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 Social Psychology Elliot Aronson University of California, Santa Cruz
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Elliot AronsonUniversity of California, Santa CruzTimothy D. WilsonUniversity of VirginiaRobin M. AkertWellesley Collegeslides by Travis LangleyHenderson State University
Chapter 6 The Need to Justify Our Actions:The Costs and Benefits of Dissonance Reduction
When members of the Heaven’s Gate cult couldn’t find a spaceship behind the comet, they returned their telescope for a refund. When members of the Heaven’s Gate cult couldn’t find a spaceship behind the comet, they returned their telescope for a refund.Their attitude was clear, and given their premise, their logic was impeccable:We know an alien spaceship is following behind the Hale-Bopp Comet, andIf an expensive telescope failed to reveal that spaceship, then (3) There must be something wrong with the telescope.
Generally speaking, the members of the Heaven’s Gate cult were not stupid or irrational or crazy. Generally speaking, the members of the Heaven’s Gate cult were not stupid or irrational or crazy. Neighbors considered them pleasant, smart, reasonable people. Their behavior was an extreme example of a normal human tendency: the need to justify our actions.
We humans strive to maintain a relatively favorable view of ourselves, particularly when we encounter evidence that contradicts our typically rosy self-image.Most of us want to believe that we are reasonable, decent folks who make wise decisions, do not behave immorally, and have integrity. We want to believe that we do not do stupid, cruel, or absurd things.
The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance When we are confronted with information implying that we may have behaved in ways that are irrational, immoral, or stupid, we experience a good deal of discomfort. This feeling of discomfort caused by performing an action that runs counter to one’s customary (typically positive) conception of oneself is referred to as cognitive dissonance.
The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance Leon Festinger (1957) was the first to investigate the precise workings of this powerful phenomenon and elaborated his findings into what is arguably social psychology’s most important and most provocative theory, the theory of cognitive dissonance. Dissonance is most powerful and most upsetting when people behave in ways that threaten their self-image.
The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance There are three basic ways we try to reduce cognitive dissonance:• By changing our behavior to bring it in line with the dissonant cognition.• By attempting to justify our behavior through changing one of the dissonant cognitions.• By attempting to justify our behavior by adding new cognitions.
Self Affirmation These distortions are aimed at protecting one’s self image as a sensible, competent, person. One additional way of reducing dissonance is by trying to bolster the self concept in a different domain.The smoker who failed to quit might remind herself of the things she does do well: “Yes, it is not very smart of me to be smoking, but, you know, I’m really a very good mathematician.”
Why we overestimate the pain of disappointment People often do not anticipate how successfully they will reduce dissonance.For example, people overestimate how dreadful they will feel following a romantic break up or losing a job.
Why we overestimate the pain of disappointment Given that people have successfully reduced dissonance in the past, why is it that they are not aware that they will do so in the future?
Rational Behavior versus Rationalizing Behavior Most people think of themselves as rational beings, and generally, they are right: We are certainly capable of rational thought. But as we’ve seen, the need to maintain our self-esteem leads to thinking that is not always rational; rather, it is rationalizing.
Rational Behavior versus Rationalizing Behavior In a study of people who were wired up to MRIs while they were trying to process dissonant or consonant information, Drew Westen and his colleagues (2006) found that the reasoning areas of the brain virtually shut down when a person is confronted with dissonant information, and the emotion circuits of the brain light up happily when consonance is restored.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions Every time we make a decision, we experience dissonance.DISTORTING OUR LIKES AND DISLIKES In any decision (between two cars, two colleges, two potential lovers), the chosen alternative is seldom entirely positive, and the rejected alternative is seldom entirely negative.So while making the decision, you have doubts.After the decision, your cognition that you are a smart person is dissonant with aspects that didn’t fit your choice.You reduce dissonance by downplaying the negative aspects of the one you chose and the positive aspects of the one you rejected.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions Every time we make a decision, we experience dissonance.DISTORTING OUR LIKES AND DISLIKES In any decision (between two cars, two colleges, two potential lovers), the chosen alternative is seldom entirely positive, and the rejected alternative is seldom entirely negative.So while making the decision, you have doubts.After the decision, your cognition that you are a smart person is dissonant with aspects that didn’t fit your choice.You reduce dissonance by downplaying the negative aspects of the one you chose and the positive aspects of the one you rejected.
THE PERMANENCE OF THE DECISION The more important the decision, the greater the dissonance.Deciding whom to marry is more important than which coffeemaker to buy.Decisions also vary in how permanent they are—how hard they are to revoke.You can more easily trade in your car than get out of an unhappy marriage.
The irrevocability of a decision increases dissonance and motivation to reduce it.Because of this, unscrupulous salespeople develop techniques for creating the illusion that irrevocability exists.
