Comm 314 Chap 9 Dissonance0.docx

Comm 314 Chap 9 Dissonance0.docx

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Comm314Chap9Dissonance0

Comm314,Chapter9,CognitiveDissonanceTheory

Cognitivedissonance--Holdingtwoormorecontradictoryideasinone’smindatthesametimecreatesinstabilityandimbalancethatthepersonwillstrivetostabilizeandbringbackinbalance,oftenthroughattitudechange.Itisdefinedas,

“Anegativeunpleasantstatethatoccurswheneverapersonholdstwocognitionsthatarepsychologicallyinconsistent”（Aronson,inPerloff,p.239）.

DevelopedbyLeonFestingerandintroducedin1957,cognitivedissonanceisamongthemostinfluentialofsocialpsychologicaltheories.

Majorpoints:

∙Weeachcarryaroundagreatmassofcognitiveelements:

attitudes,belief,values,intentions,perceptions,information,knowledgeofourownbehaviors.

∙Theserelatetoeachotherinasystem,withtheelementsbeingirrelevanttoeachother,consistent（consonant）witheachother,orinconsistent（dissonant）.

∙Consonanceordissonanceisdeterminedwithinaperson’sbeliefsystemandshouldnotbeimposedfromwithout.

Twooverridingpremises:

∙Dissonanceproducestension（psychologicaldiscomfort）thatcreatespressuretowardschange.

∙Whendissonanceoccurs,thepersonwilltrytoreduceitandevenavoidsituationsthatarelikelytocreateit.

Dissonancecanoccurinthesesituations（andprobablyothers）:

∙Youholdtwoclearlyinconsistentthoughts:

IgenerallylikecandidateswhoareRepublicans.

ButIconsidermyselfanIndependent.

∙Youfreelyactinawaythatisinconsistentwithastronglyheldbelief.

Ibelieveinprotectingtheenvironment.Ididnotrecyclethisweek.

∙Youmakeadecisionthatrulesoutanotherpossiblyequallygooddecision.

Ichosetogotothemountainsformyweekendgetaway.Thebeachwouldhavebeennicetoo.

∙Youexpendalotofresources–time,money,energy,emotion–onsomethingthatturnsoutperhapsnottohavebeenworthit.

Ican’tbelieveIworkedsohardonthat,andforsolittlereturn.

∙Youcan’tfindsufficientpsychologicaljustificationforwhatyoubelieveordo.

WhydoIworrysomuchaboutwhatthatguythinks,whenheissuchaloser?

Theamountofdissonancefeltwilldependupontheimportanceoftheissueandthecentrality,rangeandintegrationofthebeliefsysteminwhichitoccurs.

Dissonanceismotivating,inthatpeopledon’tlikeit,andneedtochangesomethingtoeliminateit.Thiscaninvolveattitudeandbehaviorchange.Youredoubleyoureffortstorecycle,yousearchoutforinformationthatsupportsthechoiceyoumadeoryourpreviousactions,orsimplydecidewhatyoubelieveordoisrightandjustified,nomatterwhatotherssay,oryoudecidethatotherneedsaremoreimportantthanthedissonanceyoufeel.

Therearevariouspsychologicalandcommunicationtechniquesweusetoresolvedissonance:

∙Changetheattitude.Iactuallysortofliketherain.

∙Addconsonantcognitions.Lookatthegoodside.

Icouldstayinandstudyalldaywithoutbeingtemptedtogetout.

∙Derogate（thinknegativelyabout）theotherchoice.

Iprobablywouldhavehurtmyselfontheskislopesanyway.

∙Makethechoicesseemfurtherapartinyourownmind.Wow,watchingthestormsonthecoastisawesome;allthatcold,snowandiceareoverratedanyway.

∙Trivializethecognitions.It’sjustaweekend,andafterallI’mnotathomeworking.

∙Suppressthoughtsaboutit.Nopointcryingoverspiltmilk.

∙Communicate.Talktoothersabouthowmuchfunyouarehaving.

∙Alteryourbehaviororattitude.Decidetoleaveandneverdothatagain.

Wesometimesstickwithclearlydysfunctionalattitudesandbehaviorssimplybecauseofsunkcosts:

wehaveinvestedsomuchinthemthatgettingoutofthesituationwouldcostmorethanit’sworth,perhaps.

Whenchallenged,weoftenbecomedefensive,andfeelourselfesteemand“face”areatrisk,sowebecomeevenmoreattachedtoourdecisions.

Peoplewhoundergoseverehazingtojoinagroupthenjustifytothemselvesthatthegroupwasworthjoining.Hazingisoftenusedasaformof“team”building.

Wehaveahardtimeacceptingthatwehavewastedourtime,moneyandeffortonthingsthataren’tworthit,orthatwehavemadeabaddecision.

Butnotethis:

buyingthe“wrong”brandofpapertowelislikelynottocreatedissonance.Votingforthe“wrong”candidateorbuyingthe“wrong”houselikelywill.

Examples

YouYou

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HonestCheatedFriendCheated

You

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ArnoldS.SexualHarassment

Whatareyoutodo?

Howdoyoudealwithdissonanceafterithashappened?

Itcallsforchangeofsomesort,certainlyreflectionandcommunication.

1.Youmightchangeacognitiveelement,abehavior,anattitudeorabelief.

