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It is through the influence process that people generate and manage change. As such, it is important to understand fully the workings of the influence processes that produce compliance with requests for change. Fortunately, a vast body of scientific evidence exists on how, when, and why people comply with influence attempts. From this formidable body of work, one can extract six universal principles of influence that generate compliance in the widest range of circumstances. Reciprocation states that people are more willing to comply with requests (for favors, services, information, concessions, etc.) from those who have provided such things first. Commitment/Consistency states that people are more willing to be moved in a particular direction if they see it as consistent with an existing commitment. Authority states that people are more willing to follow the directions or recommendations of a communicator to whom they attribute relevant expertise. Social Proof states that people are more willing to take a recommended action if they see evidence that many others, especially similar others, are taking it. Scarcity states that people find objects and opportunities more attractive to the degree that they are scarce, rare, or dwindling in availability. Finally, Liking states that people prefer to say yes to those they like, such as those who are similar to them and who have complimented them.

This study investigated the effects of cognitive conflict on abstract thinking. According to action-identification theory, an ambiguous and unfamiliar situation might propel an individual to a more abstract mindset. Based on this premise, cognitive conflict was hypothesized to put people in an abstract mindset. The induced compliance paradigm, in which participants are asked to write a counter-attitudinal essay under either low choice (producing little dissonance) or high choice (producing more dissonance), was employed. Results showed that an abstract mindset was in fact activated in the induced compliance paradigm, and this effect was more pronounced for participants having a more concrete mindset to begin with. The results suggest that the experience of cognitive conflict is closely related to increased abstraction. (Less)

This paper analyzes job burnout of inside-system legal professionals under the rule-of-law reform in China and its possible causes. Social cognitive theory, including cognitive dissonance, expectancy theory, and social comparison theory, provides the analytic framework for this study. The conclusion reveals a relatively high level of job burnout among inside-system legal professionals in China. Further analysis indicates that the individual’s commitment to the rule of law, confidence in the legal reform, and practice of non-rule-of-law in daily work are influential factors affecting his/her job burnout levels. Importantly, the interaction coefficients between these variables are statistically significant, clearly demonstrating that the discrepancy between expectation and reality is one of the root causes of job burnout in the legal profession. The discrepancy causes cognitive dissonance and psychological imbalance. At a theoretical level, this finding opens a new way of examining a particular type of occupational burnout. It shows that under the rule-of-law reform, Chinese inside-system legal professionals exhibit cognitive dissonance between ideals and reality, which constitutes a micro-political psychological basis for organizational change as speculated by neo-institutionalists and, in turn, reveals insights that may help us to understand the legal reform process within the bureaucratic system.

There has been no systematic study in the literature of how self-deception differs from other kinds of self-distortion. For example, the term ‘cognitive dissonance’ has been used in some cases as a rag-bag term for all kinds of self-distortion. To address this, a narrow definition is given: self-deception involves injecting a given set of facts with an erroneous fact to make anex antesuboptimal decision seem as if it wereex anteoptimal. Given this narrow definition, this paper delineates self-deception from deception as well as from other kinds of self-distortions such as delusion, moral licensing, cognitive dissonance, manipulation, and introspective illusion.

The belief that cheating is wrong doesn’t prevent its enactment. For example, many students cheat despite believing that is wrong or unjustifiable. The question taken up in this article concerns how the resulting cognitive dissonance is ameliorated; that is, how do students cheat and not feel guilty? This article will describe two “good” theories that offer some insight into the psychological and social processes underlying the reduction of cognitive dissonance. Specifically, attribution theory and social norms theory serve as conceptual lenses for understanding how students manage cognitive dissonance related to academic dishonesty. Finally, in the spirit of Kurt Lewin, these two “good” theories are discussed in terms of the design and development of “wise interventions” aimed at promoting academic integrity and reducing the prevalence of cheating.

