINO-BROWNE AND COLLEAGUES' (2005) POST-DECISION DISSONANCE EXPERIMENT FOUND THAT CANADIAN PARTICIPANTS FELT MORE DISSONANCE WHEN MAKING A DECISION FOR A FRIEND RATHER THAN THEMSELVES. (T/F) F

// A MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY AND SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY INVOLVES THE EXTENT TO WHICH ____ IS NECESSARY TO LEAD TO SELF-PERSUASION AND ATTITUDE CHANGE.

PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL

// THE MEANS OF PERSUASION LEAST OBVIOUS TO A PERSON WHO IS UNFAMILIAR WITH SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY IS PERSUASION IS FROM _________.

WITHIN

// Ways to Reduce Dissonance

Ways to Reduce Dissonance

// Cognitive Dissonance Theory: A New Look (1 of 2)

•Four steps are necessary for both the arousal or reduction of dissonance (Cooper and Fazio, 1984): -An attitude-discrepant behavior must produce unwanted negative consequences -A feeling of personal responsibility for the unpleasant outcomes of behavior

// Ethical Dissonance (1 of 2)

•Behavioral ethics -The study of how individuals behave when facing temptations to cheat, steal, plagiarize, commit fraud, lie, or otherwise behave unethically. •Two types of problems have been addressed: -Unintentional lapses in ethics -Intentional wrongdoing that people commit in order to serve their own interests •Behaving in ways that violate our own moral code thus threatens self-esteem and arouses inner state of turmoil

// Justifying Attitude-Discrepant Behavior: When Doing Is Believing

•Cognitive dissonance and attitude change are more likely to occur when there is insufficient justification or insufficient deterrence for an attitude-discrepant non-behavior. •Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) -Classic study on dissonance

// Cultural Influences on Cognitive Dissonance

•Cultural context may influence both the arousal and the reduction of cognitive dissonance: -Western (individualist) cultures: Decisions are expected to be consistent with personal attitudes -East Asian (collectivist) cultures: Decisions are expected to benefit ingroup members •Post-decision justification effect occurs in both groups, but cultures influence the conditions under which these processes occur.

// Justifying Difficult Decisions: When Good Choices Get Even Better

•People rationalize whatever they decide by exaggerating the positive features of the chosen alternative and the negative features of the unchosen alternative.

// Ethical Dissonance (2 of 2)

•Pre-violation and post-violation justifications: -Blaming others or circumstances -Rationalizing -Confessing, apologizing, and offering compensation -Distancing themselves from the misdeed by asserting ethical standards for the future and judging other transgressors more harshly.

// Alternative Routes to Self-Persuasion

•Self-perception theory -We infer how we feel by observing ourselves and the circumstances of our own behavior •Impression-management theory -What matters is not a motive to be consistent but rather a motive to appear consistent •Self-esteem theories -Acts that arouse dissonance do so because they threaten the self-concept

// Cognitive Dissonance Theory: The Classic Version

•Theory holding that inconsistent cognitions arouses psychological tension that people become motivated to reduce •Conditions for cognitive dissonance: An attitude-discrepant behavior was chosen freely and with some knowledge of the consequences

// Changing Attitudes

•Two routes to persuasion by others: -Central—based on the merits of the source and the communication -Peripheral—based on superficial cues •When people behave in ways that run afoul of their true convictions, they often go on to change their attitudes.

// Justifying Effort: Coming to Like What We Suffer For

•We alter our attitudes to justify our suffering •The more time, money, or effort you choose to invest in something, the more anxious you will feel if the outcome disappoints. •Aronson and Mills (1959) experiment -The "embarrassment test" and liking for group members based on personal investment.