The contradiction, that is, the festinger comes along. A state of cognitive dissonance. Festinger's cognitive dissonance
Cognitive theories of motivation: L. Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance
Introduction
The cognitive dissonance
The onset of dissonance
The degree of dissonance
Reducing dissonance
Limits of increasing dissonance
Conclusion
cognitive dissonance situation
According to cognitive theories of motivation, the behavior of an individual depends on his ideas about the world and cognitive perception of the situation. Cognitive theories began with Leon Festinger (05/08/1919 - 02/11/1989). It is he who owns the theory of cognitive dissonance. This theory was proposed by Festinger in 1957. The theory is based on the fact that "interconnected attitudes of a person strive precisely for consistency" (Festinger L. Theory of cognitive dissonance. St. Petersburg: Juventa, 1991.)
In this essay, I will review the main anchor points of Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance.
Festinger replaces the concept of "inconsistency" with dissonance, and "conformity" with consonance.
The main hypotheses of Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance are as follows (further quote):
1. The emergence of dissonance, which generates psychological discomfort, will motivate the individual to try to reduce the degree of dissonance and, if possible, achieve consonance.
2. In the event of a dissonance, in addition to striving to reduce it, the individual will actively avoid situations and information that may lead to its increase. (End of quote)
According to these hypotheses, cognitive dissonance can be defined:
The cognitive dissonance- inconsistency in a person's knowledge system, which gives rise to unpleasant experiences in him and encourages him to take actions aimed at reducing or eliminating this contradiction.
In his book, Festinger examines the relevant relationship between "elements" (ie, in fact, a person's knowledge of a subject). "Two elements are dissonant in relation to each other if, for one reason or another, they do not correspond to one another." Festinger gives several reasons for the emergence of dissonant relationships between elements:
1. Logical incompatibility. The denial of one element follows from the content of the other element on the basis of elementary logic.
2. Cultural customs. Dissonance arises from the fact that a given culture determines what is decent and what is not.
3. One particular opinion forms part of a more general opinion. Festinger gives the following example: a Democrat in the presidential election votes for the Republican Party.
4. Past experience. For example, a person turns on a hot water tap and hopes not to burn himself.
The onset of dissonance
Dissonance occurs in situations where an individual learns new information or becomes an eyewitness to unpredictable events. Festinger argues that dissonance is a daily, constant phenomenon, since in the world "there are very few things in the world that are completely black or completely white." Festinger argues that dissonance occurs whenever a person is required to express an opinion or make a choice; "The dissonance between the awareness of the action being taken and those opinions known to the subject, which testify in favor of a different scenario." An example from everyday life: when entering a store, a person cannot choose between two equally well-known brands.
The degree of dissonance
The characteristics between which a dissonant relationship arises is the main factor determining the degree of dissonance, according to Festinger. If two elements are dissonant, then the degree of dissonance will be directly proportional to the importance of these cognitive elements. In other words, the more important the information is for a person, the greater the degree of dissonance will be.
In real life, there are almost no systems of cognitive elements in which there would be no dissonance. For almost any action performed by a person, there can be at least one element that is in dissonant relation with this element. From this Festinger draws the following conclusion: the more one element has dissonant elements, the less the degree of dissonance. Conversely, if the proportion of dissonant elements is small, then the degree will be much greater.
Reducing dissonance
Dissonance acts in the same way as motives and needs, as it engenders a desire to reduce or eliminate dissonance. And the intensity of this striving depends on the degree of dissonance. Festinger likens the desire to reduce dissonance to feeling hungry.
If dissonance occurs between two elements, then this dissonance can be eliminated by changing one of these elements. "There are many possible ways in which this can be achieved, depending on the type of cognitive elements involved in a given relationship and on the overall cognitive content of a given situation."
Changes in behavioral cognitive elements
If there is a dissonance between the element related to knowledge about the environment and the behavioral element, then it can only be eliminated by changing the behavioral element. In the simplest way, Festinger calls the change in action or feeling that this behavioral cognitive element represents, because our behavior and feelings are directly dependent on new information. For example, if a person is going for a walk on a sunny day and noticed that it is starting to rain, the only thing he can do is return home.
But it is not always possible to reduce dissonance in this way, as this can lead to even more contradictions.
Changes in the cognitive elements of the environment
This process is more difficult than the previous one, because the person must have "a sufficient degree of control over the environment." If an element changes, and the idea of it in the mind of an individual is unchanged, then means of ignoring or counteracting the real situation should be used. As an example, Festinger cites the following situation: "a person can change his opinion about a certain politician, even if his behavior and political situation remain the same."
Adding new cognitive elements
This method is intended to reduce the degree of dissonance by adding new ones. For example, a smoker who has two cognitive dissonant elements: the harm of smoking and refusal to quit smoking. He will look for any sources that refute the theory of the dangers of smoking (i.e. look for new cognitive elements), and avoid those that, on the contrary, increase the degree of dissonance.
Limits of increasing dissonance
The maximum dissonance between elements is determined by "the amount of resistance to change of the least resistant element." However, even if there is a very strong resistance to change, the overall dissonance in the system can remain at a fairly low level.
Conclusion
So, the theory of cognitive dissonance is built on three main points:
1. There are dissonant and consonant relationships between cognitive elements (or a person's ideas about the world around him and his behavior)
2. The emergence of cognitive dissonance leads to the appearance in the individual of the desire to reduce or eliminate this dissonance
3. The emergence of such a desire consists in changing behavior, changing attitudes, or deliberately seeking new information and new opinions about the element that generated the dissonance.