The theory of reasoned action and its extension, the widely used theory of planned behavior, state that intention to perform a behavior follows reasonably (but not necessarily rationally) from specific beliefs that people hold about the behavior, and that people act on their intentions when they have the required skills and when situational factors do not impede behavioral performance. The relevance of the reasoned action approach for understanding media effects lies in its direct applicability to the question of how exposure to media information leads to behavior change. Seen through a reasoned action lens, media are one of multiple sources of information that form the basis of beliefs that guide people's intention to perform a particular behavior. These theories explain how media affect behavior, when they are most likely to affect behavior, which factors they can directly influence, and the likely magnitude of media effects on behavior. Keywords: cognitive processes; decision making; mass communication theory; media psychology

Although cognitive dissonance is regarded as one of the most recognized causes of selective exposure [N. J. Stroud, Niche News (Oxford University Press, 2011)], the mechanism for such causation is ...

Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension occurring when a person holds two psychologically inconsistent cognitions. For this study, 21 social workers who facilitate transracial adoption plans for Aboriginal children in British Columbia were interviewed: 1) Do social workers who facilitate transracial adoption plans for Aboriginal children experience cognitive dissonance? If so, in what ways? 2) How does cognitive dissonance impact them? 3) In what ways do social workers reconcile a sense of dissonance? Findings suggest that social workers do experience cognitive dissonance, that they are adversely impacted, and that they find ways to reconcile the cognitive dissonance.

While agency theory has been an important part of accounting academic research, many researchers have suggested that other theories should also be considered. One such theory is the theory of cognitive dissonance. In this study, the authors develop competing hypotheses based on agency theory and the theory of cognitive dissonance regarding the decision to record an impairment of goodwill. Using an archival research methodology, they test the hypotheses on a sample of 2,274 firm-year observations. The results are consistent with the theory of cognitive dissonance even after controlling for variables that have been found to be significant under agency theory. The authors conclude that there is strong evidence to suggest that agency theory does not uniquely explain the results of management decisions as seen through financial reporting data.

INTRODUCTIONA primary goal of physical therapist education is to graduate practitioners who will advance practice and the profession.1,2 Educational programs strive to provide students with cutting-edge information and to instill ideal attitudes, values, beliefs, and skills for providing high-quality care.3 However, what students are taught is the "right way" in their didactic preparation may not be what they encounter in clinical settings.4,5 For example, students may rarely see their clinical instructors search for and apply evidence or thoroughly document patient care. Conversely, students may wonder why a progressive intervention approach learned from a clinical instructor is not being taught in the classroom. In both of these situations, students are left to struggle with making sense of why they are taught one thing in school and something else in the clinic.4,5 The messages that students receive from this implicit or hidden curriculum in clinical education are particularly important because physical therapist students spend a large amount of time exposed to the professional practice culture.6,7 If students experience different types of knowledge, values, and behaviors in clinical versus academic settings, then conflicting messages about what it really means to be a "good physical therapist" can result in cognitive dissonance or feelings of discomfort from holding conflicting beliefs.5,8How students cope with and process dissonance can have important effects on educational activities.8 A greater understanding of how physical therapist students experience and cope with cognitive dissonance caused by competing curricular factors has the potential to provide the basis for targeted educational approaches, enhanced learning environments, reduced student emotional stress and, in some cases, improved health care. The purpose of this research study was to explore how physical therapist students experience and cope with dissonance in academic versus clinical settings.REVIEW OF LITERATURESeminal work on cognitive dissonance was published by psychologist Leon Festinger9 in the 1950s. His theory proposed that when a person experiences ideas or beliefs that are not psychologically consistent with one another, then he or she will try to reduce the inconsistency to maintain a state of consonance.10,11 Festinger10 explained dissonance in terms of a person's expectations. Throughout a person's life, he or she accumulates information and has expectations about "what things go together and what things do not."10(p94) When such an expectation is not met, dissonance results.10 This dissonance causes psychological discomfort, motivating the person to reduce the dissonance.12 The motivation to resolve dissonance impels a person to reassess beliefs and change opinions or behaviors.10,11In a qualitative study of medical students, Thompson et al8 indicated that the processing and reduction of dissonance occur in 2 forms: reconciliation and preservation. Reconciliation involved students altering their own internal ideals to align with external ideals. In preservation, students discounted or diminished external ideals so that they could maintain their internal ideals. In most cases, dissonance was found to be coupled with negative emotions; that is, students were uncomfortable when experiencing the inner conflict and tension of dissonance.8A common form of cognitive dissonance experienced by health care students and new graduates is the dissonance between what they have learned in their educational programs and what they have experienced in clinical practice.12-14 This dissonance leads students to question what to believe: the academic ideal or the clinical reality.12 In a longitudinal study of newly qualified nurses, Maben et al13 found that professional and organizational constraints in the workplace were serious threats to the implementation and sustainability of nursing ideals and values in practice. Professional constraints included covert rules and a lack of positive attitudes and role models; organizational constraints included time pressures, staff shortages, and poor skill mix, resulting in intensification of nursing work, and role constraints. …

