attitudes & stereotypes - cognitive dissonance

Question 1

cognitive dissonance

Answer 1

sense of discomfort we feel when we have conflicting thoughts, attitudes & behaviours. this motivates people to change their thoughts or attitudes to match their actions. people need to have consistency in their thoughts, perceptions and images of themselves. has three effects on behaviour

Question 2

avoidance

Answer 2

when confronted with cognitive dissonance, one way to reduce discomfort is by avoiding situations, information or people that amplify the conflict. by avoiding conflicting information, individuals can maintain their current behaviours without directly addressing the inconsistency

Question 3

reduction

Answer 3

cognitive dissonance often leads individuals to take actions that help align their behaviour with their beliefs or attitudes. this can involve making changes in their actions to reduce the conflict. by doing so, they actively work to diminish the dissonance between their behaviour and their beliefs

Question 4

rationalisation

Answer 4

involves creating justifications or explanations that resolve the conflict between beliefs and behaviours. when individuals rationalise, they reinterpret their actions or adjust their beliefs to reduce cognitive dissonance. by reframing the situation, individuals can make their behaviour seem more reasonable in the context of their beliefs

Question 5

magnitude

Answer 5

magnitude is a factor that affects cognitive dissonance. plays a crucial role in determining how individuals experience and response to the discomfort caused by the inconsistency between their cognition (thoughts, beliefs, attitudes) and their behaviours. the concept of magnitude helps explain why some instances of cognitive dissonance might have a more profound impact on behaviour and psychological well-being than others

Question 6

magnitude - emotional impact

Answer 6

the more emotionally charged or personally relevant the beliefs and behaviours in conflict are, the greater the emotional impact of cognitive dissonance

Question 7

magnitude - degree of commitment

Answer 7

cognitive dissonance is often more pronounced when individuals have a strong commitment or investment in their beliefs or behaviours

Question 8

magnitude - perceived consequences

Answer 8

can affect how individuals experience cognitive dissonance. if they believe that the conflict could have significant negative outcomes, the magnitude of the dissonance will increase. this perception of potential negative consequences can drive individuals to take more drastic measures to alleviate the discomfort

Question 9

magnitude - personal values and identity

Answer 9

the alignment of the conflicting beliefs and behaviours with an individual’s core values and self identity determines the magnitude of cognitive dissonance. if the inconsistency challenges fundamental aspects of a person’s self-concept, the dissonance will be more intense and motivate them to resolve it in a way that restores their self-integrity

Question 10

ways to reduce cognitive dissonance

Answer 10

1. change the behaviour
2. add new information or a belief to justify the behaviour
3. reducing the importance of one of the beliefs

Question 11

festinger & carlsmith - aim

Answer 11

to test cognitive dissonance

Question 12

festinger & carlsmith - method

Answer 12

participants complete a set of boring tasks (turning pegs in a board). participants were then told they had to explain the task to future participants, and convince them that the tasks were fun. half were paid $1, and the other half $20. the participants then had to rate their own enjoyment of the task

Question 13

festinger & carlsmith - findings

Answer 13

the participants who were paid only $1 received significantly higher levels of enjoyment. participants who were paid $20 experienced less cognitive dissonance because it was easier to rationalise promoting such a boring task while being paid $20. participants who were paid $1 experienced more cognitive dissonance and had to change their belief of the experience as being fun, because $1 was not enough to justify having to promote the task

Question 14

festinger & carlsmith - contributions

Answer 14

-provided empirical evidence supporting cognitive dissonance theory
-controlled for demand characteristics by removing the data for 5 participants who questioned the true purpose of the experiment

Question 15

festinger & carlsmith - limitations

Answer 15

-the study was conducted in a laboratory setting, which may not have been representative of real-world situations
-sample size relatively small
-study did not measure participants actual beliefs about the task