chapter 8

Question 1

1. A) Briefly describe the classic cognitive dissonance study by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959).

Answer 1

in this study, they had participants perform meaningless and repetitive tasks. First, you have to turn a pegboard containing 48 square pegs a quarter to the left, then back to the right over and over. Then, you have to remove all the pegs from the board and then put them back in. After you are done, you are asked to tell the next participant how much you enjoyed the experiment for $1

Question 2

1. B) What are the 4 steps that must be present in order to experience cognitive dissonance?

Answer 2

the 4 steps necessary to experience cognitive dissonance are

1. The individual perceives the action as inconsistency; why actions are inconsistent with attitudes
2. The idivudidual perceives the action as freely chosen; when we perceive ourselves as having freely engaged in the attitude-discrepancy behavior
   
   3. The individual experiences uncomfortable physiological arousal
   4. The individual attributes the arousal to the inconsistency between attitude and action

Question 3

1. C) Explain how those 4 factors may have influenced the results of the classic cognitive dissonance study by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959).

Answer 3

participants that received $1 to lied did so more than those that were not asked to lie or those that received $20 to lie

Question 4

1. D) How did insufficient justification play a role in these findings?

Answer 4

insufficient justification; attitude change that occurs to reduce dissonance caused by the attitude discrepancy behavior that cannot be attribute to external reward or punishment
Reduced dissonance by changing attitude

Question 5

2. deconstructive coping and study

Answer 5

Destructive way; by turning to alcohol
Study; asked student to write an essay favoring a big tuition increase-clearly inconsistent with their attitudes. Those given free choice to write the essay became more supportive of the increase, except in one condition. Right after writing the essay, some students participated in a taste test in which they drank beer or vodka. Theses students showed no usual signs of dissonance and didn’t change their attitudes

Question 6

2. constructive coping and study

Answer 6

Constructive way; reaffirming positive sense of self worth and integrity
Study; asking college students to rate 10 populat musical recordings and then to choose to keep either 5th or 6th rated one (classic post decisional regret situation). Then asked to prepare for a second experienmtn, half would have to wear lab coats. Surprise task, listen to recordings again, most reduced dissonance created by earlier choice by evaluating their chosen recording more highly than the one they had not chose. Those that had to wear lab coats (symbol of values and training, science students wore them), gave them opportunity to reaffirm positive self identity and show no signs of the usual dissonance induced attitude change. Distress causes by performing actions inconsistent with a positive view of ourselves can be dissolved by an act that underscores our sense of identity.