In defense of dissonance theory: Reply to Chapanis and Chapanis.

This paper evaluates the critical review of the dissonance literature by Chapanis and Chapanis (1964) and concludes that these authors, for the most part, do not accomplish what they purport to, i.e, the presentation of alternative explanations of the findings they deal with. The "methodological inadequacies" discussed by the Chapanises are viewed as acceptable procedures and necessary components of the inductive process. An alternative explanation for the popularity of dissonance theory is offered and the current status of the model is reconsidered. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive dissonance, sensitivity, and evaluation.

In a test of dissonance theory the sensitivity of regular smokers to information about smoking and lung cancer was compared to nonsmokers. Smokers were more interested in such information than nonsmokers; but they did not seek out negative evidence about lung cancer and smoking, nor did they reject information about the harmful effects more than nonsmokers. No clear-cut results emerge from the analysis of dissonance reduction in relation to extraversion and neuroticism, though regular smokers were higher in extraversion than nonsmokers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among dissonance reducing responses.

This experiment compares the use which is made of available dissonance reducing responses by Ss who have received 3 types of experimental treatments. Ss who were forced to use 2 dissonance reducing responses made less use of 3 other available means of reducing dissonance than did Ss who were forced to use only 1. The latter Ss, in turn, made less use of other available responses than did those who were not forced to use any. These and other findings suggest that dissonance reducing responses combine additively rather than disjunctively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A dissonance theory approach to defensive projection.

It was hypothesized that cognitive dissonance involving the self-concept leads to the use of projection to reduce the dissonance. Ss were given personality tests, and instead of true results received falisified data indicating favorable or unfavorable personality traits—thereby raising or lowering their self-esteem. In the presence of another S, Ss were shown pictures of men and were told this would be an indicator of their latent homosexuality; GSRs were supported to reflect their degree of anxiety. Ss were asked to estimate the reaction of the other S; Ss with high self-esteem tended to attribute a greater degree of responsiveness of the other S to the pictures. The relationship of psychoanalytic and dissonance theory is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Choice and chance relative deprivation as determinants of cognitive dissonance.

While the limits of conditions that create dissonance may be greater than those stipulated by Festinger (see 32: 347), just where these limits lie is not yet known. An experiment was designed to reveal whether: (a) a chance event can affect the magnitude of dissonance, and (b) the effect of such a chance event depends upon there having been a prior choice in commitment to the event. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing cognitive dissonance by a fait accompli.

Festinger's theory (see 32: 347) states "that a person who is completely forced to behave in a manner he would avoid if possible, experiences no dissonance. On the other hand, a fait accompli—i.e., an event outside of the person's control—might conceivably create dissonance if that same event would have led to the opposite behavior had it been predictable at a prior choice point." An experiment is reported in which a fait accompli does appear to have increased cognitive dissonance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive Dissonance in Groups: The Consequences of Disagreement.

As L. Festinger (1957) argued, the social group is a source of cognitive dissonance as well as a vehicle for reducing it. That is, disagreement from others in a group generates dissonance, and subsequent movement toward group consensus reduces this negative tension. The authors conducted 3 studies to demonstrate group-induced dissonance. In the first, students in a group with others who ostensibly disagreed with them experienced greater dissonance discomfort than those in a group with others who agreed. Study 2 demonstrated that standard moderators of dissonance in past research-lack of choice and opportunity to self-affirm, similarly reduced dissonance discomfort generated by group disagreement. In Study 3, the dissonance induced by group disagreement was reduced through a variety of interpersonal strategies to achieve consensus, including persuading others, changing one's own position, and joining an attitudinally congenial group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduction of cognitive dissonance by seeking consonant information.

"An experiment was conducted to test two hypotheses about the reduction of cognitive dissonance by seeking information. The hypotheses were: (a) a person in whom dissonance has been produced by exposure to a communication advocating an opinion contrary to the person's is more likely to seek information than a person exposed to a compatible communication, and (b) a person in whom dissonance has been produced by a contrary communication tends to seek information from a source agreeing with his opinion. The opinions of 100 mothers on the importance of hereditary and environmental factors in child rearing were ascertained by personal interview; they were then exposed to a tape recorded, authoritative communication espousing a hereditary or an environmental point of view… . The results supported the first hypothesis." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GG74A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The phylogenetic roots of cognitive dissonance.

We presented 7 Old World monkeys (Japanese macaques [Macaca fuscata], gray-cheeked mangabey [Lophocebus albigena], rhesus macaques [Macaca mulatta], bonnet macaque [Macaca radiate], and olive baboon [Papio anubis]), 3 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), 6 members of the parrot (Psittacinae) family, and 4 American black bears (Ursus americanus) with a cognitive dissonance paradigm modeled after Egan, Santos, and Bloom (2007). In experimental trials, subjects were given choices between 2 equally preferred food items and then presented with the unchosen option and a novel, equally preferred food item. In control trials, subjects were presented with 1 accessible and 1 inaccessible option from another triad of equally preferred food items. They were then presented with the previously inaccessible item and a novel member of that triad. Subjects, as a whole, did not prefer the novel item in experimental or control trials. However, there was a tendency toward a subject by condition interaction. When analyzed by primate versus nonprimate categories, only primates preferred the novel item in experimental but not control trials, indicating that they resolved cognitive dissonance by devaluing the unchosen option only when an option was derogated by their own free choice. This finding suggests that this phenomenon might exist within but not outside of the primate order. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

I'm a hypocrite, but so is everyone else: Group support and the reduction of cognitive dissonance.