Background This paper describes the development of a theoretical framework for the study of cognitive dissonance in food and nutrition. Scope and approach The Food Cognition Dissonance (FCD) conceptual framework integrates relevant principles of cognitive dissonance and attitude, in the context of food and nutrition, to provide a novel perspective of structural food-related cognitive dissonance in relation to the examination of food-related attitudes. The elements and mechanisms within the FCD framework are elaborated, and considerations in the use of the framework are discussed. Key findings and conclusion The FCD framework can be applied to predicting how dissonance-based, food-related attitude change occurs. The approach may stimulate research that will ultimately lead to the development of effective nutrition programmes and/or communications to promote healthy eating.

Using cognitive dissonance theories and self-determination theory, we explored the role of individual differences in global and contextual motivational orientations on dissonance arousal processes following spontaneous attitude–behaviour inconsistencies (ABIs). Study 1 (N = 382) showed that individual differences in global motivation relate to the frequency of ABIs and dissonance arousal across important life domains. Studies 2 (N = 282) and 3 (N = 202) showed that individual differences in contextual motivation toward the environment predict the relative frequency of ABIs and the quantity and quality of proximal motivation to compensate for ABIs in that context. Autonomous motivation was associated with a tendency to compensate for ABIs to both reduce dissonance and restore self-integrity. Controlled motivation disposed individuals to reduce dissonance to protect ego-invested self-structures, and to be indifferent to non self-threatening ABIs. Amotivation left people indifferent to ABIs. Individual differences in motivational orientations could explain why ABIs are uncomfortable and motivate people to compensate differently when they face ABIs.

That we shape our beliefs to align with our actions should be of interest within philosophy of religion and philosophy generally. Cognitive dissonance, a psychological state in which an individual’s beliefs and actions do not conform with each other, presents just such a situation. The idea that cognitive dissonance, by strict evidentialist standards, compromises our epistemic integrity since cognitive dissonance causes us to hold beliefs for which we do not have evidence, recalls the exchange between William Clifford and William James in which they discuss evidentialism, the idea that we should hold no beliefs for which we do not have evidence. In this paper I draw upon extant published research concerning cognitive dissonance theory and religion. I also survey the Clifford–James debate, applying considerations from their exchange to cognitive dissonance and (religious) belief. I conclude by showing how cognitive dissonance can have ambiguous results as concerns the justification of beliefs and that philosophy could benefit from attending to factors impacting empirical aspects of belief formation such as cognitive dissonance.