Bibliography:
1. Festinger L. Theory of cognitive dissonance. SPb .: Juventa, 1999 15-52 pages
2. Andreeva G.M. Psychology of social cognition: a textbook for university students: Aspect Press 2005, 303 pp.
3. Nemov R.S. Psychology: 2000, 662 pages
The theory of cognitive dissonance was created in 1957, Leon Festinger, in the process of creating this theory, acted as a student of Kurt Lewin. He considers a need as an initial concept, it is not just a need, but a special kind of it. "The need to evaluate oneself" - that is, the ability to evaluate one's opinions, abilities... For this, opinions must be correlated with social reality, that is, receive support or confirmation from society. That is, the main task of a person is to compare his opinion with the opinions of other people, to compare them.
At the same time, Festinger suggested that the desire to compare oneself with others is significantly reduced if the differences between opinions increase. A person always strives to avoid those situations in which his opinion is far from the opinions of others, and, on the contrary, seeks situations where he is faced with similar opinions. A person who starts learning to play chess is more likely to compare himself with other beginners than with professionals. Festinger notes that if there is a minimal discrepancy between the opinions of the group and the individual, this leads to conformism, i.e. personality changes its own mind under pressure group . By receiving support in this way, a person avoids a state of dissonance, strengthens his cognitions (opinions, judgments, beliefs). The second part of this theory concerns a need of a different nature - this is also a need for knowledge, but knowledge about oneself, the need to know is connected, consistently and consistently.
Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable, unpleasant condition in which the individual is under the influence of two conflicting cognitions.
A state of cognitive dissonance occurs whenever an individual simultaneously has two cognitions (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, behavior patterns, etc.). Thus, the two cognitions are in dissonance if the negation of the second follows from the first. The state of cognitive dissonance causes unpleasant sensations, people tend to reduce it. It is not possible to adhere to two conflicting ideas, it is like "flirting with the absurd", notes the existentialist philosopher Albert Camus. It is possible to reduce cognitive dissonance by altering one or both cognitions in a way that makes them more compatible with each other. As an example, consider the following: A smoker is reading an article about medical research showing a link between smoking and cancer. In this case, his two cognitions come into dissonance - "I smoke cigarettes" and "smoking causes cancer." According to Festinger, a person begins to work initially on one setting - it is necessary to quit smoking "- the final version" I do not smoke. " However, this is not an easy task and after several attempts the person proceeds to work on the second cognition “smoking causes cancer”. For example, to appeal to the fact that the experimental data obtained on this issue are ambiguous, and besides, if such smart and reasonable people as Natasha, Sveta and Alla do this, then smoking is actually not so dangerous. A woman may switch to lighter cigarettes, smoke less per day, etc.
Thus, we can draw the following conclusions: People spend a huge amount of time and energy protecting their Ego, but they do not get better from this. And therefore, if we strive to reduce dissonance, we will never be able to admit our own mistakes, we will drive them under the carpet, that is, into the unconscious, or we will turn them into our achievements. It is necessary to use the experience of dissonance for that. To learn from your mistakes. There are several ways: 1) A clear understanding of one's own aspirations, protection of the "I" and reduction of dissonance; 2) Awareness of the fact. That I have done stupid or immoral acts does not mean that I am an irreparably stupid or immoral person; 3) by strengthening my ability to recognize the benefits that can bring recognition of their own mistakes and learning from them.
4. The theory of congruence by C. Ostgood and P. Tannenbaum (the current state of cognitivism).
The concept of "Congruence" introduced by C. Osgood and P. Tannenbaum,
is synonymous with the term "balance", "coincidence ». The theory was created in 1955. Its main difference from other theories lies in an attempt to predict changes in attitudes (or personality attitudes). Under the influence of the desire to establish correspondence not to one, but simultaneously to two objects. The field of practical applications of this theory is mass communication, therefore it is most convenient to give examples from this area. In this theory, we are talking about a triad: P - recipient, K - communicator, O - information about the object. If the recipient assesses the communicator positively, who gives a positive assessment to some phenomenon, which the recipient himself assesses negatively. Then a situation of incongruence arises in the cognitive structure of the recipient; my own and the communicator's two kinds of assessments do not coincide. A way out of this situation can be a change in the recipient's attitude to both the communicator and the object..
Lecture "Interactionist theories (symbolic interactionism by J. Mead, G. Bloomer, M. Kuhn)"
1. Symbolic interactionism (M. Kuhn, J. Mead).
2. Social drama by I. Hoffman.
3. Social constructionism - K. Gergen;
4. The theory of social representations S. Moskovichi.
Literature:
1. Andreeva G. M., Bogomolova N. N., Petrovskaya L. A. Foreign social psychology of the twentieth century: Theoretical approaches: textbook for universities. M. 2001 .-- 288 p.
2. Jergen K. The movement of social constructionism in modern psychology // Social psychology: self-reflection of marginality. Reader. M., 1995.
