The magnitude of dissonance is directly proportional to the number of discrepant cognitions and inversely proportional to the number of consonant cognitions that a person has. Cognitive dissonance is a feeling of discomfort that a person can experience when they hold two contradicting beliefs. Cognitive dissonance theory after 50 years of development. Try and think about a situation where some of your beliefs about the world were challenged or a time where you acted in. Cognitive dissonance was first investigated by leon festinger, arising out of a participant observation study of a cult which believed that the earth was going to be destroyed by a flood, and what happened to its members particularly the really committed ones who had given up their homes and jobs to work for the cult when the flood did not. Cognitivedissonancetheory after50yearsofdevelopment.
Leon festinger introduced cognitive dissonance theory in a 1957 book, a theory of cognitive dissonance. This work is a clearly stated theory on how humans think, decide, and defend their decisions. The theory of dissonance is here applied to the problem of why partial reward, delay of reward, and effort expenditure during training result in increased resistance to extinction. A person who experiences internal inconsistency tends to become psychologically uncomfortable and is motivated to reduce the cognitive dissonance. Originally published in the journal of abnormal and social psychology in 1959, cognitive consequences of forced compliance by leon festinger and james carlsmith was the first of numerous studies to corroborate the theory of cognitive dissonance. A theory of cognitive dissonance also available in format docx and mobi. Leon festinger, an introduction to the theory of cognitive. Bastian kaiser, jenja kromm, stefanie konig, vivian blumenthal. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. The central proposition of festinger s theory is that if a person holds two cognitions that are inconsistent with one another, he will experience the pressure of an aversive motivational state called cognitive dissonance, a pressure which he will seek to remove, among other ways.
This is chapter one of leon festinger, a theory of cognitive dissonance. Read a theory of cognitive dissonance online, read in mobile or kindle. In a theory of cognitive dissonance 1957, leon festinger proposed that human. The underlying theory was developed by l festinger in a theory of cognitive. An introduction to cognitive dissonance theory and an.
A theory of cognitive dissonance leon festinger download. In general, social psychologists, always looking for the next great theory, seemed to have shelved this book and its concepts within a couple of decades after it came out in 1957 see leon festinger s comments 30 years later in appendix b of cognitive dissonance progress on a pivotal. Alan watts how to see through the game the secret to life. Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. A recent theory by festinger 1957 attempts to state the conditions under which discrepancies between cognitions produce cognitive dissonance, a state of tension that motivates the individual to reduce or eliminate the discrepancies. Another argument that may support the use of the environmental frame for animal advocacy is related with behavioral and attitudinal change. He tested the decisionmaking process in a cognitive dissonance experiment cognitive dissonance is a sensation that seems to derive from a conflict between the ideas, beliefs, and values of a certain subject and their behavior. Carlsmith, and was called the cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Leon festinger leon festinger cognitive dissonance. Understanding cognitive dissonance in smoking behaviour. Hence, in smokers case, knowing cigarettes will cause harm on their health yet they are smoking. It holds that dissonance is experienced whenever one cognition that a person holds follows from the opposite of at least one other cognition that the person holds.
The theory of cognitive dissonance festinger, 1957. These two concepts are theoretically distinct and the first is now referred to as cognitive inconsistency an introduction to cognitive dissonance theory and. The cognitive dissonance experiment was conducted in the year 1959 by leon festinger and james m. When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors dissonance, something must change to eliminate the dissonance. Pdf cognitive dissonance theory festinger researchgate.
Cognitive dissonance leon festinger according to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions i. Festinger s theory said that when a person holds contradictory elements in cognition producing an unpleasant state called dissonance the person will work to bring the elements back into agreement or congruence. The origins of cognitive dissonance yale university. A theory of cognitive dissonance 1957 pdf cooper cognitive dissonance. The original version of the theory leon festinger formulated the original theory of cognitive dissonance in the mid1950s, and the first formal and complete presentation of the theory appeared in 1957. In the rest of the book many behavioural facts supporting the theory are put forward. Kognitiven dissonanz methodisch sehr aufwendig festinger, 1957. In a theory of cognitive dissonance 1957, leon festinger proposed that human beings strive for internal psychological consistency to function mentally in the real world. She attracted a group of followers who left jobs, schools, and spouses and. Festinger used the same term, dissonance, to refer to the discrepancy between cognitions and to psychological discomfort. In a time of abundant information, the risk of picking up only those data that support our previous convictions is always there. A theory of cognitive dissonance stanford university press.
Lets take a look at the original theory of cognitive dissonance, created in 1957 by social psychologist leon festinger. The theory of cognitive dissonance is elegantly simple. Almost half a century ago social psychologist leon festinger developed the cognitive dissonance theory festinger, 1957. Leon festinger and cognitive dissonance exploring your mind. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. According to dissonance theory, selfesteem is threatened by inconsistency. An example of this approach is cognitive dissonance theory festinger 1957. Leon festinger formulated the original theory of cognitive. A theory of cognitive dissonance download pdfepub ebook. Psychologist leon festinger used cognitive dissonance as a way to explain his theory of what people experience when they simultaneously hold two conflicting beliefs. Voraussetzungen fur einstellungsanderung durch kognitive dissonanz cooper,fazio,1984. Download a theory of cognitive dissonance ebook for free in pdf and epub format.
We provide several examples of cognitive dissonance in this article. Here are presented all the main aspects of the theory. According to festinger, cognitive dissonance occurs when peoples thoughts and feelings are inconsistent with their behavior, which results in an uncomfortable, disharmonious feeling. Cognitive dissonance an overview sciencedirect topics. Therefore, cognitive dissonance is when two thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors are so out of harmony that they make you feel psychologically uncomfortable. Leon festinger introduced the concept of cognitive dissonance as psychological tension in 1957. While at the university of minnesota, festinger read about a cult that believed that the end of the world was at hand. Leon festinger s theory of cognitive dissonance has been widely recognized for its important and influential concepts in areas of motivation and social psychology.
Cognitive dissonance theory links actions and attitudes. Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon most commonly associated with the field of social psychology. In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance occurs when a person holds two or more. Cognitive dissonance can be seen as an antecedent condition which leads to activity oriented toward dissonance reduction just as hunger leads to activity oriented toward hunger reduction. Cognitive dissonance theory, as originally set out by festinger 1957, described dissonance as an intraindividual phenomenon in a social context. Cognitive dissonance park ridge psychological services. Psychologist leon festinger first described the theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957. Festinger developed the theory to explain how members of a cult, the seekers, were persuaded by their leader, mrs.
Keech, reported receiving messages from extraterrestrial aliens that the world would end in a great flood on a specific date. Pdf a theory of cognitive dissonance semantic scholar. One of the conditions that may be necessary for the creation of cognitive dissonance is that there be some element of volition. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs and.
Carlsmith1 stanford university w hat happens to a persons private opinion if he is forced to do or say something contrary to that opin. Cognitive dissonance theory an overview sciencedirect. Keech, that the earth was going to be destroyed on december 21 and that only those people who were part of the cult would be rescued by aliens and saved from earths demise. Dissonanz des sozialpsychologen leon festinger erneut ins wissen. Festinger observed that humans strive to achieve balance and consistency in our lives. The number of variations within this approach to selfevaluation regulation is also substantial. Cognitive dissonance arises from incompatibility of thoughts that. Pdf increasing cognitive dissonance by a fait accompli. The origins of cognitive dissonance evidence from childre n and monkeys louisa c.
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