Motivational basis of dissonance: The singular role of behavioral consequences.

This article provides the first empirical test of the idea that discrepancy is not needed in order to arouse cognitive dissonance. Dissonance was aroused when Ss felt responsible for some aversive consequence, regardless of whether their behavior was consistent (writing a proattitudinal essay) or inconsistent (a counterattitudinal essay) with beliefs. The data demonstrate that in both situations, dissonance is aroused. This result, based on the dissonance motivation model of J. Cooper and R. H. Fazio (1984), strongly suggests that the motivational basis for dissonance is the felt responsibility for aversive consequences. The theoretical implications of this outlook are explored, including a discussion of the many ways that it expands the applicability of dissonance theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role playing, incentive, and dissonance.

Incentive theory is advanced as more satisfactory than dissonance theory in dealing with attitude change induced through role playing. Incentive theory and dissonance theory yield opposite predictions about attitudinal results of role playing which involves different incentive levels. Experimental studies in this area are reviewed, and alternative explanations are discussed. Results which appear to support dissonance theory can generally be attributed to the arousal of interfering negative affect by increasing reward levels. When opportunity for instigation of such interfering reactions is low, increased reward may lead to more effective biased scanning and thus to more attitude change. Complicating factors are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence that the production of aversive consequences is not necessary to create cognitive dissonance.

The present authors hypothesized, in contrast to 1 influential revision of cognitive dissonance theory, that the production of aversive consequences is not necessary to create cognitive dissonance and that cognitive dissonance will occur even when aversive consequences are not produced. In Experiment 1, participants drank a pleasant- or unpleasant-tasting beverage and were given high or low choice to write a sentence that said they liked the beverage. Participants threw the paper away once they had written the sentence and then rated how much they liked the beverage. In support of the hypothesis, unpleasant-tasting beverage/ high-choice participants liked the beverage more than unpleasant-tasting beverage/low-choice participants. A 2nd experiment replicated this effect, using a different counterattitudinal action and different choice manipulation. By demonstrating that the manipulation of dissonance produced increased physiological arousal, a 3rd experiment suggested that self-perception theory could not alternatively explain the results of Experiments 1 and 2. (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)     

Acquisition of conservation through cognitive dissonance.

In 2 experiments conservers, transitional conservers, and nonconservers were directed to pretend that their judgments and explanations to a series of conservation problems were the opposite of what they really were. Ss were 210 children from nursery school, kindergarten, and 1st–3rd grades. In both studies nonconservers and transitional Ss made large and significant gains in conservation in comparison with appropriate control groups and between pre- and posttests. Conservers did not regress. Exp II, moreover, indicated that conservation gains were stable and that the newly acquired conservation was not extinguished by a 2nd dissonance treatment in which Ss gave nonconservation responses. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissonance and humor: Evidence for the undifferentiated nature of dissonance arousal.

33 undergraduates were committed to performing a counterattitudinal behavior under conditions of high or low choice. Thereafter, the order of presentation of two potential sources of arousal was manipulated. Some Ss first watched and rated a cartoon and then completed a posttreatment attitude measure. Other Ss first completed the attitude measure and then viewed the cartoon. It was thought that the presentation of the attitude measure first would lead Ss to attribute any arousal they might be experiencing to their counterattitudinal behavior and hence to change their attitudes. Analogously, presentation of the cartoon first was predicted to foster an interpretation of any arousal as a humorous reaction to the cartoon. The attitude and humor ratings of high-choice Ss were more affected by the order manipulation than the ratings of low-choice Ss. It is suggested that the arousal created by an induced compliance manipulation may be a general and undifferentiated state that can be attributed to any plausible source. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors governing the effective remediation of negative affect and its cognitive and behavioral consequences.

Tested the hypothesis that the remediation of negative emotion will be most effective when the remedial procedure matches the experience or cognition that induced the negative state. Negative emotional states were induced in 150 2nd-grade children by 1 of 4 processes, all of which involved social rejection content: cognition that focused on (a) thinking about oneself being rejected by a peer or (b) thinking about a peer being rejected; or experience that related to (c) actually being socially rejected or (d) seeing a peer be socially rejected. These inductions were followed by a positive remedial induction whose content was the reverse (social acceptance) and whose process did or did not match that of the negative induction. Results indicate that, except for negative self-cognitions, the behavioral (altruism) and cognitive (performance on a block design task) consequences of negative emotion were alleviated when the positive remediation was of the same type as the original induction. Emotional expressions were consistently positive following remediation, regardless of their type. Results are discussed in terms of differing processes for maintaining negative emotion as a function of the character of induction, and the implications for the understanding of clinical depression in children are noted. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Different levels of cognitive dissonance, information seeking, and information avoidance.

An experiment with 122 15–17 yr olds tested the curvilinear relationship between the amount of dissonance and the tendency to seek consonant information and avoid dissonant information. The dependent variables, information seeking and information avoidance, were measured separately, and additional data were collected about the perceived probability of revising the decision and about changes of decision certainty. Results show that Ss' preference for information consonant with the decision was highest when they had neither won nor lost large amounts of money. With increasing gains or losses, the opposite tendency emerged. This pattern held both for the number of consonant pieces of information chosen and for the difference in desirability ratings for reading consonant vs dissonant communications. Independent of the amount of money won or lost, more dissonant than consonant information was avoided. Data are explained within the framework of dissonance theory as well as choice-certainty theory. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deleterious effects of alcohol intoxication: Diminished cognitive control and its behavioral consequences.

