Cognitive Dissonance
How do human beings make decisions? What triggers a person to take action at any given
point? These are all questions that I will attempt to answer with my theoretical research
into Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, as well as many of the other
related theories. We often do not realize the psychological events that take place in our
everyday lives. It is important to take notice of theories, such as the balance theory,
the congruency theory and the cognitive dissonance theory so that one's self-persuasion
occurs knowingly. As psychologist and theorist gain a better understanding of Festinger's
cognitive dissonance theory manipulation could occur more easily than it already does in
today's society.
Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory is very closely related to many of the
consistency theories. The first of the major consistency theories, the balance theory,
was proposed by Fritz Heider (1946, 1958) and was later revised by Theodore Newcomb
(1953) (Larson, 1995). Heider and Newcomb's theory was mostly looking at the interaction
between two people (interpersonally) and the conflicts that arose between them. When two
people have conflicting opinions or tension is felt between another person, it is more
likely persuasion will occur. Because if no tension was felt between the two parties, or
there were no conflicting opinions there would be no need to persuade each other. If you
think about it persuasion occurs only because there is tension between two facts, ideas
or people.
Charles Larson writes in his book, Persuasion, Reception and Responsibility, "another
approach to the consistency theory is congruency theory, by Charles Osgood and Percy
Tennenbaum (1955)" (p.82). This theory suggest that we want to have balance in our lives
and there is a systematic way to numerically figure it out. When two attitudes collide we
must strive to strike a balance between the two attitudes. The balance varies depending
on the intensity we feel about each attitude and our pre-disposed positions concerning
the attitude. We either have a favorable , neutral or unfavorable opinion concerning
ideas. When two attitudes collide we will attempt to downgrade the favorable position and
upgrade the unfavorable position so that we feel a balance. For example, suppose someone
thought of Mel Gibson as a good role model. Later on they come to find out Mel Gibson
does not like football. If the person was to like both football and Mel Gibson one of
three things would happen: 1) The individual would downgrade their opinion of Mel Gibson,
or 2) downgrade football, or 3) downgrade both. The action taken would create
psychological consistency in one's mind. These theories are very interesting and have
been quite researched, but none more so than Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive
dissonance.
Leon Festinger's theory, unlike the others I have described, deal with quantitative
aspects, as well as qualitative. That's what is so different and revolutionary about
Festinger's theory. Robert Wicklund and Jack Brehm (1976), in their book Perspectives on
Cognitive Dissonance, write," Most notably, the original statement of dissonance theory
included propositions about the resistance-to-change of cognitions and about the
proportion of cognitions that are dissonant, both of which allowed powerful and
innovative analyses of psychological situations (p.1). The term "dissonance" refers to
the relation between two elements. When two elements do not fit together they are
considered dissonant. Cognitive dissonance can be broken down into a number of elements.
As Brehm and Cohen (1962) write, "A dissonant relationship exist between two cognitive
elements when a person possesses one which follows the obverse of another that he
possesses. A person experiences dissonance, that is, a motivational tension, when he (or
she) has cognitions among which there are one or more dissonant relationships"
(p.4).Cognitive dissonance can occur intrapersonally as well as between two or more
people.
With individual cognitive dissonance the individual longs for consistency within their
own mind. Second, there exist dissonance between two or more people. This occurs when two
people have differing opinions about a particular issue. This phenomenon may have
something to do with varying degrees of knowledge about the issue or different belief
systems being enacted. An example of this can be seen by taking a look at the cultures of
the West versus cultures of the East. Cultures of the East value loyalty and honor.
Cultures of the West have different value systems that often collide with those of the
East. Between two parties, dissonance may arise from: (1) logical inconsistency; (2)
because of cultural mores: (3) because of a specific opinion; and (4) because of past
experience. To reduce cognitive dissonance a person can either reduce the dissonant
cognition, or its relative importance can be reduced (Wicklund and Brehm, 1976, p.5).
Although the theory assumes that dissonance will be eliminated or reduced, only the
thought about taking action to do so is a given. The means employed by any given
individual to meet these ends is still open to speculation. Action taken depends solely
on the many variables involved, such as ego involvement, commitment, past experiences and
so on. We all react differently to dissonant cognitions that we are confronted with. My
research attempts to examine the different reactions that people have had to different
opinions I have declared which involve them heavily. The area I have chosen to look at is
the habits which many of my close friends engage in: smoking. This is often a difficult
topic to discuss because it is an addictive habit and very personal to many people. Full
well knowing these facts, I attempted to delve in the minds of my friends and put many of
the theories afore mentioned to use in the practical world.
To undertake my research project I observed my friends in their everyday routines. I
chose to attempt to persuade many of my friends to stop smoking. While attempting to
undertake this momentous task I observed many of the consistency theories, especially
Festinger's theory of cognitive-dissonance. The research method that was used was first
hand observation. You could say that I was undertaking a form of ethnographic research.