3. Ilyin I. Postmodernism. Dictionary. SPb. 1999.
4. Harre R. The second cognitive revolution // Psychological journal. 1996. T. 17.No. 2.
The name of this direction comes from the concept of "interaction", We know that interaction means interaction, but not any, but only social - that is, the interaction of people in a group, in communication. The views of George Mead, as well as some provisions of the concepts of Linton and Merton, were used as a general theoretical source. It must be said that the research of Mead and other interactionists is sociological and is an example of "sociological social psychology." The main element of the study is not a separate individual and his involvement in the social process, but the process of interaction of individuals in a group. There are 3 main directions in the field of interactionist orientation. 1) Symbolic interactionism. 2) Role theory. 3) Theories of the reference group.
Symbolic interactionism.
Oral tradition of J. Mead.
J. Mead's works are considered the most significant in this area, the most famous "Consciousness, Personality and Society", which was published after his death. During Mead's lifetime, not a single of his socio-psychological work was published. He was characterized by the so-called oral tradition, that is, he developed his scientific concepts only in lectures on social psychology, which he read for about 40 years at the sociological faculty of the University of Chicago, therefore Mead's book was compiled on the basis of handwritten notes, transcripts of lectures and student synopses. Mead's ideas were developed by his students, in particular by Bloomer. Which, designated Mead's ideas as "Symbolic Interactionism".
"Symbolic interactionism»Mainly focuses on problems symbolic communication, i.e., communication and interaction carried out using symbols.
Basic premises of the theory of interactionism: 1 ) People act in relation to "things" (ideas, other people, objects, social institutions, enemies, personal freedom, situations, etc.) on the basis of the meanings that "things" have for them. 2) The meanings of things are created or arise in interaction with the social environment. 3) Values used, and also change in the process of human interpretation of the surrounding phenomena, things. Social interaction gives rise to a huge number of symbolic interpretations of the same subject (for example, in different cultures: in India, the cow is considered a divine animal that cannot be killed, cow farms in the USA and Russia). Likewise, individual gestures act as a kind of symbols, but even the same ones can be interpreted in different ways, therefore, says Mead, the meaning of a symbol or gesture should be sought in the reaction of the person to whom it is addressed... On the basis of symbolic interactionism, the idea of case studies was developed.
Symbolic communication was declared the constitutive principle of the human psyche. It is interpreted as the main feature that distinguishes a person from the animal world.
Thus, for the process of successful communication, a person must have the ability to accept the role of another, that is, to enter the position of that person "Try on himself, his role", to whom the communication is addressed, to look at himself through his eyes. Only in this case the individual turns into a personality, into a social being that is capable of treating itself as an object. Thus, the individual, the personality is always social, that is, they cannot form outside the group, outside of society. Mead identified three main components in the structure of personality (by analogy with Freud's theory). This is Me, mi, self. I am an impulsive, creative driving force. “Mi” is an image of a person that others should see, internal social control, and “Self” is a self, a personal “I”; a combination of the first and second components.
In group interaction, the individual needs to generalize the position of the majority of the group members.
The behavior of a person is closely related to the performance of those social roles with which the person identifies himself. All modern theories of the role are based on the symbolic development of J. Mead, in addition, it was Mead who introduced the concept of "role", into the space of social psychology. But at the same time he did not give a clear definition of this concept, using it as a very amorphous and indefinite (in fact, this concept was correlated with the theatrical definition). Mead's main idea was the idea of "accepting the role of another" - that is, the ability to look at oneself from the outside through the eyes of a communication partner. The concept of a social role is viewed as a very complex category. The socio-psychological aspect of the social is related, first of all, to the subjective factors of the social role, i.e. with the disclosure of certain socio-psychological mechanisms and patterns of perception and performance of social roles. The complexity of this phenomenon does not allow it to be unambiguously defined. If we turn to the previous material, then we can say: « That, the fundamental attribution error is associated with the tendency to exaggerate the importance of personal and dispositional factors, rather than situational or environmental, i.e. there is an underestimation of the impact of the social role ”.
Therefore, it is customary to talk about the following aspects of the role:
1) Role as a system of expectations existing in society regarding the behavior of an individual, in his interaction with others (representations of other people).
2) Role as a system of specific expectations in relation to oneself of an individual occupying a certain position (own ideas)
3) Role as the open observed behavior of the individual (the observed behavior of the individual).
In most cases, the social role in its socio-psychological consideration is associated with the status of the individual, but not as a certain position in the system of social relations, but primarily as a subjective category (a set of role expectations), which are subdivided into expectations - rights, and expectations - duties individual in the performance of one or another role). The concept of a social role is very rarely used; most often they use the definition of "the role of the individual", "interpersonal role".
Role classifications. Thibault and Kelly divide roles into "Prescribed"- externally given, independent of the efforts of the individual. AND "Achieved" - those that are achieved through the personal efforts of the individual. Linton identifies active and latent roles . The individual is the bearer of many roles, but at a given moment he can play only one role, it will be active, and all the others are latent. T. Sabrin and V. Alain classify roles depending on the degree of intensity of their performance, on the degree of involvement in the role. They distinguish 7 such stages from 0, when an individual is only considered a carrier, but in essence does not fulfill it until the maximum involvement (which is characterized by fulfillment under the influence of belief in supernatural forces). At the intermediate stages, ritual roles are located (the second level of inclusion).
Cognitive dissonance theory is one of the psychological theories about changing attitudes. She argues that the person behaves in a way that maximizes the internal consistency of her cognitive system. Groups also try to maximize the internal consistency of their members' relationships.
