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CognitiveDissonanceAndSelfPerceptionTheory

COGNITIVEDISSONANCEANDSELFPERCEPTIONTHEORY
Cognitivedissonanceisanuncomfortablestateofmindthatoccurswhenonerealizesthathe/sheisactinginwaysthat
areinconsistentwithhisorherattitudesorthatperhapstwoormoreattitudesarenotintune.Forexample,thosewho
holdstrongopinionsaboutprotectingtheenvironmentfrompollutionmayfeelsomedissonanceiftheyweretovotefora
candidatewhowasopposedtosupportingenvironmentalissues.
Whenoneexperiencesadisconnectbetweenbehaviorandattitudes,cognitivedissonancetheorypredictsthathe/sheis
thenhighlymotivatedtorestoreasenseofequilibrium.Anumberofdirectmechanismstoreducetheattitudebehavior
discrepancywereidentifiedbyearlyresearchersAronson(1968)andFestinger(1957).Examplesofthosemechanisms
areasfollows:
1.Onecanchangeeitherthediscrepantattitudeorthebehaviorinordertobringthemintoconsistencywitheach
other
2.Onecanseekoutnewinformationtosupportthediscrepantattitudeorbehavior.Smokersmayseekevidence,
forexample,thatthebenefitsofsmoking,suchasweightcontrol,outweightheriskstorespiratoryhealth.
3.Onecanunderminetheinconsistencythatis,decidethattheinconsistencyreallyisnotimportant.This
mechanismisalsocalledtrivialization.
Anumberofindirectmechanismsfordealingwithinconsistenciesarealsoavailabletoindividualsexperiencingcognitive
dissonance.Ratherthanfocusingonreducingthediscrepancydirectly,individualsmayseektoimprovetheirselfesteem
despitethegapbetweentheirattitudesandbehaviors.Onemayfocusinsteadonemphasizingthosepositiveself
attributes(affirmingthosegoodthingsaboutoneself)thatmaybethreatenedbythedissonance.Forexample,inthecase
oftheindividualwhobelievesstronglyinworkingforenvironmentalissuesandyetvotesforthepoliticianwhoisdirectly
opposedtothiscause,ratherthantrytoalleviatethedissonancedirectly,hemightinsteadmerelycontemplatethe
manyotherwayshehassupportedtheenvironmentalissuesthusminimizinganyselfdeprecationthatmayresultfrom
thedissonanceheexperiencesbyhisbehavior.

SelfPerceptionTheory
DarylBem(1965,1972)proposedtheselfperceptiontheoryasanalternativetothecognitivedissonancetheoryin
explaininghowattitudesareshaped.TheradicalelementofBemstheoryisthehypothesisthatbehaviorcauses
attitudes,asopposedtothemoreconventionalnotionthatattitudesshapebehavior.
Theselfperceptiontheoryis,therefore,aprocessofinferringattitudesbasedonobservingonesownbehavior.The
theoryassertsthatapersonfunctionsasanobserverofhis/herownbehavior,andthenmakesattributionstoeitheran
external(situational)orinternal(dispositional)source.
AnempiricaldemonstrationoftheselfperceptionprocesswasconductedbyChaikenandBaldwin(1981).These
researchersseparatedthesubjectsintotwogroups.Group1heldstrongandconsistentattitudesonproenvironmental
issues,andGroup2heldweakandinconsistentviewsonthesameissues.Researchersaskedthesubjectstorespondtoa
questionnaireandendorseeitherproenvironmentorantienvironmentbehavioralstatements.Theywereabletoinduce
subjectstorespondinparticularwaysbyusingthetermsfrequentlyoroccasionallyintheirquestions.Forexample,
whenthetermoccasionallywasusedasinthequestion,Doyouoccasionallycarpool?thesubjectsweremore
likelytoansweryesandperceivethemselvesasproenvironmentalists.Whenthetermfrequentlywasusedasinthe
questionDoyoufrequentlycarpool?therespondentsweremorelikelytoanswernoandfeelthattheirattitudeswere
antienvironment.
ResultsoftheChaikenandBaldwindemonstration(1981)showedthatthosesubjectswhohadbeeninducedinto
reportingproenvironmentalbehaviorslaterratedthemselvesasmoreproenvironmentalthanthosewhohadbeen
inducedintoreportingantienvironmentalbehaviors.ButthisfindingonlyheldtrueforthoseinGroup2thatis,those
whoseinitialattitudeswereweakandinconsistent.ThoseinGroup1whoseattitudeshadinitiallybeenstrongdidnot
showanysignificantshiftinattitude.
Basedonthefindingsofseveralsuchstudies,onemayconcludethatBemsselfperceptiontheoryprovidesanexplanation
forhowsomepeoplemayinfertheirattitudesfromtheirbehavior.Thosewhoseattitudesarevagueorunformedare
muchmorelikelytoinfertheirattitudesbyobservingtheirownbehavior(Olson&Roese,1995Wilson&Hodges,1992).
Thosewhopossesswelldefinedattitudesonaparticulartopic,however,aremuchlessvulnerabletooutsideinfluences.
Bemsselfperceptiontheorywasinitiallyproposedasanalternativetothetheoryofcognitivedissonanceasan
explanationforattitudechange.Empiricalresearchershavefoundconflictingevidence,however,andareunableto
providebetterconfirmationforonetheoryovertheother.

http://www.elearnportal.com/courses/psychology/socialandcommunitypsychology/socialandcommunitypsychologycognitivedissonanceandselfpe

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