2.Newelementsmightbeaddedtooneoranothersideofthetension.

3.Youmightdowngradetheimportanceofoneormoreelements.

4.Youmightsearchformoreconsonantinformation.

5.Youmightdistort,misinterpretormisperceiveinformationtobolsteroneelement.

AdvertisingExample#1

You

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KeepingfamilyNewandimprovedsafeSuperStickyTires

Adcopy:

Nothingcanbemoreimportantthankeepingyourfamilysafe.Areyoustillrelyingonyourold,worn,ordinarySlickTirestodothat?

Well,youmayhaveaveryrudesurprisecomingyourway（treefallsinroad,brakesapplied,carskidsonwetroadandgoesoffcliff）.Makesureyoudoyourverybesttoprotectyourfamily–rushouttodaytoyourneighborhoodtiredealerandequipyourcarwithnewSuperStickies.In20yearsyourchildrenwillstillbethankingyouforkeepingthemsafe!

AdvertisingExample#2

You

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Dissonanceandinducedcompliance

Whenpeopleareinduced（persuaded）tobehaveinawaytheywouldnotordinarily,latertheyarefoundtohaveshiftedtheirattitudestobemoresupportiveofthatbehavior,abehaviortheywouldhaverejectedearlier.

Theirbehaviorsaresaidtobecounterattitudinal.

∙Ithinkglobalwarmingisarealthreattotheplanetandislargelytheresultofhumanactivity.

∙FormyspeechclassIamrequiredtogiveaspeechsayingitisanormalfluctuationintheearth’sclimateandhaslittletodowithhumanactivity.

∙Ihavebehavedinawaythattheoppositeofmyactualbeliefs（counterattitudinal）.

∙Therearetwowaystoresolvethis:

IdiditbecauseIhadto（topassthecourse）.

Littleornodissonancewillresult.

Ididn’thavetodoit;IwouldhavebeenOKwithoutit.Dissonancewilllikelyresult.

∙Thedissonancefeltisdependentupontheabilitytojustifythedecisionthroughanothercognition（areasonitwasdone）.

TheFestingerandCarlsmith（1959,inPerloff,p.244-245）illustratesthis.

∙Experimentalsubjectswererequiredtocompleteaveryboringtask,thenrequiredtotellothersthatitwasreallyinteresting.

∙Somewerepaidadollarfortellingthislie;some$20.

∙Thosewhowerepaidthe$1saidtheyenjoyedthistaskmorethanthosewhowerepaid$20.

∙Theexplanation:

Thosewhowerepaid$20felttheyhadsufficientjustificationfortellingthelie,sotheyfeltnodissonance.Thosewhowerepaid$1couldnotfindajustificationfortheirlie,sotheychangedtheirattitudetowardthetasktobringitinlinewiththeirbehavior（tellingthelie）.Voila,dissonanceresolved.

Thus:

inducingpeopletochangebehaviormayresultinthemchangingtheirattitudetowardthebehavior.

Soifchildrenareinducedtoeattheirbroccoli,theymayeventuallydecidetheylikebroccoli.Butparentsshouldnotpayorrewardthekidsforeatingthebroccoli;thisgivesthemarationaleforeatingit（thereward）,nodissonancewilloccur,andtheirattitudestowardbroccoliwillnotchange.Dropthereward,thebroccolieatingends.Iftheyaremoregentlypersuaded,thendissonancemaybecreatedandattitudeschanged.

Itisimportant,therefore,thatpeoplebeallowedtopersuadethemselves,rathertobecoercedintodoingsomethingtheydon’twanttodo.Selfpersuasionmayresultindissonancethatleadstomorepermanentattitudeandbehaviorchange.

Selectivityininformationprocessing

Amongthemostinterestingresultsofdissonancearetheprocessesofselectiveexposure,perceptionandretention.Avoidingandresolvingdissonanceinvolvesthemanagementofourinformationenvironments.Wecanarrangeitsoastopreventdissonanceandhelpusresolveitifitoccurs.

Selectiveexposure:

Weonlyseeandhearwhatislikelytosupportourcurrentattitudesandbehaviors.ThusconservativeswatchFoxNews,liberalsdon’t.Wesurroundourselveswithotherpeople（friends）whotendtoagreewithusandbehaveinthesamewayswedo.Weavoidpeoplewhodon’t.Thusweensurethatnewdissonantinformationwillnotenterourcognitivesystems.

Selectiveperception:

Weperceiveinasituationthoseaspectsofitthattendtosupportourbeliefs,attitudesandbehaviors.Sometimesthisleadstomisperception.

Selectiveretention:

Werememberbetterandlongerthosethingsthataresupportiveofourbeliefsandattitudes.Wemayliterallyrearrangeourmemoriestobemoreconsistentwithourwishesforthepastthantherealityofit.

Theseprocessesexplainwhystereotypesaresoresistanttochange.Theyshapethenatureofthe“evidence”wegatherfromtheworld,sotheyareneverreallyconfrontedbythe“facts.”

Specificapplicationstopersuasion

∙Makeacommitmentpublic–Thisraisesthestakesofinconsistencybetweenattitudesandbehavior.

∙Makepeopleadvocateapositionwithwhichtheydonotagree.Toresolvedissonance,theymaycometoagreewiththepositiontheyadvocated.

∙Confrontpeople（gently）withtheir