TEORI DISONAN KOGNITIF

NUR SYAFIQAH MOHD ROSLAN 163030 TUAN NOR AZANI SYED MUSTAFA 164943

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY

BACKGROUND
Leon Festinger Born : 8th May 1919 (New York City) Died : 11th February 1989 Education
1939 : Bachelor of Science degree, City College of New York

1942 : Ph.D. in psychology, Iowa State University

Career
University of Rochester The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) The University of Michigan etc

WHAT IS??
Cognitive

MAIN CONCEPTS

The mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted with emotional and processes.

Dissonance
Conflict or unease

Cognitive Dissonance
A state of mental conflict A feeling of discomfort due to inconsistent thoughts or behaviors

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY

Suggests that :
we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and beliefs in harmony and avoid dissonance.

Distressing mental state people feel when they find themselves doing things that do not fit with their opinions or what they know.

VARIABLE
Independent Variable :
Conflicts Between the Cognitions
(i.e.: Beliefs, opinions, attitudes, behaviors)

Dependent Variable :
Reaction
(Strengthen of Dissonance)

Conflicts between cognition , dissonance Conflicts between cognition , dissonance

 Festinger proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance

By changing : attitudes, beliefs and behaviors,

Or
By justifying or rationalizing : attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors

ASSUMPTION
1. Humans are sensitive to inconsistencies between actions and beliefs. 2. Recognition of this inconsistency will cause dissonance, and will motivate an individual to resolve the dissonance. 3. Dissonance will be resolved in one of three basic ways:
Change beliefs

Change actions
Change perception of actions

REDUCING DISSONANCE
Selective Exposure Prevents Dissonance
The tendency to avoid information that creates cognitive dissonance and seek out information, or people who support our beliefs. Avoid anything that causes discomfort HOW?
Have a warm personal relationships with people Have a talk, discussion

 Post-decision Dissonance Creates a Need for Reassurance

Strong doubts experienced after making an important, closecall decision that is difficult to undo and can generate huge amounts of internal tension
is it OK?, what have I done?

Three conditions heighten post-decision dissonance: 1. 2. 3. the importance of the issue the amount of time an individual delays in choosing the difficulty involved in reversing the decision once its been made

 Minimal Justification for Action Induces Shift in Attitude

Change the dissonant beliefs, attitude or behavior so that they are no longer inconsistent The best way to change attitude : Get someone to behave in a way dissonant with their beliefs with the least amount of incentive If there is not significant external incentive, people tend to change attitudes to justify their behavior If external incentive too high, merely achieve compliance/obedience (behavioral conformity without attitude change)

WHEN DISSONANCE OCCURS...

Change our behavior. Justify our behavior by changing the conflicting cognition. Justify our behavior by adding new cognitions.

CRITICS
Cannot physically observe cognitive dissonance
Cannot objectively measure it.

Ambiguity about the term dissonance

a perception (as 'cognitive' suggests), or a feeling, or a feeling about a perception? dissonance is really nothing more than guilt (Aronson)

Individual differences
Many people seem able to cope with considerable dissonance and not experience the tensions the theory predicts.

Low ecological validity

Not explain clearly and how a person will be trying to reduce dissonance. E.g : turning pegs (as in Festinger's experiment) is an artificial task that doesnt happen in everyday life.

THE FUTURE of THE THEORY

Dissonance research might be applied to reduce stereotypes and prejudice. To resolve the conflicting predictions between self-consistency and selfaffirmation theory. Try to better clarify the dynamic role of the self in dissonance-reduction processes.