Most of the time I had to become an active member of the persuasion process, or the
subject of smoking possibly might not have been talked about. The context I chose was
that of my friends at home. All of the participants in the study did not know I was
logging their behavior for later use in this research paper. Either myself and/or my
friends would be active participants in the persuasion process. The basic premise of the
cognitive-dissonance theory is that when two pieces of information do not follow each
other we will experience some form of psychological tension, which we will attempt to
reduce in some way. Often times, according to Leon Festinger, people attempt to reduce
cognitive dissonance whenever possible (Gleitman, 1983, p.12). I noticed many times that
my friends were very interested in the topic of quitting their habit, and some at times
took the issue personally. When people are personally involved with an issue, much like
the use of tobacco, they are much more attentive to the issue (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981, p.
847).
For example, on 3/31/96 I told my three friends that I was concerned about how much they
had been smoking recently. On the average they are smoking 20 cigarettes a day. One of
the girls immediately retaliated with the statement that " her grandmother smoked for
nearly all of her life and she is in good health." In this particular instance we can see
the basic premise of the consistency theories at work. The girl who said this statement
likes me. She also enjoys smoking. When I made the statement that I was concerned with
the levels of tobacco consumption she disregarded my opinion by using past experiences as
evidence to back her point. She is a friend so I assume she somewhat values my opinion,
but she upgraded her opinion of smoking and downgraded my opinion. She experienced some
form of dissonance when I stated my opinion. She reduced her dissonance and thus was in
balance. This is where Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance attempts to rationalize
her behavior.
The other consistency theories do not recognize the degree to which the dissonance
exist. If you were to not use Festinger's model, most likely you would have assumed that
my opinion would have changed her attitude and actions. After all, I did have a
contradictory opinion that did not follow hers, and dissonance was felt. That's what is
missing from the balance theory and the congruency theory: "latitudes of attitude". This
theory, unlike many others, must factor in the human psyche as a variable. The persuasion
process did not occur in this case because my friends attitude towards not smoking was so
anti-quitting, that it might be impossible to change. You cannot think of this theory in
regards to machines you must look at it from the human perspective.
Another example of observable cognitive-dissonance occurred on 4/7/96. The same three
friends and myself were watching television. An anti-smoking campaign sponsored by the
American Red Cross came on the television. Various facts about the amount of people that
die every year from smoking and statistics about the amount of Americans with lung cancer
were shared. I asked the girls what they thought about the information. They all agreed
that it could happen to them, but they hoped it did not. In this case, I believe
dissonance was created by exposure to information. The girls did not like the information
and downplayed its validity. Not one of the girls stood up and said, "I am going to quit
smoking today, I am really at risk of getting lung cancer!" Once again personal
involvement was a given, and once again no action was taken. The girls feel to strong
about smoking and refuse to quit. We must ask ourselves what a solution to this problem
could be? Why is it that smokers, in the face of grave danger, refuse to reduce
dissonance by acting out their urge to quit smoking?
The cognitive-dissonance theory is a part of our everyday lives, whether we realize it
or not. When we are presented with view points or opinions that differ from our own often
times we feel dissonance. We, as human beings, are always striving to keep our lives in
balance. Often a balance in our psyche requires that we not heed the warnings of things
to come. As I have shown, cognitive-dissonance is utilized to avoid taking action.
As many theorist have stated cognitive dissonance does create an internal conflict that
causes someone to take action. In the case of smokers, I must regrettably report that
smoking is vary rarely avoided, even with dissonance in full effect. Smokers, when
presented with hard core data showing a decline in health due to smoking, refuse to head
warning. This is evident with all of the "guaranteed" products to help people stop
smoking. First there was "The Patch" and now the consumers are intrigued with products,
such as Niccorrest Gum. Apparently no matter how much dissonance is felt and to what
degree it is felt does not matter. Therefore, it may not be possible to get rid of
dissonance or even to reduce it materially by changing one's behavior or feeling.
The research I have conducted supports my claim that it is nearly impossible to change
the actions of smokers even though massive amounts of cognitive dissonance are felt. I
believe that many of the people being observed reduced the overall magnitude of
dissonance by adding new cognitive elements. No matter how much dissonance is felt, the
smoker will always find elements that are consonant (agreeable) with the fact of smoking.
The will power of individuals feeling as though they have to have smoking in their
everyday lives is, often times, far to powerful for dissonance to overcome. Perhaps
research such as mine can be useful to further research into the area of dissonance and
the use of tobacco. Much work still needs to be done in this area. We see so many people
dying from lung cancer. Something must be done. Perhaps looking at effective methods of
the use of cognitive dissonance can be helpful in this arena.
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