Leon Festinger in his laboratory, 1959
In addition to L. Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance (1957), there is a similar theory of balance by Haider (1946), as well as the corresponding theories of Osgood and Tannenbaum (1955). However, the theory of cognitive dissonance as a separate branch of psychology has been the most influential for decades. One of the most compelling aspects of this theory is that it offered simple intuitive hypotheses that were often confirmed.
The basic principle of the theory: two cognitive elements (thoughts, opinions, beliefs) are in a dissonant relationship if one of the sides directly follows from the other. Since dissonance is psychologically uncomfortable, its existence motivates the person to reduce it and achieve harmony (consonance). Further, if dissonance exists, the person will actively avoid situations and information that are capable of generating it.
The theory of cognitive dissonance has been repeatedly criticized for incomprehensibility, ambiguity of terminology, and the like. Indeed, it is more expedient to view this theory as more problematic than assertive. The experimental methodology for proving it was also criticized for its artificiality, the possibility of discrepancy and questionable external validity, ignoring individual characteristics.
In his main work - "The theory of cognitive dissonance" - Festinger formulates its starting points as follows: the main idea of the theory is that the human body seeks to establish internal harmony. It is consistency, consistency between your thoughts, abilities, knowledge and values. That is, a living organism is aimed at consistency within cognitive (cognitive) activity. In order to operate perfectly with this concept ("consistency"), Festinger interprets cognitive activity as one that is decomposed into elements, or, finally, as a collection of such elements.
Festinger offers theoretical statements regarding the relationship between cognitive elements:
- a pair of elements can exist in a relationship that is irrelevant or related to the case (situation or object);
- in a relationship of consistency or inconsistency;
- two recognizable elements are in a state of isolation (irrelevance) if they have nothing to do with each other;
- two recognizable elements are in a dissonant relationship if there is dissonance for each of them separately, when each element excludes or opposes the other;
- two recognizable elements are in a consonant relationship if one element complements or follows from the other.
Based on these definitions, Festinger establishes the following forms of cognitive dissonance.
- Dissonance almost always occurs after a decision has been made between two or more alternatives. After all, the decision is not the elimination of the opposite, but its pushing aside. It is the concentration of attention on one side of the alternative. We are talking only about the mental retardation of the undesirable side of the alternative, but “in itself” it continues to exist. This repression into the unconscious reveals a process that has become the focus of psychoanalysis. Cognitive elements that correspond to the positive characteristic of the rejected alternative, and those that correspond to the negative characteristic of the chosen alternative, are dissonant with the knowledge of the action that was performed. Those negative elements that correspond to the positive characteristic of the chosen alternative and the negative characteristic of the rejected alternative are consonant with respect to the cognitive elements corresponding to the action that was recognized.
- Dissonance almost always arises after an attempt at a choice, with the prospect of a reward or punishment due to the type (character) of behavior being carried out, which differs from one or another initial thought. If such behavior has been successfully carried out, the individual's separate opinion is dissonant to her knowledge of her behavior; however, her knowledge of the reward received or the prevention of punishment is consistent with her knowledge of her behavior. If the behavior has not been successful, dissonance occurs.
- Purposeful or random access to new information can create cognitive elements that are dissonant with existing knowledge.
- The manifestation of open disagreement in the group leads to the emergence of cognitive dissonance among the group members.
At first, this theory captures with its unconstrained simplicity, almost truisms, but later it is addressed as such, which contains real scientific and philosophical generalizations. Psychological historian M. Hunt notes on this point that it was, without a doubt, the most influential theory in social psychology from the late 1950s to the early 70s. Gradually, it lost its position, and today it is only generally known knowledge, but not the sphere of active scientific research.
The theory of cognitive dissonance states that a person experiences tension and discomfort when he has inconsistent, inconsistent ideas (for example: “such and such person is a chatterbox, boring person, but I need him as a friend and accomplice”) and seeks to find ways to reduce this dissonance (“it's not bad, as you know about it,” or “I don't really need it, I can get something without it,” etc.).
In 1930, K. Levin came close to this phenomenon when he investigated how a person's inclinations can be changed by her membership in a group that makes a decision, and how such a person can adhere to such a decision, ignoring later information that conflicts with this. Levin's student Festinger took this line of research further, developing his theory of cognitive dissonance.
Festinger's first experiment on cognitive dissonance was his research project in 1954, in which he and two of his students at the University of Minnesota acted as secret agents for seven weeks. They read in the newspapers about the incident with Mrs. Keach (not her real name), a housewife who lived near Minneapolis. This woman claimed that about a year ago she received a message from a supreme being, whom she identified as the guardian from the planet Clarion (he declared himself in the form of an automatic letter that the woman wrote while in a trance). On December 21, the message said, a great flood should cover the Northern Hemisphere, and everyone who lives there, with the exception of a select few, will be destroyed.
Festinger, who was developing his theory at this time, and his younger colleagues saw an extremely convenient opportunity to observe cognitive dissonance "first-hand".
Psychologists felt that Mrs Keach's public statement and subsequent events should be an invaluable demonstration of cognitive dissonance in real life - the development of a paradoxical response to conflicting reality. They developed a plan according to which Mrs. Keach was to communicate in a small hut with everyone who believed in this prophecy and would like to wait with her for the next messages from the planet Clarion. Among this audience were three researchers and five student assistants. Disguised as believers, they participated in their meetings sixty times over seven weeks. The study was extremely grueling, physically and emotionally, partly due to the need to hide my reaction to the absurdity of what was happening.