INTRODUCTION:Cognitive Dissonance is a psychological discomfort that occurs when a discrepancy exists between what a person believes and the information that contradicts that belief. Festinger (1957) introduced the concept of cognitive dissonance after conducting an observational study of a cult (dubbed as "Seekers" by Festinger and his associates), which believed that the earth was going to be destroyed by a flood on 21st Dec 1955. Festinger and his associates predicted their behavior if the flood did not occur and subsequently they observed and studied how the members reacted when the flood did not occur. While some members felt they were fooled and considered this as an experience but the more committed members re -interpreted the evidence to show that they were all correct throughout and the earth was saved because of their efforts as if they were trying to justify their actions and faith (Cooper, 2007). Festinger stated that if a person holds two cognitions/cognitive elements ("knowledges" about himself, his environment, his opinions, his attitudes and his past behavior) that are inconsistent with one another, he will experience dissonance and will try to reduce it in one of the three ways: remove dissonant cognitions, add new consonant cognitions, or reduce the importance of dissonant cognitions. Festinger further explained that Cognitive Dissonance is a psychological phenomenon and that occurs when a discrepancy exists between what person believes and the information that contradicts that belief. The consumer encounters a feeling of "regret" after taking a decision or making a purchase. This regret is due to the opposing cognitions / cognitive elements. If one cognitive element follows logically from another cognitive element, then both are said to be consonant to each other. However, those are dissonant to each other if one does not follow logically from other, thereby causing a feeling of "regret" (Festinger, 1957). The two major outcomes of the Cognitive Dissonance theory were the concept of cognition and the magnitude of dissonance. Higher the discrepancy between cognitions, higher is the magnitude of the dissonance. The origination of the concept of Cognitive Dissonance can be traced back to children and monkeys (Egan, Santos, & Bloom, 2007) to arrive to the explanation that it depends on the past knowledges acquired by an individual. The literature review indicates that enough research has been carried out and published since the formulation of the theory of cognitive dissonance (Aronson, 1992; Brehm & Cohen, 1962; Cummings & Venkatesan, 1976; Egan et al., 2007; E. Harmon-Jones & Mills, 1999; Hunt, 1970; O'Neill & Palmer, 2004; Oshikawa, 1968; Powers & Jack, 20 13; Soutar & Sweeney, 2003; Jillian C. Sweeney, Hausknecht, & Soutar, 2000; Telc i, Maden, & Kantur, 2011; Young, 2011). The cognitive dissonance theory assumes a drive like motivation to maintain consistency among the relevant thoughts and actions. The theory of cognitive dissonance is one of the groups of cybernetic theories called consistency theories, all of which begin with the same premise: people are more comfortable with consistency than inconsistency (Heider, 1946). The evolution of the theory of cognitive dissonance seems to have developed with the notion that people are more comfortable with consistency than inconsistency and try to resist, avoid or change the contradictory information and knowledges.Various researchers tried to reject the theory out rightly (Chapanis & Chapanis, 1964; Elms & Janis, 1965; Rosenberg, 1965), provided modifications to the theory (Linder, Cooper, & Jones, 1967) and counter the cognitive dissonance theory with concepts such as individual concepts and actions, self -esteem (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1968) discrepancies between attitude and behavior (Bem, 1967), unwanted consequence (Cooper & Fazio, 1984), self-awareness (Duval & Wicklund, 1972) and moral integrity (Steele, 1988). …

Two studies examined relationship satisfaction in long distance relationships within the contexts of social exchange theory and cognitive dissonance theory. In study one, subjective and objective costs in relationships were measured over the course of a semester in both long distance and geographically proximal couples. Results suggested that participants in long distance relationships had higher objective and subjective costs than participants in geographically proximal relationships. In both long distance and geographically proximal couples an increase in either objective or subjective costs from time 1 to time 2 was related to a decrease in relationship satisfaction from time 1 to time 2, but the relationship between change in costs and change in relationship satisfaction did not differ by relationship type. Study two attempted to create cognitive dissonance about relationships in both long distance and geographically proximal couples. Although results suggested that people in long distance relationships who experienced cognitive dissonance about their relationships experienced a smaller decrease in their relationship satisfaction scores than members of geographically proximal relationships who experienced cognitive dissonance and members of long distance relationships in the non-dissonance, control condition, the difference was not statistically significant. Implications of these results and suggestions for further testing the applications of social exchange theory and cognitive dissonance theory to the issue of relationship satisfaction in long distance relationships are discussed.

