Cognitive Dissonance Essay Research Paper Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance Essay, Research Paper

Cognitive Dissonance

How do human beings make decisions. What triggers a person to take action at any

given point. These are allquestions 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 cognitivedissonance. 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 include: 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 betweentwo 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 eit

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать