Cognitive Dissonance Theory

In 1957, Leon Festinger proposed that cognitive dissonance is a common psychological phenomenon that many individuals experience on a daily basis. For example, cognitive dissonance occurs for smokers who are trying to quit when they light [Page 96]up another cigarette. It also occurs for politicians who propose legislation to restrict certain forms of behavior, only to be caught later engaging in the behaviors they tried to restrict. In each of these examples, at least one of the cognitive elements (e.g., behavior) is inconsistent with one or more related cognitive elements (e.g., attitudes, values, or beliefs). Festinger proposed that inconsistencies between cognitions cause a negative drive state that motivates a desire to restore consistency. Research supports this assumption by showing that when dissonance creates a phenomenologically aversive state of arousal that people interpret as psychological discomfort, it can motivate them to seek ways to reduce the discomfort. However, the way in which people reduce cognitive discrepancies suggest that other motives, such as the desire to maintain or enhance an important personal or social identity, can play a role in dissonance processes.

Festinger proposed that there are three ways to reduce the discomfort caused by inconsistencies between behavior and belief. The first and most obvious way to reduce discomfort is to change the problem behavior. For example, research indicates that when people advocate a behavior to others and are then made mindful that they do not perform the behavior themselves, their hypocrisy can motivate them to change their behavior to bring it into line with their advocated beliefs. But Festinger noted that changing behavior is not always a viable strategy for restoring consistency. Smokers have a difficult time quitting, and like politicians, once people have committed themselves publicly to a course of action, it can be impossible to reverse direction. When behavior is resistant to change, people become motivated to change their attitudes or beliefs to accommodate their discrepant actions. This strategy for reducing the discomfort associated with dissonance can lead to rather puzzling and bizarre distortions of reality.

To test the effect of dissonance on attitude change, Festinger and James Carlsmith had participants perform a very boring task, after which they were asked to tell another subject that the task was interesting and enjoyable. In addition, participants were either offered a large incentive ($20) or a small incentive for telling the lie ($1). Festinger and Carlsmith predicted that those paid $20 for lying to the confederate would not be motivated to adjust their perceptions of what they said. However, being paid $1 provided insufficient justification for misleading the other person, and as a result, the inconsistency created by telling the lie would cause the psychological discomfort associated with dissonance. The results confirmed that after they told the lie, participants in the $1 condition reported that the boring task was significantly more enjoyable than those who had told the lie for $20. Presumably, to reduce the inconsistency between the lie and their knowledge that the task was boring, participants in the $1 condition changed their attitude toward the task so that it was consistent with what they told the waiting confederate. This study was the first to show that the need to maintain consistency between attitudes and behavior can be powerful enough to cause people to distort their perceptions of reality.

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