Cognitive Dissonance
the manner, disposition, feeling or position holds with regard to a person or thing
attitude
attitudes cannot be
directly observed
our beliefs do no fit with our behaviors
dissonant
Three types of Cognitive Relationships
Consonant, Dissonant, Irrelevant
Critiques
Dissonance as the core concept is lacking, self-concept interferes with dissonance, lack of practical utility, testability issues(hard to disprove)
Assumption 3
Dissonance is cognitively uncomfortable
Strengths
Heuristic Value(tons of research) Offers insight into relationship between attitudes, cognitions, affect and behavior, Broad Scope
Factor the influence Magnitude of Dissonance
How important the issue is, the dissonance ratio, the strength of reasoning used to justify discrepancy between feelings
Who came up with Cognitive Dissonance?
Leon Festinger
Assumption 2
Psychological inconsistencies (beliefs/behaviors don't fit) lead to dissonance
Assumption 4
We are psychologically driven to reduce dissonance
the motivation to eliminate Cognitive Dissonance can result in
behavior and attitude changes
the dissonance we experience after making a large purchase and the steps taken to justify our actions
buyers remorse
a feeling of imbalance, where we do or say or think things that don't fit with our beliefs, opinions or values and we become uncomfortable as a result
cognitive dissonance
bettors were asked how confident they were about the horse they bet on directly after placing bet
confidence in decision
our beliefs and behaviors coincide
consonant
beliefs and behaviors do not relate
irrelevant
how strong your feelings of dissonance are will influence what you do to reduce those feelings
magnitude of dissonance
selective attention
paying attention to information that is consonant
selective retention
remembering and learning consonant information more easily than dissonant information
Selective Exposure
seeking out information that is consonant with existing beliefs helps us avoid and reduce dissonance
one of the core principles of cognitive dissonance theory
the inner motivation to eliminate dissonance
Principle of Minimal Justification
Festinger/Carmicheal case with the boring task
Assumption 1
Humans want consistency between thoughts and beliefs
leaders used selective interpretation to justify why their predictions didn't come true
doomsday cults
coping with the dissonance
mentally add or subtract cognitions to reduce your dissonance ratio, convince yourself it isn't as important, distort the information to fit with your beliefs
selective interpretation
taking information and molding it to fit your needs
Cognitive Dissonance focuses on
the balance between the pieces of information in our heads that come together to form an attitude about something
in orer to lesson the uncomfortable feeling that dissonance produces,
we are driven to reduce or eliminate dissonance