Educational robots are regarded as beneficial tools in education due to their capabilities of improving learning motivation. Using cognitive dissonance as a teaching tool has been popular in science education too. A considerable number of researchers have argued that cognitive dissonance has an important role in the student’s attitudes change. This paper presents a design for a cutting-edge experiment where we describe a procedure that induces cognitive dissonance. We propose to use an educational robot that helps the student overcome the cognitive dissonance during science learning. We make the difference between students that base their decisions on thinking (though-minded) and those that mostly base their decisions on feeling (relational). The main mission of the study was to implicitly lead students to evolve a positive implicit attitude supporting redoing difficult scientific exercises to understand one’s errors and to avoid learned helplessness. Based on the assumption that relational students are emotional (easily alienated), we investigate whether they are easy to be persuaded in comparison to though-minded students. Also, we verify whether it is possible to consider an educational robot for such a mission. We compare different persuasive sources (tablet showing a persuasive text, an animated robot and a human) encouraging the student to strive for cognitive closure, to verify which of these sources leads to better implicit attitude supporting defeating one’s self to assimilate difficult scientific exercises. Finally, we explore which of the persuasive sources better fits each of both student’s profiles.

Consumer psychology has always been the centre of concern for the marketers from the old time and understanding the underlying aspects leads to effective decision making. The present study elicits the concept of post purchase cognitive dissonance in the consumers and embraces its implications in studying the consumer behaviour. A survey was conducted and well framed questionnaire was constructed covering various dimensions of variables studied. Some of the underlying dimensions of cognitive dissonance have been rigorously discussed and statistically tested in this study. Specifically, the impact of product involvement, time taken to make a purchase decision and level of information search on the cognitive dissonance have been analysed that provides really significant benefits to the marketers.

We conduct a modified dictator game in order to analyze the role self-image concerns play in other-regarding behavior. While we generally follow Konow (2000), a cognitive dissonance-based model of other-regarding behavior in dictator games, we relax one of its assumptions as we allow for individual heterogeneity among individuals’ standards of behavior. Subjects’ self-image, their belief regarding the average socially appropriate behavior of others and our proxies for the cognitive dissonance costs are positively correlated with the dictator game choices.We also find that subjects whose choices involve two psychologically inconsistent cognitions indeed report higher levels of experienced conflict and take more time for their decisions (our proxies for cognitive dissonance).

The various attitudes to consonance and dissonance in music are linked with psychological reflections on dealing with dissonance, suffering and pain in music therapy. What can we learn from music, and why is it not possible to transfer musical matter directly to what we experience in everyday life and how we deal with it?

This entry covers the evolution of social cognitive theory, one of the most influential theories on human behavior acquisition with an emphasis on learning through observation. Each of its four primary components is outlined, and the conditions under which behaviors are likely to be adopted are explained. Keywords: cognitive processes; decision-making; social influence

The action-based model extends the original theory of cognitive dissonance by proposing why cognitive inconsistency causes both dissonance and dissonance reduction. The model begins by assuming that many perceptions and cognitions automatically impel us to act in specific ways. It then posits that the negative affective state of dissonance is aroused not by all cognitive conflict but, specifically, when cognitions with action implications are in conflict with each other, making it difficult to act. The dissonance signals to the organism that there is a problem and that the cognitive inconsistency needs to be resolved so that behavior can occur. After presenting the action-based model, we review results from behavioral and neuroscience experiments that have tested predictions derived from it.

Cognitive dissonance theory, as originally set out by Festinger (1957), described dissonance as an intraindividual phenomenon in a social context. Much of the research on dissonance has focused on the intraindividual aspect of dissonance. The limited research that has looked at cognitive dissonance in groups has done so from a range of different perspectives. These perspectives seem to result in contradictory predictions about the role of social information on the arousal and reduction of cognitive dissonance, despite generally sharing a model of the social self based on, or consistent with, social identity theory (Tajfel, 1978). Thinking about how these group-based models of cognitive dissonance fit together may better illuminate the nature of dissonance and also suggest productive avenues for research to integrate these various perspectives on dissonance.

