Cognitive Dissonance: 50 Years of a Classic Theory

213 Pages·2007·2.62 MB·English

by  Mr. Joel M. Cooper

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Cognitive Dissonance
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Cognitive Dissonance
Fifty Years of a
Classic Theory
Joel Cooper
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© Joel Cooper 2007
First published 2007
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or
private study,or criticism or review, as permitted under the
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those terms should be sent to the publishers.
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A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4129-2972-1
ISBN 978-1-4129-2973-8
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CONTENTS
List of figures vi
Acknowledgements viii
Foreword x
1 Cognitive Dissonance:In the Beginning 1
2 Criticism Propels the Theory Forward 28
3 The Motivational Property of Dissonance 42
4 Dissonance Is Not What It Used to Be:
The New Look Model of Dissonance 62
5 The Self-Standards Model and the Emergence of the
Self in Dissonance Theory 90
6 Vicarious Cognitive Dissonance:Experiencing Dissonance
through the Actions of Another 117
7 Culture,Race,and Cognitive Dissonance 135
8 Cognitive Dissonance in Today’s World 157
Afterword 181
References 184
Index 193
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LIST OF FIGURES
1.1 Attractiveness of the chosen and rejected alternatives
following a decision 13
1.2 Evaluation of boring tasks:degree of positive feelings
toward a task 18
1.3 Evaluation of interest of discussion by participants 23
2.1 Degree of agreement after writing essay 31
2.2 Changes of attitudes toward speaker ban as a function
of choice and incentive 34
2.3 A comparison of ‘actual’ beliefs and interpersonal
judgments of beliefs 40
3.1 Attitude change toward position advocated (1) 49
3.2 Attitude change toward position advocated (2) 50
3.3 Attitude toward shock in psychological research 54
3.4 Ratings of attitude change and discomfort 56
3.5 Attitude change as a function of pill condition 59
3.6 Perceived choice as a function of pill condition 60
4.1 Evaluation of the boring task by participants who
believed the confederate was convinced or not 66
4.2 Attitudes as a function of whether the listener was convinced 67
4.3 Mean liking as a function of expectancy and choice 70
4.4 The sequence of events leading to dissonance arousal 74
4.5 The sequence of events leading from dissonance arousal
to attitude change 78
4.6 Attitudes toward the proposal as a function of
consequence and position 84
5.1 Housewives’ willingness to help by assigned
community reputation 91
5.2 Spread of decision alternatives following a choice 94
5.3 Interest of participants after compassion task in reading
about their compassion levels 100
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5.4 Exacerbation of dissonance due to relevant affirmation 101
5.5 The Self-Standard Model of dissonance arousal (1) 107
5.6 The Self-Standard Model of dissonance arousal (2) 109
5.7 Attitudes regarding handicapped facilities as a function
of primed standards,level of self-esteem,and choice 113
5.8 Interactions between self-esteem and priming on
dissonance magnitude 115
6.1 Attitude change based on vicarious dissonance:in-group vs.
out-group speaker 124
6.2 Vicarious dissonance:attitudes toward upfront fees as
a function of choice,consequence,and group identification 126
6.3 Vicarious discomfort as a function of choice,consequence,
and identification 128
6.4a Information shown to participants to have them believe
they were non-prototypical University of Queensland students 131
6.4b Information shown to participants to have them believe
they were prototypical University of Queensland students 131
6.5 Effect of self and other prototypicality on attitude change 132
7.1 Spread of alternatives as a function of culture and
personality test feedback 141
7.2 Spreading of choice alternatives as a function of reference
and culture 144
7.3 Spread of the attractiveness of choice alternatives
for European and Asian Canadians when choosing for
themselves or for a friend 146
7.4 Attitudes toward a tuition increase at South
Korean universities 148
7.5 Attitude change by Black and White participants 151
7.6 Spreading of choice alternatives as a function of educational
attainment (social class) 155
8.1 Weight loss as a function of choice to participate in therapy 164
8.2 Improvement in approach to a snake (in inches) as
a function of therapy type and choice 168
8.3 Degree of assertiveness after training 169
8.4 Weight loss (in lbs) by effort condition 171
8.5 Change in approach to a snake as a function of choice
and effort 173
8.6 Percentage of participants who purchased condoms 177
8.7 Percentage of women redeeming their coupons for sun screen 179
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing a manuscript for a solo authored book is not an individual venture.
I want to acknowledge all of the people who helped turn my thoughts into
manuscript pages and then into a book.Because this book is the culmina-
tion of research that transpired for a long time,my debts to my teachers and
advisors run deep.The late Edward E. Jones inspired me to be an experi-
mental social psychologist and taught me how to ask the questions that
were worth pursuing. With almost equal gratitude, I thank Darwyn E.
Linder and Jack W.Brehm for their patience,guidance and good will.All of
my colleagues during the course of my career shaped my perspective on
cognitive dissonance,but I would be remiss if I did not single out John M.
Darley,Mark P.Zanna and George R.Goethals as being just a little special.
I also want to acknowledge my former graduate student,Russell Fazio,and
my former postdoctoral fellow, Jeff Stone, for being constant sources of
ideas and for the collaborations that fill many of the pages of this book.
I also thank my family whose support and encouragement are the
bedrock of my life.My wife Barbara stands at the top of the list,but so too
do my children Jason,Aaron and Grant and my daughters-in-law, Sharon
and Ana. My grandchildren, Reuven and Judah cannot read this book yet,
but just gazing at them is the source of so much inspiration.
I also gratefully acknowledge the many people who read chapters and
offered their assistance at many points along the way.Matthew Kugler,Amir
Goren, Jessica Salvatore, Jeff Stone, Russell Fazio, Grant Cooper, Aaron
Cooper,Dink Asano and Ana,Dragomir and Ljubica Bracilovic are among
those people.I am also grateful to Vera Sohl for doing all of the hard admin-
istrative work to move the project through to fruition. Finally, I wish to
thank my friend and series editor, Michael Hogg, and my editor at Sage,
Michael Carmichael,for believing in this project.
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For Barbara