Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Outcome of Festinger & Carlsmith

$1 group convinced themselves that the task was interesting because they did not have a good enough incentive to lie without feeling dissonance

How is cognitive dissonance resolved?

1) Changing behavior 2) Changing perception of the behavior 3) Justifying our inconsistency by adding a cognition 4) Minimize importance of the conflict 5) Reduce perceived choice

Self-discrepancy theory

1) Depression, sadness, etc, occurs when there is a gap between our actual self & our ideal self (who we aspire to be) 2)Fear, worry, and tension, occur when there is a gap between our actual self and ought self (who others think we should be) 3) 3-selves: Actual self= who you are Ideal self= who you want to be Ought self=Who others think you should be

Self-affirmation theory (steele, 1988)

1) People who can affirm the self in other ways will not experience as much dissonance when an impt identity is in question 2)Can reduce the impact of dissonance arousing threat to the self-concept by focusing on and affirming their competence on some dimension unrelated to that threat

Impression Management Theory; ways people use to manage others impressions of them

1) Selective presentation of info about ourselves 2) take credit for positive events, make excuses for negative 3)Display positive behaviors publicly 4)Change our behavior to fit the social norm of that particular situation

New directions in dissonance theory

1) Self-discrepancy theory 2) Self-affirmation theory 3) Self-Evaluation maintenance theory

Resolution to Self-evaluation maintenance theory

1)Distance from that person 2)Change relevance of task to self-concepts 3)Work to increase the performance 4) Undermine others performance

Self-evaluation maintenance theory

1)We have a drive to compare ourselves to others 2)Dissonance when someone close to us outperforms us on an ego-relevant task.

Resolution to Self-affirmation theory

Add a positive cognition in order to make ourselves feel better (i.e. "I'm not___, but i am ____")

Festinger & Carlsmith's 1959 "$1 vs. $20 insufficient justification" experiment

Asked subjects to do a boring task and then payed them too lie and tell the next participants that the task was interesting. Payed one group $1 and the other group $20. Idea: The $1 group feels more dissonance (harder to justify lying for $1 rather than $20) Idea: Was correct

Why is insufficient justification for performing the inconsistent act necessary before dissonance will occur?

If you had no choice, or the situation compelled you to do it, then you have sufficient external justification and wont have to create a reason to justify yourself ($20 dollars was a great sum of money back then and could really improve someones life--enough justification)

Resolution to Self-Discrepancy theory

Self-Justifying thoughts and behaviors

The IV in Festinger & Carlsmith

The amount of money the subjects were payed

How cognitive dissonance occurs

The feeling of discomfort that arises when we violate our self-concept by doing something absurd, stupid, immoral, foolish, or inconsistent. (Especially if it threatens our self-image)

Cognitive Dissonance

The psychological tension that arises when our behavior contradicts our attitudes

The DV in Festinger & Carlsmith

The score the subject gave to how interesting the task was