Attitude change and justification for compliance.

"This experiment has tentatively illustrated some of the processes involved in creating and reducing psychological dissonance and the implications of such dissonance for attitude change in compliance situations. It was hypothesized that increased justification for taking an opinion position discrepant from one's private opinion would lead to decreased dissonance and therefore decreased attitude change toward the discrepant position. Ss were asked to write an essay taking a stand opposite to their initial opinion on a given issue. One group of Ss was then given a number of reasons for compliance with the request (high justification condition). For another group (low justification condition) Ss were given no detailed justification for writing the essay. Attitude change was determined from a postexperimental questionnaire… . Attitude change tended to be greater where manipulated (and perceived) justification was least." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1GD76C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude change through reward of verbal behavior.

"72 Ss were induced to engage in debates on 3 different issues, taking sides opposite to those which they had indicated as their own in an opinion pretest. Half of the Ss were rewarded, in a predetermined order, by a purported vote which proclaimed them the better debators, while the other half were punished by presumably losing the debate. Posttests of Ss' opinions showed a tendency of the 'winners' to change their opinions in the direction of their debates, while the 'losers' did not change significantly. A control group of nondebators likewise showed no significant change in opinions." (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)     

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)     

Attitude change through modification of attitude structure.

183 experimental Ss were tested regarding their attitudes toward allowing Negroes to move into white neighborhoods, toward 25 values in terms of expected satisfaction from each, and toward the 25 values in terms of "allowing Negroes to move into white neighborhoods" would lead to or block attainment of the values both before and after a change procedure designed to increase the S's awareness that nonsegregation would lead to the attainment of four important values. The experimental procedure changed perceptions and attitudes toward Negro housing segregation in S's with moderate initial attitude on the issue. Little attitude change was produced in extremely prejudiced and extremely nonprejudiced S's (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)     

Social reinforcement in attitude change.

Ss were exposed to an attitude different than one they had expressed previously with the purpose of seeing whether postcommunicative conversation would reflect attempts at reducing such cognitive dissonance. Analyzing the conversation of women who had been exposed to attitudes concerning toilet training which was different than the one they had expressed indicated that they did tend to reduce cognitive dissonance by seeking out information that either agreed with their formally held notion or the newly advocated one. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GD09M. (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)     

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)     

Attitude change through refutation and elaboration of audience counterarguments.

"An experiment was conducted involving a comparison of the effectiveness of (a) refutation versus no refutation, and (b) elaboration versus no elaboration of audience counterarguments in changing attitude toward the Korean War. Two independent samples were obtained: one consisted of recruits in basic training at a military base; the second consisted of high school students… . Each of the experimental programs was effective in changing attitude toward the Korean War." The results are analyzed in terms of the major variables manipulated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudinal effects of choice in exposure to counterpropaganda.

Conditions are explored "under which exposure to information discrepant form one's own opinion produces cognitive dissonance and consequent attitude change… . The results were discussed in terms of the importance of prior choice in exposure in creating dissonance." (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)     

On the cultural guises of cognitive dissonance: The case of Easterners and Westerners.

Cognitive dissonance and effects of self-affirmation on dissonance arousal were examined cross-culturally. In Studies 1 and 2, European Canadians justified their choices more when they made them for themselves, whereas Asian Canadians (Study 1) or Japanese (Study 2) justified their choices more when they made them for a friend. In Study 3, an interdependent self-affirmation reduced dissonance for Asian Canadians but not for European Canadians. In Study 4, when Asian Canadians made choices for a friend, an independent self-affirmation reduced dissonance for bicultural Asian Canadians but not for monocultural Asian Canadians. These studies demonstrate that both Easterners and Westerners can experience dissonance, but culture shapes the situations in which dissonance is aroused and reduced. Implications of these cultural differences for theories of cognitive dissonance and self-affirmation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking behavior in offspring of heart disease patients: A response to cognitive dissonance.

Offspring of heart disease patients, with their variety of health concerns, were compared to a control group with respect to cigarette smoking behavior. Contrary to common-sense expectations, a significantly greater proportion of both male and female offspring were current smokers, and smoked to a greater degree (heavy) than control Ss. The MMPI, however, did not discriminate between Ss on the basis of smoking behavior. In accordance with previous research, it was theorized that the differences observed could be attributed to the higher state of cognitive dissonance associated with cigarette smoking in the offspring group. The fact that a relationship existed between quitting and age, for male and female offspring, suggests that more research is required to study the effects of extreme states of cognitive dissonance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physiological arousal, dissonance, and attitude change: Evidence for a dissonance-arousal link and a "Don't remind me" effect.

Two experiments, with 80 undergraduates, replicated and extended research by R. T. Croyle and J. Cooper (see record 1984-11595-001) indicating that cognitive dissonance involves physiological arousal. In Exp I, Ss wrote counterattitudinal essays under conditions of high or low choice and, to assess arousal effects owing to effort, with or without a list of arguments provided by the experimenter. In high-choice conditions only and regardless of effort, Ss showed both arousal (heightened galvanic skin response) and attitude change. Arousal, however, did not decline following attitude change. The more effortful task (no arguments provided) produced increased arousal but not greater attitude change. In Exp II, the opportunity to change one's attitude following a freely chosen counterattitudinal essay was manipulated. As in Exp I, arousal increased following the essay but did not decline following a postessay attitude change opportunity. When Ss were not given an attitude change opportunity, however, arousal did decline. It is suggested that if dissonance is a drive state, drive reduction typically may be accomplished through gradual cognitive change or forgetting. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conflict-theory interpretation of attitude change in forced compliance situations.

Attitude change following forced compliance was studied in a 4 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 design. Using one of four predesignated issues under two levels of incentive, subjects who had previously expressed either high or low interest in the issue, were invited to make a counter-attitudinal tape-recording. Half of the groups originated their own arguments while half read prepared arguments. Half of the subjects actually engaged in the role playing while half simply committed themselves to the task before answering a post-test questionnaire. It was found that the origins of the argument, role-playing performance, and high incentive levels were potent forces in promoting attitude change. High-interest subjects generally showed more attitude change than low-interest subjects. Both positive and negative relations between magnitude of incentive and attitude change were obtained. These results were found to be consistent with a conflict theory interpretation which relegates cognitive dissonance phenomena to a "special case" interpretation. Some theoretical implications of the results are discussed. (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)     

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)     

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)     

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)