The authors tested the hypothesis that impaired behavioral performance during intoxication results partly from alcohol's deleterious effects on cognitive control. The impact of alcohol on perseverative behavior was examined with an n-back working memory task that included manipulations of task complexity and prepotency of inclinations to respond or withhold responding. Thirty-two social drinkers (16 men) participated in either an alcohol (.075g/100ml) or a no-alcohol condition. Alcohol increased perseveration of prepotent, task-inappropriate response patterns only under cognitively demanding (heavy memory load) conditions. This effect was evident for both commission errors (response persistence despite contingencies altered to require restraint) and omission errors (failure to respond when contingencies were revised to encourage action). Findings suggested that alcohol-induced perseveration arises from impairments in cognitive control. (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)     

Individual differences, self-presentation, and cognitive dissonance: Their concurrent operation in forced compliance.

Attempted to separate and assess the contributions of cognitive dissonance and self-presentation to the forced-compliance effect. Individual differences in self-presentation were assessed using the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale, and the Other-Deception Questionnaire. In Exp I, with 33 male undergraduates, the experimental group was induced to lie about a boring task and rate task enjoyability on pencil-and-paper and bogus-pipeline measures. One control group did not lie about the task but gave both types of rating. A 2nd control group lied about the task and then gave 2 pencil-and-paper ratings. Results indicate that dissonance reduction and self-presentation contributed independently to the forced-compliance effect. Findings were replicated in Exp II with 52 male and female Ss. The observed pattern of individual differences ruled out alternative explanations. The J. T. Tedeschi et al (1971) theory of self-presentation was supported over M. J. Rosenberg's (1965) formulation. Several theories integrating the self-presentation and dissonance views are discussed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective consequences of inadequately explained physiological arousal.

Reexamined S. Schachter and J. E. Singer's (see record 1963-06064-001) reported demonstration of cognitively influenced physiological determinants in the experience of emotion. In the present study with 85 male undergraduates, reports of affective state by placebo-injected and epinephrine-injected Ss, who were misinformed about possible somatic effects and exposed to a euphoric confederate, did not differ. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ontogeny of serotonergic inhibition of behavioral arousal in the rat.

Tested the effects of para-chlorophenylalanine (P-CPA), which depletes brain serotonin, in 3 experiments with 10-25 day old albino Sprague-Dawley rats. Experimental Ss were tested for locomotor effects 0, 24, 48, and 72 hrs after P-CPA injection. Depletion of serotonin increased behavior arousal in 15-, 20-, and 25-day-old Ss, but not in those 10 days old. P-CPA potentiated the locomotor activity induced by amphetamine, but again 10-day-old Ss did not show the effect. These results are interpreted as evidence for the delayed maturation of a serotonergic inhibitory system that modulates behavioral arousal. (53 ref) (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)     

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)     

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)     

Role of self-presentation and choice in cognitive dissonance under forced compliance: Necessary or sufficient causes?

In 3 experiments, 114 undergraduates performed counterattitudinal behaviors under choice or no-choice conditions in which the behaviors were public or private and anonymous. Results indicate that self-presentation and choice should be considered as sufficient but not necessary causes of cognitive dissonance. In the absence of self-presentation (private condition), manipulations of perceived choice affected attitude change. In the absence of choice, self-presentation produced attitude change. Supplementary findings suggest that the effects of choice and self-presentation on dissonance were additive and that attitude change was maintained across different audiences among Ss who believed the 2 audiences to be unrelated. The implication that neither choice nor self-presentation is necessary for the occurrence of attitude change suggests a view of cognitive dissonance as multiply determined. (15 ref) (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)     

Food-deprivation-induced behavioral arousal: Mediation by hypothalamus and amygdala.

Conducted 5 experiments, using a total of 238 male albino Sprague-Dawley rats. Electrolytic lesions of the basomedial hypothalamus eliminated food-deprivation-induced stabilimeter activity in Ss that were prevented from becoming obese. Knife cuts lateral to the basomedial area (separating the medial and lateral hypothalamus) potentiated this activity, as did transections posterior to the basomedial region. Anterior transections (between anterior and medial hypothalamus), however, eliminated the effect. Lesions of the stria terminalis and amygdala likewise abolished deprivation-induced locomotor activity, but elevated ad lib activity to a level comparable with that after deprivation in intact Ss. Ss with combined basomedial-stria terminalis lesions behaved like Ss with basomedial lesions. Results suggest that food-deprivation-induced locomotor activity in stabilimeter cages was due to a disinhibition of the basomedial hypothalamus by the amygdala via the stria terminalis. (79 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ontogeny of behavioral arousal: A comparative study.

Conducted 2 experiments with a total of 110 male Hartley albino neonatal guinea pigs, and 72 male golden neonatal hamsters to study changes in general activity as a function of age. The precocial guinea pig, which has a relatively mature brain at birth, showed little variation in behavioral arousal from 5-100 days of age. However, the altricial hamster displayed a sizable increase in activity between 10-15 days of age followed by a corresponding decline between 15-25 days of age. This pattern of behavioral activity in the hamster parallels the caudal-rostal sequence of brain development, in which the phylogenetically primitive brainstem excitory system reaches maturity before telencephalic inhibitory centers. Direct observation revealed no qualitative changes in response that could account for the differences in behavioral arousal between the 2 species. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)