The impact of social support on dissonance arousal was investigated from a social identity view of dissonance theory. This perspective is seen as augmenting current conceptualizations of dissonance theory by predicting when normative information will impact on dissonance arousal and by indicating the availability of identity-related strategies of dissonance reduction. An experiment was conducted to induce feelings of hypocrisy under conditions of behavioral support or nonsupport. Group salience was either high or low, or individual identity was emphasized. As predicted, participants with no support from the salient in-group exhibited the greatest need to reduce dissonance through attitude change and reduced levels of group identification. Results were interpreted in terms of self being central to the arousal and reduction of dissonance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in interpersonal perception as a means of reducing cognitive dissonance.

A situation was structured so that Ss were under the impression they were reading to someone a negative evaluation about him. Half of the Ss expected to meet this person later, where the nature of the situation could be explained and rectified; the other half were told they would not be given such an opportunity. It was predicted that there would be greater cognitive dissonance where S was given a choice whether to read the abusive statement or not and where no opportunity to meet the individual and rectify matters would be permitted. This prediction was confirmed. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2GE02D. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of worker productivity to cognitive dissonance about wage inequities.

2 hypotheses derived from dissonance theory were tested: (a) when a person is paid by the hour his productivity will be greater when he perceives his pay as inequitably large than when identical pay is perceived as equitable, and (b) when a person is paid on a piecework basis his productivity will be less when he perceives his pay in inequitably large than when he perceives identical pay as being equitable. The first hypothesis was sustained (p     

Social comparison and dissonance reduction in self-evaluation.

This study is designed to compare and test some predictions about the self-evaluation process based on the theories of Festinger and Rotter. Contrary to suggestions by Rotter, it was found that minimal goals were no more resistant to change than were expected scores. Changes in minimal goals and expected scores tended to occur so as to minimize discrepancies with actual performance, and thus reduce dissonance in accordance with Festinger's theory. Consistent with Festinger's theory of social comparison processes, it was found that individual's self-evaluations are only influenced by reference group norms in the absence of a more objective criterion for self-evaluation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive consequences of forced compliance.

Atest of some hypotheses generated by Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, viz., that "if a person is induced to do or say something which is contrary to his private opinion, there will be a tendency for him to change his opinion so as to bring it into correspondence with what he has done or said. The larger the pressure used to elicit the overt behavior… the weaker will be the… tendency… . The results strongly corroborate the theory." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A physiological effect of cognitive dissonance under stress and deprivation.

An experiment and a partial replication were conducted to relate the change of motivation due to dissonance reduction and commitment to physiological changes. The experimental technique was based on food deprivation studies by Brehm which showed that already deprived individuals who committed themselves to further fasting under conditions of low reward decreased their self-estimates of hunger, while the reverse was true for those given high rewards. The data suggest that a person who has convinced himself that he is not so hungry tends to respond physiologically as if he were not hungry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alternative responses to dissonance.

50 male and 50 female Ss were placed in an experimental situation in which they found their judgments contradicted by a respected associate of the same sex. Ss were free to resolve the dissonance by conforming to the contrary judgments of the associate, rejecting the associate as one who was less competent than he had been thought to be, underrecalling the disagreements, or, devaluating the importance of the topics about which disagreements had occurred. Female Ss made less use of rejection than did male Ss and were more inclined to tolerate the conflict. Other findings suggest that individuals are inclined to employ the 4 responses as alternative means of reducing dissonance rather than as supplementary means. Finally, correlations relating the MA scale to conformity, underrecall, and tolerance were significantly different for the 2 sexes, suggesting that the effect of anxiety upon Ss' choice of dissonance reducing response depends upon the sex of the Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduction of cognitive dissonance through task enhancement and effort expenditure.

This study tested the hypothesis that task performance can facilitate dissonance reduction. It was predicted that dissonance induced by compliance with a negatively valued task setter would be reduced by task enhancement and high effort expenditure. Increased effort was assumed to aid dissonance reduction by validating the initial enhanced valuation of the task. A concept-attainment task was given to 50 undergraduate students who "chose" to comply with an inconsiderate E for no experimental credit (NC), and to 50 students who received credit (C). The NC group persisted longer on an insoluble problem, completed more trials, scored fewer penalty points, and forgot less information than the C group. They also maintained a more performance-anchored level of aspiration and rated the experiment as more interesting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Denial of responsibility: A new mode of dissonance reduction.

Denial of responsibility as a mode of dissonance reduction and the conditions under which it is likely to occur were explored in 3 experiments. Two experiments tested and supported the hypothesis that following a counterattitudinal behavior, participants prefer the mode of reduction made available to them first, regardless of whether it is attitude change, trivialization, or denial of responsibility. The 3rd experiment tested and supported the hypothesis that denial of responsibility reduces the negative affective state induced by dissonance. The mechanism of denial of responsibility in dissonance reduction is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of prior dishonesty on postdecision dissonance.

This was previously abstracted (see 37: 7780), but there was an error in the text. The abstract should read as follows: 145 children (aged 3-12) indicated liking for 3 toys and 3 crackers. After being exposed to a temptation to be dishonest and given a choice of 1 of the objects, they gave liking ratings of their chosen and unchosen alternatives. Postdecision dissonance reduction (increased liking for the chosen, and decreased liking for the unchosen alternative) was greatest when choice from among dissimilar objects (toy and cracker) followed dishonesty; it was least when honesty preceded choosing from among similar objects (2 toys or 2 crackers). Results were consistent with formulations by Hull, on drive summation, and Lewin, on tension spread: irrelevant tension combines with relevant tension to produce greater response to the latter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive dissonance.

Notes an incidence of cognitive dissonance that Benjamin Franklin experienced in 1736 at age 30 yrs before the hypothesis of cognitive dissonance was stated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)