Finally Mrs. Keach received the long-awaited message: the spacecraft will arrive at a certain place at a certain time to save the believers. However, the ship did not arrive, and December 21 came without any consequences.
In the end, the woman received another message: they say, thanks to the good and light created by the believers, God decided to abolish the misfortunes and take pity on this world. Some of the adherents of the new cult, in particular those who initially doubted it and could not come to terms with the collapse that happened to their own faith, left the cult and disappeared. But those who deeply surrendered to this belief, abandoned all their occupations and even sold their property in anticipation of the end of the world - they behaved as the researchers expected it to be. They became even more convinced of the existence of aliens and prophecy than Mrs. Keach herself. The exposure did not hinder their faith, but only strengthened it. This eliminated the internal conflict between what they believed in and the reality that brought disappointment.
In 1959, Festinger and his colleague J. Carlsmith conducted what is now considered a classic cognitive experiment. Its essence was that scientists, resorting to almost artistic tricks, tried to reduce the dissonance of the participants in the experiment.
Festinger and Carlsmith asked the couple to complete an extremely boring task: they had to put a dozen hairpins on a tray and remove them from it within half an hour. After the couple had finished, one of the researchers told them that the purpose of the experiment was to investigate how being interested in a task produces a specific effect. The couple then had to tell the next test subjects what was enjoyable in the task, and also emphasize their interest and pleasure in the task. Then these spouses were involved in the next stage of the experiment, where they had to act as a research assistant. A monetary reward was offered for this - $ 1 or $ 20. Further, all participants in the experiment had to admit that their words about the "interesting" problem were an obvious deception for the next subject. Following this, the final subject was asked how much enjoyable it was for him to perform this task.
Since the task was indeed unbearably boring, lying to anyone else would create a condition of cognitive dissonance (“I lied to someone else. However, I am not that kind of person”). The key question was whether the size of the fees the subjects received would affect the means they used to alleviate dissonance. It was expected that those who received $ 20 - at that time a very significant amount - would be more willing to change their minds than those who received one dollar. However, Festinger and Carlsmith predicted otherwise. The subjects who received $ 20 considered the money to be a solid reward for the experiment, which meant they were quick to agree to publicly prove their lie.
But those who received the one dollar had such a minor excuse for their lies that they felt the cognitive dissonance and could alleviate it only by convincing themselves that the task was indeed interesting.
As noted, the theory of cognitive dissonance has been heavily criticized on several occasions. Meanwhile, a stream of experiments has shown that cognitive dissonance must be qualified as meaningful, really existing. And, moreover, as a mature theory.
In his memoirs, the famous social psychologist Elronson wrote: “... We can create ten good hypotheses during the evening ... such hypotheses, none of which a person had even dreamed of several years earlier, but we rarely do it. It is this fact that significantly raises the status of theories, which receive solid confirmation in practice. "
Cognitive dissonance theory has explained some of the characteristics of social behavior that have not previously been considered by behaviorists. Here are some examples supported by experiment.
- The stronger the membership in the group becomes, the higher the group is rated by the individual.
- We dislike what hurts us instead of thinking that pain was a valuable experience.
- Smokers usually say that there is no proven link between smoking and cancer.
- Students who cheat on an exam say that everyone else is cheating, too, and they do it to avoid being disadvantaged.
- People who hold opposing views tend to interpret the same facts in very different ways. Everyone remembers only what supports his position, "brings shine to the surface" and forgets what could create dissonance.
- If people who think they are smart are forced to hurt others (as, for example, soldiers to civilians in war), they reduce dissonance by humiliating the vanquished.
- If someone benefits from social injustice, causing the suffering of others, he convinces himself that those who suffer are to blame, they could live better, that this is their fate, etc.
Here is another case of a "natural experiment" that illustrates the human tendency to regulate cognitive dissonance through rationalization.
In the wake of the 1983 California earthquake that struck the city of Santa Cruz, Commissioner Stevens was invited to assess the damage to local homes under new California law. He identified 175 buildings that were severely damaged. The city council, implicitly wanting to avoid the amount of expensive work, rejected this dissonant information and devalued it. Stevens was labeled an alarmist and his report on the threat to the city was rejected. Also, no measures were taken. And soon a magnitude seven earthquake struck again in the Santa Cruz area. Three hundred houses were destroyed and a thousand seriously damaged, five people were killed and two thousand were injured.
Because of its explanatory power, the theory of cognitive dissonance has successfully survived all attacks. And only one critical reproach she could not easily challenge. It's a question of research ethics. Although scientists always invited volunteers, without their consent, they offered them morally difficult experiments that could damage their self-esteem. However, after the experiment, the researchers explained to them that hiding the truth was necessary - for scientific purposes. But the unethical remedy for this does not become ethical. Such problems were inherent not only in the theory of dissonance. They also existed in other socio-psychological studies.
Romenets V.A., Manokha I.P. History of psychology of the XX century. - Kiev, Lybid, 2003.
Despite this intricate name "cognitive dissonance", many people encounter it in their daily life. Cognitive refers to the thought process, and dissonance refers to the disagreement between something. The founder of cognitive dissonance is Festinger, who put forward his theories and concepts. With examples, it becomes clear what cognitive dissonance is.
In the life of every person, situations arise when you need to make a decision. If a person cannot quickly make a decision, this often indicates cognitive dissonance, that is, the inability to choose between two or even more options for solving a situation. Depending on how quickly a person chooses, what he will give up and what he will follow, making a decision will take some time or another.