CREATING THE ILLUSION OF IRREVOCABILITY The irrevocability of a decision increases dissonance and motivation to reduce it.Because of this, unscrupulous salespeople develop techniques for creating the illusion that irrevocability exists.
CREATING THE ILLUSION OF IRREVOCABILITY There are at least three reasons why lowballing works. While the customer’s decision to buy is certainly reversible, a commitment of sorts does exist. In the world of high-pressure sales, even temporary illusion can have powerful consequences. The feeling of commitment triggered the anticipation of an exciting event: driving out with a new car. To have had the anticipated event thwarted (by not going ahead with the deal) would have produced dissonance and disappointment.Although the final price is substantially higher than the customer thought it would be, it is probably only slightly higher than the price at another dealership. Under these circumstances, the customer in effect says, “Oh, what the heck. I’m here, I’ve already filled out the forms, I’ve written out the check—why wait?”
THE DECISION TO BEHAVE IMMORALLY When is it okay to lie to a friend?When is an act stealing, and when is it borrowing?Moral dilemmas involve powerful implications for one’s self-esteem.Dissonance reduction following a difficult moral decision can cause people to behave either more or less ethically in the future.
Suppose you decide to cheat on a test. Suppose you decide to cheat on a test. How do you reduce the dissonance? According to dissonance theory, it is likely that you would try to justify the action by finding a way to minimize the negative aspects of the action you chose.You could adopt a more lenient attitude toward cheating, convincing yourself that it is a victimless crime that doesn’t hurt anybody, that everybody does it, and so it’s not really that bad.
How would you reduce your dissonance? You could change your attitude about the morality of the act—but this time in the opposite direction. To justify giving up a good grade, you convince yourself that cheating is even worse than you previously felt it was.
Judson Mills (1958) measured the attitudes of sixth graders toward cheating. Judson Mills (1958) measured the attitudes of sixth graders toward cheating. He then had them participate in a competitive exam, with prizes awarded to the winners. The situation was arranged so that it was almost impossible to win without cheating. Mills made it easy for the children to cheat and created the illusion that they could not be detected. The next day, children who had cheated became more lenient toward cheating, and those who had resisted the temptation to cheat adopted a harsher attitude.
Justifying Your Effort Most people are willing to work hard to get something they really want. If you are really interested in pursuing a particular career, you are likely to go the extra mile to get it. You’ll probably study hard to meet graduate school entrance requirements, study some more for graduate school admissions exams, and submit to a series of stressful interviews.
Justifying Your Effort Suppose, instead, you expend a great deal of effort to get into a particular club and it turns out to be a totally worthless organization, consisting of boring, pompous people engaged in trivial activities. How would you reduce this dissonance? How would you justify your behavior?
Justifying Your Effort Justification of EffortThe tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain.
Aronson and Mills (1959) explored the link between effort and dissonance reduction. In their experiment, college students volunteered to join a group that would be meeting regularly to discuss various aspects of the psychology of sex. Aronson and Mills (1959) explored the link between effort and dissonance reduction. In their experiment, college students volunteered to join a group that would be meeting regularly to discuss various aspects of the psychology of sex. To be admitted to the group, they volunteered to go through a screening procedure. For one-third of the participants, a screening procedure was extremely demanding and unpleasant.For one-third, it was only mildly unpleasant.The other third were admitted to the group without any screening at all.
Participants who underwent little or no effort to get into the group regretted that they had agreed to participate. Participants who underwent little or no effort to get into the group regretted that they had agreed to participate. Participants who went through a severe initiation, however, convinced themselves that the same discussion was a worthwhile experience.
If you tell a friend that you like her ugly dress very much, do you experience much dissonance? We doubt it. There are a great many thoughts that are consonant with having told this lie. In effect, your cognition that it is important not to cause pain to people you like provides ample external justification for having told a harmless lie.
The Psychology of Insufficient Justification If you tell a friend that you like her ugly dress very much, do you experience much dissonance? We doubt it. There are many thoughts that are consonant with having told this lie. In effect, your cognition that it is important not to cause pain to people you like provides ample external justification for having told a harmless lie.
The Psychology of Insufficient Justification Internal JustificationThe reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself.(e.g., one’s attitude or behavior)
The Psychology of Insufficient Justification Internal JustificationThe reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself.(e.g., one’s attitude or behavior)
The Psychology of Insufficient Justification
The Psychology of Insufficient Justification Afterward, the students who had been paid $20 for lying—for saying that the tasks had been enjoyable—rated the activities as the dull and boring experiences they were. But those who were paid only $1 for saying the task was enjoyable rated the task as significantly more enjoyable.With insufficient external justification, they developed internal justification and came to believe their lie.