Although numerous studies on attitude-behavior theories exist in the social media context, few extensive studies have been conducted in reviewing and classifying the extant literature. This study aims to critically review, discuss, and examine five major attitude-behavior theories in the social psychology field. Theory of Planned Behavior, Elaboration Likelihood Model, Heuristic-Systematic Model, Cognitive Dissonance Theory, and Social Judgment Theory have been empirically dissected and reviewed in a systematic manner, after which criticisms and compliments of these theories have been observed and evaluated. The significance of the study is to identify the trend of applying attitude-behavior theories to manifesting practical social media marketing implications. This study found that Elaboration Likelihood Model studies are trending upward among persuasive communication studies in the context of social media.

Objectives Dissonance theory has been widely studied in the social sciences, especially given its implications for polarization and selective exposure. This study expands previous research by investigating how this process may differ when a foundational political identity such as party affiliation is at stake. Methods This study adapts a classic dissonance paradigm—writing a counterattitudinal essay under conditions of high versus low choice—to a political context by manipulating the topic of the essay to advocating membership in the opposing political party. Results In this context, party affiliation conditions response to writing a counterattitudinal essay: only Republican respondents demonstrate heightened dissonance, selective exposure, and polarization as a result of this task, particularly when the essay is political. Conclusions Dissonance may not be a universal response to potentially arousing tasks, but if only some groups experience dissonance and polarization after enumerating the benefits of an opposing party, it may bias democratic functioning.

Asynchrony is a theoretical construct that views the intellectually gifted child as inherently vulnerable because of disparities arising from the mismatch between his or her chronological age and mental age. Such disparities, for example, between wanting to belong but being intellectually out of step with peers, are said to give rise to a psychological experience of discomfort or tension and to impact upon developing self-concept. Though the theory has been little subjected to empirical research, it does bear strong similarities to the well-established, but broader-based, psychological theory of cognitive dissonance. This article develops a model of asynchrony as a particular case of cognitive dissonance. As such, it may assist understanding of some children’s experiences of giftedness, though more research is needed to examine this theory.

In order to explore the deep internal cause of frequent occurrence of coal mine disasters in new era, firstly the paper has studied current situation of “institutional walls, equipment idle” in Chinese township coals by behavioral economics. And then, we analyzed cognitive dissonance of speculative psychology by cultural psychology in the course of passive safety investment. The results show that just relying on the infinite increase of rewards and punishments regulation system cannot effectively make them take active safety investment in the new period of economic development. Our study highlights the importance of mutual construction of psychological and social cultural in the preventing coal mine disaster.

In this article, researchers discuss the concept of cognitive dissonance in the context of online consumer behavior. There is a substantive discourse on cognitive dissonance in different disciplines such as psychology and sociology. In the marketing discipline, scholars have examined cognitive dissonance when consumers engage with the traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. However, people's understanding of cognitive dissonance in the case of online shopping behavior is very limited. The researchers review the extant marketing literature to identify the key trends in the research on cognitive dissonance and suggest an agenda for further research to understand consumer dissonance in the online context.

The main purpose of this study is to identify the importance of several variables in the ethical decision making process, propose a model that incorporates the Festinger (1957) Cognitive Dissonance Theory and the Jones (1991) model. With that in mind a measurement instrument was developed using the Personal Ethical Threshold (Comer and Vega, 2008). The results provide valuable data worth considering in the design of business curriculums.

This article provides a general overview of cognitive dissonance research with the induced compliance paradigm. We begin by describiang how dissonance affects individuals’ attitude change and address issues related to measurement of attitude. Next, we describe the arousal component of dissonance, how it has been measured and the issues that have been raised about its nature. Finally, we explore the emotional component of dissonance and review different ways for measuring and identifying the negative affect associated to dissonance. We conclude by claiming that a more intensive study of the process of dissonance, and particularly of its arousal and emotional components, will allow a more in-depth understanding of the mental processes involved in cognitive dissonance.