Usually, cognitive dissonance occurs in situations when a person is faced with a choice: to follow their own desires and motives, or to pay attention to public opinion, the rule of law, morality? So, for example, cognitive dissonance will arise in a situation when a person learns about the betrayal of his soul mate. On the one hand, you want to fill everyone's face, on the other hand, you need to remember that such actions will lead to responsibility before the law.
Cognitive dissonance is manifested in the fact that a person is forced to limit himself in something, since the desired does not always coincide with the possible. For example, a girl wants to live luxuriously and carefree, which is why she starts looking for a rich man. And to the society, which is indignant about her desires, she begins to tell various excuses for her behavior: “I lived poorly,” “I wish my children a better life,” etc.
Cognitive dissonance is when a person is faced with different options for solving the same problem, and all of them are equal and equally important. And a person has to choose not between his desires, but between goals and public opinion, emotional impulses and the norms of the law, that is, between “I want” and “I must”. A striking example of such dissonance is the child's unwillingness to learn. On the one hand, he needs to learn, on the other, he does not want to waste time studying uninteresting topics.
And since a person does not always manage to follow the lead of public opinion, he is forced to look for various excuses. People will start asking why he didn’t listen to them! And he must have good reasons for disobeying.
The same thing happens in a situation where a person is led by society, which is contrary to his personal desires. For example, a guy, instead of punishing his offender with his fists, just turns around and leaves, as his parents taught him. In order to reassure himself and justify his act, which may seem like weakness to a guy, he begins to look for good reasons, they say, “this is how my parents taught,” “I showed intelligence,” etc.
Cognitive dissonance also occurs when an important decision needs to be made, but a person is overcome by strong doubts. Even when he has made a decision, the person continues to doubt and go over other options for solving the situation in his head. For example, a woman decided to forgive her husband for his wrongdoing, but in the following days she continues to doubt whether it was necessary to do this and how much it corresponds to her wishes.
What is cognitive dissonance?
Cognitive dissonance refers to the site of psychological help site to negative states, in which he feels discomfort due to conflicting knowledge, worldviews, teachings, ideas, values, goals, behavioral attitudes and beliefs. Experience and what a person has to do, habits and the necessary, personal and social, often come into conflict.
Cognitive dissonance is a confrontation of two cognitions, which are not equally significant for the person himself, but are equally possible when solving a certain issue. And a person is faced with a choice, for example, between satisfying physical desires or moral values.
In order to overcome cognitive dissonance, a person makes a choice between experience and actions, and then begins to find a rational kernel in what he has chosen to explain to himself and the people around him his choice, which may seem wrong to someone. Thus, a person achieves internal balance, smoothness. This theory is put forward by the founder Leon Festinger, who noted that the most comfortable state for a person is cognitive coherence. And if an individual chooses one thing, then in order to achieve inner harmony, he begins to look for justifications for his own choice.
Causes of cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance occurs for the following reasons:
- The discrepancy between personal beliefs and the attitudes of society or the group in which a person is located.
- Inconsistency of concepts and ideas that a person operates.
- Conflict with social norms and ethnic rules, especially if they are not in accordance with the law or personal desires.
- The discrepancy between the experience that a person has with the information he receives in new conditions. In other words, previous experience does not help in solving a new situation that is similar to the previous one.
Each person has knowledge and experience, which he receives in the course of his life. However, new situations may indicate that his existing beliefs do not correspond to reality at all or do not always work. As a person is forced to solve problems, he begins to choose the best from the worst. And in order to achieve internal balance, he finds various justifications for his choice.
Festinger tried to explain the nature of the occurrence of cognitive dissonance, as well as ways to eliminate it. And here motivation stands out, which dictates to a person what choice he will make. The strongest motivation tells a person which idea should be abandoned in order to realize another. And then, in order to maintain balance in the new path, a person must justify his deed.
Cognitive dissonance theory
Cognitive dissonance has been known for a long time, since a person has always been faced with the need to choose between personal desires and the norms of social life. Either a person will try to be a good citizen, or he will achieve success, which presupposes the presence of selfishness and obstinacy - qualities that are not acceptable in society.
Cognitive dissonance is natural for any person who cannot know everything about the world around him. The property of the brain is to remember what situations happened and what decisions were made, actions were performed, and what was ultimately obtained. If a person has achieved failure, then he draws certain conclusions, they say, “you don’t need to do this so as not to get screwed up again”. However, in a typical situation, the person acts differently and again faces failure, and as a result of the analysis, it turns out that he should have done the same as he did in the previous situation.
Cognitive dissonance is the need to find a solution to one situation among the many options that a person has based on his experience, as well as that are offered by society, individuals and even the law. Here, a person must sometimes choose among options that do not correspond to his desires, habitual actions.
Since cognitive dissonance forces a person to give up something, he finds excuses. Anything can be used here: “I did the right thing, no matter what!”, “This is my life. I live the way I want! ”,“ The last time I did it wrong, ”“ I have the right to make a mistake, ”etc. Psychologists identify the following ways to reduce dissonance:
- Transformation of one cognition, that is, self-assurance of the opposite.
- Changing your own behavior.
- Filtering out information that comes in.
- See mistakes and change the decision, act according to it.
A way to reduce cognitive dissonance after a decision has been made may be that the person begins to extol the significance of the decision he made and downplay all the other options that were proposed when solving the problem.
Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance
Leon Festinger put forward the following theories of cognitive dissonance:
- The individual will try to get rid of the cognitive dissonance when it occurs.
- The person will avoid all situations that will introduce him into cognitive dissonance.
In the process of cognitive dissonance, when the connection between ideas is lost or there is no coherence between actions and thoughts, intellect and - a person's response to those stimuli that are present in the situation are involved.
Cognitive dissonance can manifest itself when a person begins to regret or doubt a decision made. This can happen over time. The action has already taken place. The result has been achieved, but it does not satisfy the desires of the person himself. And over time, he begins to repent, to experience remorse, subsequently making other decisions in similar situations.
Examples of cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance happens to many people, and many situations arise. Examples would be:
- Admission of an excellent student and a bad student. Since each student is required to behave in a certain way (an excellent student must study well, and a bad student must study badly), cognitive dissonance sets in when an excellent student begins to study with two marks, and a poor student - with fives.
- Bad habits. Sooner or later, everyone begins to understand that habits are harmful to health. And here a person is faced with a choice: continue to harm himself or get rid of the habit.
- Should I give charity? If you see a homeless person on the street, then you are faced with a choice: to give or not to give? It all depends on your inner convictions and social principles.
- The desire to lose weight. On the one hand, the girl wants to lose weight. However, on the other hand, she may have a keen desire to eat something tasty.
Since cognitive dissonance has arisen and will continue to arise in the life of any person, various ways of avoiding it are proposed:
- Resignation to the situation, that is, starting to treat it as acceptable.
- A positive attitude, that is, to see positive aspects in the situation.
- Avoiding information that conflicts with your views and experiences.
Outcome
A person lives in a diverse world that cannot be explained from only one side. To avoid cognitive dissonance, you need to learn to see all the diversity and understand that in situations you can act badly, selfishly, and wrong, which is also normal if it gives positive results.
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Introduction
Conclusion
Introduction
Leon Festinger formulated the theory of cognitive dissonance. He says that the occurrence of dissonance motivates the individual to reduce the degree of dissonance and, if possible, achieve consonance. In addition to this desire to reduce dissonance, the individual tends to avoid situations and information that can lead to an increase in the degree of dissonance.
The author understands cognitive dissonance as a condition that leads to actions aimed at reducing it. Festinger says that dissonance can arise in situations when a person becomes an eyewitness to some unpredictable events or when he learns new information.
According to Festinger, positive emotions arise only when there is no cognitive dissonance between the outcome of the situation and how this outcome was presented in the mind of the individual, and negative or negative emotions arise in the case of cognitive dissonance ...
1. Foundations of the theory of cognitive dissonance
The theory of cognitive dissonance, created in 1957, was for its author a continuation of the development of the idea of "social comparison", which Festinger had dealt with much earlier. In this area, Festinger acts as a disciple and follower of Levin. The initial concept for him is the concept of need, and a special kind of needs is analyzed, namely "the need to evaluate oneself" ("evaluative need"), i.e. the desire to assess their opinions and abilities, first of all, (later the follower of Festinger Schechter extended the principle of comparison to the assessment of emotions as well). Along the way, Festinger notes that the minimum dissimilarity of opinions leads to conformism - a person easily changes a slightly different opinion in order to bring his opinion completely closer to the opinion of the group.
At the same time, unlike other correspondence theories, Festinger's theory nowhere places an emphasis on social behavior and, in addition, its fate has developed more dramatically than the fate of any other correspondence theory. The theory of cognitive dissonance has stimulated much more research, and in this sense its popularity is much higher than others, but at the same time, the opposition to it turned out to be much stronger. It is also important to note that the theory of cognitive dissonance has a very solid "literature": firstly, it was presented in great detail by the author himself in his 1957 work "Theory of cognitive dissonance" and, secondly, it received a huge response in the works of many representatives of Western social psychology, so that it is possible, perhaps, to fix a special "literature on the theory of dissonance", which is a critical analysis of this theory, often interlinear comments to it, and sometimes - a very sharp polemic with it
Festinger himself begins his presentation of his theory with the following reasoning: it is noticed that people strive for some coherence as a desired internal state. If a contradiction arises between what a person knows and what he does, then they tend to somehow explain this contradiction and, most likely, present it as a non-contradiction in order to again achieve a state of internal cognitive coherence. Further, Festinger proposes to replace the terms - "contradiction" with "dissonance", and "coherence" with "consonance", since this last pair of terms seems to him more "neutral", and now formulate the main provisions of the theory.
It can be summarized in three main points:
1) dissonance may occur between cognitive elements;
2) the existence of dissonance causes the desire to reduce it or hinder its growth;
3) the manifestation of this desire includes: either a change in behavior, or a change in knowledge, or a cautious attitude towards new information.
As an example, the already common noun example of a smoker is usually given: a person smokes, but at the same time knows that smoking is harmful; he has a dissonance, which can be overcome in three ways:
1) change behavior, i.e. quit smoking;
2) change knowledge, in this case - to convince yourself that all the arguments, articles about the dangers of smoking are at least unreliable, exaggerate the danger;
3) be wary of new information regarding the dangers of smoking, i.e. just ignore her.
Before further expounding the content of Festinger's theory, it is necessary to more accurately define the terms introduced. First, the basic units in the theory of dissonance are "cognitive elements", which, we recall, were precisely the author of the theory and were defined as "any knowledge, opinion, belief about the environment, someone, someone's behavior or himself."
