Cognitive Dissonance In Psychology: Definition and Examples
- 03/02/2021
- Author : admin
However, the one-dollar group rated the tasks positively, while the twenty-dollar group rated the tasks negatively. The twenty-dollar group had external justification for their inconsistency–money motivated them to lie to the confederate about the task being interesting when it was actually boring. Receiving only one dollar did not seem to justify lying to the confederate and compelled subjects in the one-dollar group to internalize the “interesting task” mental attitude. The subjects convinced themselves that the tasks were somewhat interesting to rectify the dissonance due to inconsistency between believing the tasks were boring but telling someone they were interesting. Examination of the theory’s validity requires examining all the core fundamentals.
- The subjects’ believed the tasks to be boring, but they told the confederate that the tasks were interesting.
- However, information available today suggests that diet sodas are as unhealthy as their full-sugar counterparts.
- In a seminal paper, Elliot and Devine (1994) made a major advance by confirming the existence of discomfort prior to attitude change (Exp. 1) and a decrease of such discomfort following the attitude change (Exp. 2).
- As such, no set of external signs can reliably indicate a person is experiencing cognitive dissonance.
- Whether the dissonance is favorable or unfavorable, this theory resonates with everyone’s decision-making, making it an invaluable asset for researchers, marketers, and visionary business leaders.
This issue is never clarified in the original presentation of the theory, and differences in scholars’ implicit definitions could result in radically different views about the nature of dissonance regulation. In our view, avoiding a confusing conceptualization of CDT requires specifying that the regulation strategy aims at CDS and not necessarily directly at the inconsistency. To serve that purpose, the term regulation fits best with the idea of generally decreasing the motivational state, while the term reduction could be reserved for regulation specifically aimed at reducing the inconsistency. In our opinion, this terminology is more integrated with the general theory (see Vaidis and Bran, 2018), as well as more connected to current knowledge (see also Proulx et al., 2012; Jonas et al., 2014; Levy et al., 2017).
A Note on Cognitive Dissonance in Relationships
For instance, the Meaning Maintenance Model (MMM; Heine et al., 2006; Proulx and Inzlicht, 2012) is a proposal for such merging. This means that whatever the induction and the specific setting of the theory, the general process could be the same. Recent data (Randles et al., 2015) support that CDT is similar to many other meaning violations and such suggestions are real opportunities to gain a deeper comprehension of human functioning. Investigations of CDT in social neuroscience (e.g., van Veen et al., 2009; Harmon-Jones et al., 2015; https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/alcohol-and-dopamine-how-does-it-affect-your-brain/ Izuma and Murayama, 2019) also show similitudes in the activated areas with other theories. For instance, the anterior cingulate cortex is consistently activated in CDT paradigms, but also in MMM paradigms (see Proulx et al., 2012) and in mortality salience paradigms (Quirin et al., 2012). Last, suggestions about the induction procedure, such as the use of implicit inconsistency exposure (Levy et al., 2017), also permit merging several procedures which are widespread in close fields (e.g., Stroop task) but that were unusual for CDT.
When Festinger (1957) proposed cognitive dissonance theory, the behaviorist perspective and reinforcement theory (e.g., Skinner 1938) were influential in how theorists thought about human behavior. According to the behaviorist cognitive dissonance and addiction perspective, people are motivated to hold particular attitudes and behave in certain ways to gain positive reinforcement and avoid punishment. As such, a person would be more likely to have a positive attitude toward…
Consumer decision-making
Cognitive dissonance isn’t limited to customers; it can also impact employees. When they encounter conflicting values or beliefs in the workplace, it can lead to job dissatisfaction and decreased engagement. Cognitive dissonance can impact actions and decision-making at various levels of engagement. Here are a few examples of how cognitive dissonance can affect our everyday lives.
Koller and Salzberger (2007) developed an eight-item consumer behavior scale. Their questionnaire includes items regarding the decision-making process before and after the purchase. The full text can be requested from the authors free of charge via the ResearchGate website. Cognitive dissonance was measured indirectly by asking participants about changes in their opinion about how enjoyable the task was following the experiment. Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) conducted one of the first studies examining cognitive dissonance.