Given the significant costs and customer service ramifications associated with the return of retail merchandise it is important to understand the underlying reasons for product returns. One such underlying reason is cognitive dissonance. Customers who experience cognitive dissonance may seek to undo the effects of a regretted choice by returning the product in question. This research examines the influence of two forms of cognitive dissonance (emotional dissonance and product dissonance) on the frequency of product returns. Three antecedents (consideration of liberal return policies, customer opportunism, and switching barriers) are examined in terms of their influence on cognitive dissonance and product returns. In addition, the moderating role of gender and store brand is reported. The research is based on a survey of Wal-Mart and Target customers who engaged in product returns. Structural equation modeling is used to verify and test these relationships. Emotional dissonance and product dissonance were found to be positively related to product returns frequency. It was found that consideration of liberal return policies reduces both emotional and product dissonance, while customer opportunism and switching barriers increase both dimensions of cognitive dissonance. Both gender and store brand were found to be significant moderators of the relationships between cognitive dissonance and two antecedents (consideration of liberal return policies and customer opportunism). In addition, gender and store brand moderated the linkage between product dissonance and emotional dissonance, and the linkage between emotional dissonance and return frequency.

While scholars accept that attitudes have an impact on behavior, cognitive dissonance theory asserts that behavior can, in turn, affect attitudes. The theory suggests attitudes may be transformed by the simple act of voting. Informed by dissonance theory and employing election study survey data from three Canadian federal elections, this article considers the impact of cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors on changes in party evaluations, arguing that elections serve as a significant stimulus for attitude change. Dissonance theory is found to be compatible with observed attitude changes between pre- and post-election questionnaires. Findings have implications for the study of attitude formation and change, the effects that campaigns and elections have upon voters, and survey design.

This study investigated the influence of the assessment of the discrepant act on dissonance reduction. In particular, we tested the influence of normative standards on a trivialization of the discrepant act and the assessment of research topic importance. The results suggest that dissonance reduction varies depending on whether the discrepant act is assessed as violating normative standards or not. In the cognitive dissonance state and in the absence of standards, performing a discrepant act leads individuals to trivialize it. However, when individuals perceive that the discrepant act violates normative standards, they reduce cognitive dissonance by overestimating the research topic. This result is interpreted in terms of the avoidance of negative consequences of social control reactions and the protection of self-concept.

The author examines the occurrence of a type of cognitive dissonance found among individuals when they are asked to think about their own ideology. Ellis and Stimson’s Ideology in America (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012) examines the paradoxical relationship people have with the concept. Americans want to identify and label themselves with the word conservative, yet when asked about their particular policy preferences, they tend to prefer liberal policies. This translates to a preference for symbolic conservatism and operational liberalism. Why do people do this? I argue that this combination of contradictory preferences is driven, in part, by personality. In particular I point to one’s level of agreeableness. The more agreeable one is, the more they desire positive relationships. This leads to the simple desire, at least in the abstract, to support what they perceive to be the majority’s opinion.

In this paper, it is shown how Amator [Camera Buff] (Kieslowski, 1979) poses a problem to engagement theory. Spectators begin noticing a friction between the expected behaviour of the characters and how they turn out to be. The psychological theory of cognitive dissonance is a theory that helps to explain how people process this kind of conflicting information. One of the most peculiar outcomes of this theory is that the more a favourite character acts against the spectator's expectations, the more the spectator will like him. After describing cognitive dissonance in psychology, I will describe how cognitive dissonance (in the spectator) has been sporadically described in film theory, and how cognitive dissonance theory can be incorporated into film theory. Subsequently, this model is applied to the film Amator. The film is used as just one example of European art cinema.

Potential organizational failure in the entrepreneurial paradox was conceptualized as a reduction in growth and performance in the cognition-success-attribution cycle. This represented the conflict between the interrelated parts of the system and reduced performance with potential for organizational decline. Specifically, the temporal aspects of entrepreneurial decision making and the six themes underpinning identified in the previous chapter contribute to the cognitive distance and dissonance (Festinger 1957, 1964) with senior managers. The empirical evidence suggests that entrepreneurs and senior managers attribute growth and success to different phenomena and decisions.