Counterattitudinal Advocacy, Race Relations, and Preventing AIDS When someone publicly advocates something that is counter to what they believe or how they actually behave, it arouses dissonance. In the case of an AIDS prevention experiment, participants videotaped speeches about the importance of using condoms and they were made aware of their own failure to use them. In order to reduce dissonance, they changed their behavior: They purchased condoms. Counterattitudinal advocacy is one way to use the human tendency to reduce dissonance to foster socially beneficial behaviors.
Counterattitudinal Advocacy, Race Relations, and Preventing AIDS During the 1990s, Elliot Aronson and his students asked two groups of college students to compose a speech describing the dangers of AIDS and advocating the use of condoms every time a person has sex.Participants who made a video for high school students after the experimenter got them to think about their own failure to use condoms experienced high dissonance.They were made aware of their own hypocrisy: They had to deal with the fact that that they were preaching behavior that they themselves were not practicing.
Students in the hypocrisy condition were subsequently more likely to buy condoms than students in any of the other conditions. Students in the hypocrisy condition were subsequently more likely to buy condoms than students in any of the other conditions.
THE POWER OF MILD PUNISHMENT Does harsh punishment teach adults to want to obey the speed limit?Does it teach youngsters to value honest behavior?
THE POWER OF MILD PUNISHMENT Insufficient PunishmentThe dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually resulting in individuals’ devaluing the forbidden activity or object.
THE POWER OF MILD PUNISHMENT Aronson and Carlsmith (1963) asked each child to rate the attractiveness of several toys. An experimenter then pointed to a toy that the child considered among the most attractive and told the child that he or she was not allowed to play with it. Half the children were threatened with mild punishment if they disobeyed; the other half were threatened with severe punishment. When the experimenter left the room for a few minutes, none of the children played with the forbidden toy.
THE POWER OF MILD PUNISHMENT Aronson and Carlsmith (1963): When the experimenter returned, the children who had received a severe threat continued to rate the forbidden toy as highly desirable or more desirable than they had before the threat.The children in the mild threat condition needed internal justification to reduce their dissonance. They convinced themselves the reason they hadn’t played with the toy was that they didn’t really like it. They rated the forbidden toy as less attractive than they had when the experiment began.
THE POWER OF MILD PUNISHMENT Self-PersuasionA long-lasting form of attitude change that results from attempts at self-justification.
REWARDS OR PUNISHMENTS If you want someone to do something or not do something only once, the most effective strategy would be to promise a large reward or threaten severe punishment.But if you want someone to become committed to an attitude or behavior, the smaller the reward or punishment that will lead to momentary compliance, the greater the eventual change will be and therefore the more permanent.Large rewards and severe punishments, as strong external justifications, encourage compliance but prevent real attitude change.
THE BEN FRANKLIN EFFECT Dissonance theory predicts we will like them more after doing them a favor.Ben Franklin reported using this. After he borrowed a book from a political opponent, the other politician became more civil toward him.
Hating Your Victim Davis and Jones (1960) had participants tell a young man (the researchers' confederate) they thought he was shallow, untrustworthy, boring. After the fact, the participants convinced themselves they didn't like the victim of their cruelty.After saying things they knew were certain to hurt him, they convinced themselves that he deserved to be hurt.
Self-Discrepancy Theory Self-Discrepancy TheoryThe idea that people become distressed when their sense of their actual self differs from their ideal self.
Culture and Dissonance We can find the effects of dissonance in almost every part of the world, but it does not always take the same form. Example:In Japan, if a person merely observes someone he knows and likes saying that a boring task is interesting and enjoyable, that will cause the observer to experience dissonance. Consequently, in that situation, the observers’ attitudes change. In short, the observers bring their evaluation more in line with the lie their friend has told!
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON DISSONANCE: LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES President George W. Bush wanted to believe that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which posed a threat to Americans. Bush and his advisors’ interpretation of CIA reports provided the justification to launch a preemptive war.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON DISSONANCE: LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES As the months dragged on and still no WMD were found they continued to assert that they would find them. Why? Because they were experiencing enormous dissonance. They had to believe they would find them.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON DISSONANCE: LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES How did President Bush and his staff reduce dissonance? By adding new cognitions to justify the war: Suddenly the U.S. mission was to liberate the nation from a cruel dictator and give the Iraqi people the blessings of democratic institutions.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON DISSONANCE: LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES Several commentators have suggested that the Bush administration was deliberately trying to deceive the American people.
Social Psychology Elliot AronsonUniversity of California, Santa CruzTimothy D. WilsonUniversity of VirginiaRobin M. AkertWellesley Collegeslides by Travis LangleyHenderson State University
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