Cognitive dissonance theory

Identify a limiting condition on the occurrence of the predicted dissonance effects in induced-compliance situations.

Freedom of choice

Explain how two cognitions can be inconsistent with each other.

- When they don't fit together. - "I give money to ABC charity but I believe ABC charity wastes money."

Explain how choice (decision-making) inevitably arouses dissonance.

- When making a decision, almost inevitably in a state of conflict. - Usually aren't choosing between good and bad - there are pros and cons of either decision

Describe how to change importance of elements and issue.

- "I can afford it, so expense of smoking doesn't matter" - "I'm feeling dissonance about career path but not that important because people have several career paths."

Describe how to change relative proportion of consonant and dissonant elements.

- Add new consonant elements ("smoking controls my weight") - Delete or change existing dissonant elements ("smoking causes cancer but everything causes cancer")

Explain relationship between incentive and dissonance in such situations.

- After point of compliance, likelihood of attitude change decreases as incentive increases - Before point of compliance likelihood of negative attitude change increases as incentive increases

What sort of state is dissonance in?

- Averse motivational state - i.e. people are averse to state of hunger, want to get out of it by eating.

What two things are made salient in inducing feelings of hypocrisy?

- Existing attitudes - Inconsistent behavior

How is freedom of choice a limiting condition of predicted dissonance effects in induced-compliance situations?

- If people feel they are forced into a counter-attitudinal action, the don't feel any dissonance about doing it because they didn't choose to do it. - Must be freedom of choice to have effective attitude change occur in induced-compliance situations

Explain, from a dissonance perspective, the operation of low-price offers. From the marketer's POV, what is the ideal amount of incentive to offer?

- Low price offer offers too much external justification, does not cause enough internal justification so not much underlying attitude change. When prices change, people won't buy the product - Ideal amount of incentive to offer is just enough to reach compliance

Explain how a persuader can use hypocrisy induction to change behavior; identify a necessary condition for such efforts.

- Make existing attitudes and inconsistent behavior salient - Perceived behavioral control (PBC) must be sufficiently high

Explain how and why hypocrisy-induction efforts might backfire; describe two ways in which those experiencing hypocrisy might achieve attitude-behavior consistency.

- Might backfire if PBC is low - Two ways: change behavior to align with attitudes, change attitudes to align with behaviors

Explain how two cognitions can be irrelevant to each other.

- Not having anything to do with each other. - "I believe ABC charity does good work. I believe there is no official language of Switzerland."

Explain, from a dissonance perspective, the effects of insufficient incentives for counter-attitudinal action. When might a persuader want to offer such insufficient incentives?

- Offer insufficient incentive for counter-attitudinal action because it can strengthen current attitudes - Pay to Quit Amazon - deal with dissonance by convincing themselves that they love their job which leads to them liking it more

Describe the usual research design for studying selective exposure. In such designs, what sort of result represents evidence of selective exposure?

- Participants indicate attitude about topic then are given option to read article that supports or rejects initial opinion - If select to read info that supports initial opinion, supports selective exposure

Explain the function of follow-up persuasive efforts in the context of postdecisional processes.

- People can be persuaded but change mind after because of regret -- persuasion precedes decision-making - Post-decisional phenomena (i.e. car salesman follow-up) makes a decision stronger

What is selective exposure hypothesis? Explain how it reflects the main tenets of dissonance theory.

- People choose ideas supportive of their current beliefs - Supports that people avoid being in dissonant states which is a main tenet of dissonance theory

What other factors influence information exposure?

- Perceived utility of info - Curiosity - Fairness of norms

Identify a common persuasive situation in which hypocrisy induction might be useful to a persuader.

- Persuader can exploit inconsistency by drawing attention to person's hypocrisies - i.e. people have positive attitudes about safe sex but behaviors may not always be consistent with that belief

Identify three broad means by which advocates might seek to get a hearing for their views.

- Stress the usefulness of the info - Pique audience curiosity - Emphasize fairness, hearing all sides

What is the key influence on the amount of dissonance experienced in such situations?