Taiwanese schools are actively promoting opportunities for students to obtain specialized certificates during their formal education. However, some students do not intend to achieve certification. Questions about how to increase these students' motivation to pursue this goal have therefore arisen. Based on cognitive dissonance theory (CDT), the aim in this study was to examine whether or not students' attitudes toward certification examinations change if they take personal responsibility for the consequences of their decisions and actions. The results reveal that attitude change was greatest among business students who most strongly felt a sense of responsibility. As predicted, the results were consistent with CDT.

Answering a question about performance of a behavior influences the probability of a person performing a target action in the future. Although this question–behavior effect has been shown across multiple contexts, several theoretical mechanisms have been suggested to drive the effect. While various explanations have been offered for the question–behavior effect, clear process evidence exists only for the theoretical perspectives of cognitive dissonance and attitude accessibility. In a series of experiments the current research tests the question–behavior effect from these two theoretical perspectives using a set of outcome measures not previously examined. Findings suggest that the act of self-prediction regarding socially normative behaviors generates cognitive dissonance, thereby obtaining greater compliance with subsequent requests to perform the behavior as a dissonance reduction strategy. Implications of the reported findings and directions for future research are provided.

This article discusses the implications of moral dissonance for managers, and how dissonance induced self justification can create an amplifying feedback loop and downward spiral of immoral behaviour. After addressing the nature of moral dissonance, including the difference between moral and hedonistic dissonance, the writer then focuses on dissonance reduction strategies available to managers such as rationalization, self affirmation, self justification, etc. It is noted that there is a considerable literature which views the organization as a potentially corrupting institution and a source of acute levels of moral dissonance. A simplified process model linking immoral behaviour, dissonance and rationalization is mooted, and some recent theories which question traditional dissonance models, including the free choice paradigm (FCP), are considered. The writer concludes that in the light of the above mentioned critical theories, it may be assumed that the levels of moral dissonance, and the extent of rationalization/self justification amongst managers, are more a function of personality and situational factors than previously assumed.

While numerous studies used the theory of cognitive dissonance to explain consumer behavior, there is no study as of today that has applied the theory to the service industry to investigate the role of cognitive dissonance in influencing important marketing-related variables such as perceived value and trust. This study examines the relationship between cognitive dissonance and relationship variables (trust and value) and proposes a model to understand how consumers process information facing a negative word-of-mouth (WOM) message that is incongruent with their existing belief, along with how cognitive dissonance affects their behaviors. The proposed model is tested using data collected via mail survey on customers of hotel–motel organizations. The study finding suggests that the theory of cognitive dissonance can be extended beyond a postdecision situation to a service context to explain how customers process information facing a WOM message that is incongruent with their existing belief. It is shown tha...

In a trans-paradigm theoretical synthesis of cognitive dissonance research, we examined theoretical variables (e.g., choice, consequences, etc.) and their relationships with dissonance effect sizes. We used structural equation analyses, performed within and across five research paradigms (induced compliance, insufficient justification, disconfirmed expectancies, selective exposure, and free choice), and corresponding to major versions of cognitive dissonance theory, to test several theoretically derived models. None of these models supported Festinger's notion that discomfort mediates dissonance effects. Consistent with conceptualisation of guilt as the drive component of dissonance theory, guilt strongly predicted dissonance effect sizes, virtually irrespective of which model was tested. A theory integrating the guilt and dissonance theories is stronger than either set of theories in isolation.

This research examines the applicability of cognitive dissonance theory to explain a judge’s decision to author or join a separate opinion. The author proposes that, when a judge casts a counterattitudinal vote, that judge will endeavor to reduce the aversive consequences of being viewed as an inconsistent decision maker by justifying his or her attitudinally incongruent vote choice to the public in a separate opinion. The author tests this possibility by examining U.S. Supreme Court justices’ decisions to author or join concurring and dissenting opinions during the 1946 to 2001 terms. The empirical results provide qualified support for the use of separate opinions as dissonance reduction mechanisms, suggesting that dissonance theory both is applicable to the actions of elite decision makers and enjoys validity outside of a laboratory setting.