Cognitive
Dissonance:
A
state of tension that occurs whenever an individual simultaneously holds two
cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent.
Two
cognitions are dissonant when, if considered alone, the opposite of one follows
from the other.
Examples
of dissonant cognitions:
1.
I
value my life.
2.
I
smoke deadly cigarettes.
1.
I
love Mother Nature.
2.
I
drive an 8-mpg Ford Expedition.
1.
I
believe that decent housing should be available for poor people.
2.
I
want my town to require 2-acre building lots to preserve its rural character,
even though that will increase the price of housing.
Usually
people manage to avoid being made aware that many of their cognitions are
dissonant.
Sometimes
a person becomes aware that some of their cognitions are dissonant. Then this
process takes place:
1.
Inconsistency
between cognitions is noted.
2.
Dissonance
is created.
·
Amount
of dissonance can actually be calculated:
The
Dissonance Ratio:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Number
of cognitions dissonant with relevant cognition
+ number of cognitions consonant with
relevant cognition.
I
voted for 2-acre zoning
-----------------------------
I
worked for Habitat for Humanity, I think fixer-uppers are great, I donate money
to other housing organizations, I like having lots of different kinds of
neighbors, I belong to the Citizens for Decent Housing
Importance
of the cognitions is also a factor; if a cognition is trivial it won’t count as
much; if it’s very important it will count a lot.
3.
Dissonance
reduction strategy is implemented.
·
Remove
dissonant cognitions
·
I
didn’t vote that way
·
I
don’t want housing for poor people in our town
·
Add
new consonant cognitions
·
I’ll
teach the poor to grow gardens on their 2-acre lots
·
Reduce
the importance of dissonant cognitions
·
My
vote didn’t matter
·
There
are plenty of other places where ½ acre lots are available
·
Increase
the importance of consonant cognitions
·
Habitat
for Humanity is the solution to all of our housing problems
4.
Dissonance
reduced.
Dissonance
is an uncomfortable motivational state, like hunger or thirst.
People
are motivated to reduce dissonance.
Common Sources of Dissonance:
Insufficient rewards:
·
I
did something hard and boring.
·
I
got little or no reward.
Justification of effort :
·
I
expended a lot of effort.
·
I
didn’t’ get anything out of it.
Post-decision
dissonance:
·
I
made a tough choice.
·
There
is evidence out there that my decision might not be the best one.
o Prior to making a decision,
people may seek out unbiased information.
o Following making a decision,
people will only seek out consonant information – information that agrees with
their initial decision.
o People will discount
dissonant information that disagrees with their initial decision.
Initial Commitment:
·
I
made a commitment.
·
Some
of the implications are undesirable.
Foot in the door technique:
Small initial commitment leads to larger follow-up
commitments.
Lowballing:
Any initial commitment leads to continuing
commitment, even if situation changes.
Factors Influencing Dissonance Reduction:
Whether or not a cognition will be changed or not depends on its resistance to change.
Cognitions closely linked to reality are resistant
to change.
·
It’s
hard to deny a behavior you’ve already done.
·
It’s
hard to change your mind about something everyone believes is true.
Behavioral Cognitions (i.e., knowledge that you do a
behavior) are resistant to change to the extent that changing them causes pain
or loss, and doing them causes satisfaction.
Other
ways to reduce dissonance:
Dampening
of arousal:
Dissonance
is an unpleasant physiological state.
·
If you can’t change cognitions to reduce dissonance, change
physiological state:
·
Drinking alcohol eliminates dissonance (Steele et al., 1981),
eliminating the need for cognitive change.
Self-Affirmation:
Dissonance
is an attack on one’s self-concept.
·
If you can’t change cognitions to reduce dissonance, reaffirm
self-concept
·
Thinking about all the ways you are a good person reduces need for
cognitive change.