Chapter 7: Theory of cognitive dissonance

Examples of Buyer's remorse

-e.g., Buyer's remorse is a sense or feeling of regret or anxiety; may stem from fear of making the wrong choice, guilt over extravagance, or a suspicion of having been overly influenced by the seller. -e.g., While waiting for the delivery of car, a customer often cancels the purchase because of buyer's remorse (especially when there is no contact from the dealer to reassure the buyer about the contract).

Consonant relationship

where one element follows, reinforces or bolsters the other; Things go together. ->I have two sweet teeth. I eat ice cream. ->I want to lose weight. I exercise. ->I like you. I smile. ->I love UH. I go to UH games.

Dissonant relationship

where one element would not be expected to follow from the other. ->I want to lose weight. I eat ice cream. ->I like you. I make faces. ->I love UH. I don't go to UH games. ->A belief that saturated fats are harmful to your health is inconsistent with a behavior of eating a lot of red meat. In other words, we don't feel good (or feel pressure to change) when we keep doing things that we know are bad for us. -e.g., Being painfully aware of unhealthy behavior (e.g., smoking) and wants to quit - but opening a third pack of cigarettes for the day— likely to suffer some cognitive dissonance.

Theory of cognitive dissonance Theorist

Festinger

Example of . Forced compliance.

-In an experiment, students completed a boring task. Afterwards, they were "bribed" to tell other students that the task would be fun. Some were paid $1 to lie, and others were paid $20. Your expectations here? Which one for more dissonance? -The 1$ liars experienced more dissonance and actually changed their opinion of the task and believed it was fun. The $20 liars tend to maintain that the belief that the task was boring but justified the lie on the basis that they could earn the cash. -You may stay in a high-paying job you dislike because the high pay can be used a justification for doing so.

Assumptions

-People are more comfortable with consistency or homeostasis/balance than they are with inconsistency. -Attitude change can result from information that disrupts this balance.

Ways to reduce dissonance

1/ Change 2/ Add new elements 3/ Redefine 4/ Seek consonant info 5/Distort

Dissonat **** (Not covered in review)

3. What is consonant or dissonant for one person may not be the case for another person. It is a matter of what is consistent or inconsistent within one's own psychological system. -e.g., The red meat gives valuable protein. 4. Dissonance produces a tension or stress that creates pressure to change. -The more dissonance, the greater the pressure to change. 5. When dissonance is present, people attempt to reduce it, and they also tend to avoid situations that cause additional dissonance. -The greater the dissonance, the greater the need to reduce it. -e.g., The more inconsistent your diet is with your knowledge about cholesterol, the greater the pressure you will feel to do something about it to reduce the dissonance. -When we have several important things that are inconsistent, we experience greater dissonance (the number and importance of cognitive elements) -e.g., if you believe in good health, but smoke, eat red meat, and never exercise, you are more apt to feel greater dissonance.

Seek consonant info

Consonant information may be sought. -e.g., Seek out consonant information, such as evidence for the benefits of meat, by reading new studies on the topic

. Forced compliance. Or Contraction to our beliefs

Forced compliance or being induced to do or say something contrary to our beliefs or values: The less the pressure to conform in a forced compliance situation, the greater the dissonance.

IVs and DVs

IVs: Number of inconsistent cognitions, importance of decision, attractiveness of chosen/unchosen alternative, forced compliance, difficulty, social support, etc. MVs/IVs: Amount/strength of dissonance DVs: Pressure/tension for change in behavior, attitude, perceptions, etc.

Null relationship

Neither element affects the other. ->I am a man. I eat ice cream. ->I like you. I eat ice cream.

Add new elements

New elements may be added to the cognitive system in order to add more weight to one side or the other. -e.g., switch to using olive oil exclusively

Distort

We may reduce dissonance by distorting or misinterpreting the information involved. -e.g., Meat is not as harmful as the loss of important nutritional ingredients like iron and protein.

Buyer's remorse

One of the most important areas of research on dissonance has been on decision making. -Post decisional dissonance or "buyer's remorse" can occur after an important decision is made (e.g., purchase of a car, house).

Factors that affect the amount of dissonance/buyer's remorse

The amount of dissonance experienced as a result of a decision depends on several factors. - Importance of decision - Attractiveness of chosen/unchosen alternative - Forced compliance - Difficulty - Social support - Effort

Redefine

The dissonant elements may be redefined as less or unimportant. -e.g., We might decide that what we eat isn't as important as the state of mind to overall health.

Effort

The greater the amount of effort put into a task, the more one will rationalize the value of the task. -e.g., We may put a lot of work to an assignment we hadn't looked forward to. After completing it, we discover that we actually liked the assignment after all.

The attractiveness of the unchosen alternative

The greater the perceived attractiveness of the not-chosen alternative, the greater the dissonance. -e.g., buying a car instead of going an overseas vacation.

The attractiveness of the chosen alternative

The less attractive the chosen alternative, the greater the dissonance. -e.g., more dissonance from buying an ugly car than a snazzy one.

Task difficulty

The more difficult an initiation into a group, the greater the person's commitment to the group (e.g., initiation rite in university fraternities & sororities).

The importance of decision

The more important the decision, the more dissonance is expected to result -e.g., buying a car vs. skipping breakfast

Social support

The more social support one receives (e.g., from a friend) for a decision, the greater the commitment to that decision

Premise

The theory is premised on the belief that a communicator carries around a rich assortment of cognitive elements such as attitudes, perceptions, knowledge and behaviors. - Cognitions are bits of knowledge in their simplest form. They pertain to any variety of thoughts, facts, attitudes, values, behaviors, perceptions, emotions, etc. ->e.g., I am a man. I like dogs. I eat ice cream. - We have countless cognitions in our minds/heads.

Three types of relationship among cognitive elements

These cognitive elements act as an interrelated system, and each element will have one of three kinds of relationships with the others; i.e., Cognitions relate to one another in 3 ways. 1/ Null or irrelevant 2/ Consistent or consonant 3/ Inconsistent or dissonant

Change

We may change one or more of the dissonant elements - a behavior, an attitude, or a perception -e.g., Become a vegetarian, stop eating meat every day; Start believing that fats are less important than genetics to resolve dissonance between eating red meat and fat.