Secondly, among all these cognitive elements, or "cognitions", it is necessary to distinguish between two types: related to behavior (it does not matter to whom) and related to the environment. An example of the former is "I'm going to a picnic today", an example of the latter is "it is raining." two different interpretations of this issue continue to coexist.
Thirdly, the theory of dissonance does not consider any relationship between cognitive elements, because, in principle, there can be three of them:
1) the absolute lack of communication between them, their irrelevance to each other (for example, the knowledge that there is never snow in Florida, and that some planes fly at an excess of the speed of sound);
2) consonance relations;
3) relationship of dissonance.
In theory, only the last two types of relations between cognitive elements are considered, and, naturally, the main attention is paid to dissonant relations. Here is Festinger's own formulation of what a dissonant relationship is: "Two elements X and Y are in a dissonant relationship if, when viewed in isolation, the negation of one follows from the other, namely, non-X follows from Y." Example: a person is in debt (Y), but buys a new, expensive car (X). Here dissonant relations arise, since from Y (the fact that the person is a debtor) some appropriate action of X would have to follow, and then consonance would be observed. In the above case, it follows from an action other than the "reasonable" option ("not-X"), i.e. the purchase of an expensive car inappropriate for the circumstances, therefore, there is a dissonance.
2. The causes and magnitude of dissonance
The category of "following" is a category of logic; in modern systems of mathematical logic there is a special symbolic designation of succession - there the expression "follows" has a quite definite logical meaning. Festinger introduces a different interpretation of the following, which includes not only a logical, but also a psychological understanding of this relationship.
Explaining what the expression "follows from" in his formula means, Festinger suggests four sources of possible dissonance:
1) from logical inconsistency, i.e. when "following" not-X ", from" Y "" there is evidence of purely logical inconsistency of the two judgments as cognitive elements.
2) from the inconsistency of cognitive elements with cultural patterns, or, in other words, norms.
3) from the discrepancy between a given cognitive element and some broader system of ideas.
4) from inconsistency with past experience.
All three last cases of dissonance arising are based on a different nature of "non-investigation" than is accepted in logic.
3. Ways to reduce dissonance
1) Changes in the behavioral elements of the cognitive structure.
2) Change in cognitive elements related to the environment.
3) Adding new elements to the cognitive structure, only those that help to reduce dissonance.
Festinger very carefully describes in his work a large number of experiments in which various factors are investigated that contribute to the reduction of dissonance after a decision has been made.
In particular, the study of Brehm (1956) is known, when he gave the subjects alternative solutions and offered to choose one of them. After a while, it was proposed to evaluate both the selected and the rejected solution. In all cases, the chosen solutions were rated higher than the rejected ones. Aronson and Mills (1957) created a situation for the subjects to spend some effort to join a group, after which they were convinced that the group was "bad." The subjects reduced the dissonance that had arisen, trying to identify or simply "see" the positive characteristics of the group, to evaluate it higher. Aronson and Carlsmith (1963) set up an experiment with children who were robbed of a toy and even punished for using this toy. As a result, children began to love this toy especially strongly. These and numerous other experiments are usually regarded as proof of the productivity of the theory of dissonance. It was in the course of these experiments that many theories of the theory were further developed.
So, Festinger supplements it with an analysis of such phenomena as forced consent, when dissonance is generated by the presence of a threat or the prospect of punishment, compulsory informational influence, which also contributes to the emergence or maintenance of dissonance. A special place is occupied by the study of the role of social support created in a group where disagreements appear, and one of the positions contributes to either strengthening or weakening the dissonance. In this regard, Festinger proceeds to analyze a number of "macro-phenomena": the role of rumors in society, mass conversion and other forms of social influence. All this testifies to the significance and importance of the theory of cognitive dissonance. cognitive dissonance emotional experience
True, the experiments themselves, in which individual hypotheses are tested, are not rigorous enough and are vulnerable in many respects. Aronson owns a rather peculiar "justification" for them. He believes that many of the errors in the theory of dissonance grow out of the more general methodological difficulties of the socio-psychological experiment. "This weakness," writes Aronson, "is hardly the theory's fault. Methodological difficulties apply to all theories that predict socio-psychological phenomena. They are associated with the theory of dissonance simply because it produces the maximum amount of research." These general difficulties do exist, and one can agree with Aronson in characterizing some of them (for example, the lack of standardized techniques for the operationalization of concepts in social psychology, the fact that alternative explanations of empirical results are possible and quite frequent, etc.). But all these are, indeed, general problems of social psychology, so that bringing them as an argument in the analysis of one specific theory, although appropriate, is clearly not enough.
Conclusion
So, according to L. Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, positive emotional experiences arise in a person when his expectations are confirmed, and cognitive ideas are embodied in life, i.e. when the actual results of activities correspond to the intended ones, are consistent with them, or, which is the same, are in consonance. Negative emotions arise and intensify in those cases when there is a discrepancy, discrepancy, dissonance between the expected and actual results of activity.
In modern psychology, the theory of cognitive dissonance is often used to explain the actions of a person, his actions in various social situations. Emotions are considered as the main motive for the corresponding actions and deeds. The dominant cognitive orientation of modern psychological research has led to the fact that the conscious assessments that a person gives to situations have also come to be considered as emotional factors. It is believed that such assessments directly affect the nature of the emotional experience.
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