- The amount of positive attitude change is highest when the person receives just enough incentive to engage in counter-attitudinal behavior. - The amount of negative attitude change is highest when person receives incentive just slightly too low to engage in counter-attitudinal relationship.

Explain how two cognitions can be consistent with each other.

- When they fit together to make sense. - "I believe ABC charity does good work. I'm going to donate to ABC charity."

When are two cognitions said to be in a dissonant relationship?

- When two cognitions don't make sense together/if the opposite of x follows y. - i.e. "smoking causes cancer and I smoke."

What are two basic ways of reducing dissonance?

1. Change relative proportion of consonant and dissonant elements 2. Change importance of elements and issue

What factors influence the degree of dissonance experienced?

1. Relative proportion of consonant and dissonant elements 2. Importance of the elements and issue 3. Importance of issue overall

What is a cognitive element (cognition)?

Any belief/knowledge/opinion about anything

How can dissonance be reduced following a decision?

Being reassured that you made the right decision.

Is dissonance a pre-decisional or post-decisional state? What state is a decision-maker said to be in before having made the decision? What state is a decision-maker said to be in after having made the decision?

Dissonance is a post-decisional phenomenon. Before decision is made, people are in a state of conflict but make a choice. Afterwards, dissonance is almost inevitable.

Explain how curiosity can influence information exposure (and can override a preference for supportive information).

Humans are naturally curious and that sometimes trumps selective exposure and the desire to avoid possibility of dissonance arousal - i.e. bad interview review

Explain how fairness norms can influence information exposure (and can override a preference for supportive information).

In some settings, there is an emphasis on obtaining the greatest amount of info as possible to get both sides of the story - i.e. jury gets info both confirming and not confirming their verdict

What are the possible relationships between two cognitions?

Irrelevant, Consistent, Inconsistent

Explain, from a dissonance perspective, the operation of promotions that invite consumers to send in essays explaining why they like the product (or to send in ads, etc.) in return for being entered in a prized drawing.

It's a small incentive to engage in counter-attitudinal action under conditions of minimal incentive. Then forces to think about the most positive qualities.

Explain how relative proportion of consonant and dissonant elements influences dissonance.

More things on the dissonance side, the more dissonance the person feels about the relative size of the two clusters.

Explain how perceived information utility can influence exposure (and can override a preference for support info).

People seek out info that is helpful regardless if it supporting of their beliefs or not - i.e. seatbelt info

What is hypocrisy induction?

Persuader's task is not to change attitudes but rather to get the receiver to act consistently with preexisting attitudes

What is postdecisional spreading of alternatives?

Reevaluating the alternatives, specifically reevaluating them such that the chosen alternative is evaluated more positive and unchosen alternative is rated more negatively.

Does regret precede or follow dissonance reduction?

Regret precedes dissonance reduction

How is regret manifested following a decision?

Some time after a choice is made but before dissonance reduction sets in.

Explain how regret can lead to a reversal of decision?

Temporarily places A and B together in post decisional spreading of alternatives. People focus on dissonant elements and have buyer's remorse.

Explain the dissonance theory view of induced-compliance situations.

The amount of dissonance experienced is a function of the amount of incentive a person is receiving to engage in the counter-attitudinal action

Is there evidence of a general preference for supportive information? Is this a strong preference?

There is supportive research evidence but it is weak

What are the properties of dissonance?

Uncomfortable

What is induced compliance?

When a person is led to act in a way that's counter from their beliefs and attitudes

What is counter-attitudinal advocacy?

When a person is led to advocate some view that is counter to their attitude

Has research community commonly detected postdecisional spreading of alternatives?

Yes, studies show that people like the alternative they chose more afterwards -- customer service takes care of itself.

Can dissonance vary in magnitude?

Yes. The greater the dissonance, the greater want to change it.

Explain how importance of issue overall influences decision.

i.e. choosing where to go to lunch vs. more dissonance when choose career path

Explain how the importance of elements and issue influence dissonance.

i.e. more important expense of smoking is, more dissonant they feel.