PSYCH253 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Cognitive Dissonance, When Prophecy Fails, Self-Perception Theory
Document Summary
How people change their thoughts to go with their behaviours when they are in conflict. Brehm looked at the free choice paradigm. Had people make choices in kitchen appliances. On the re-rate, the item that they chose got better than before they decided on it - the thing you didn"t choose becomes worse. This is cognitive dissonance because all of the bad features of the item you chose are inconsistent with your choice. In 1960s, 80% of all published studies in social psychology were on dissonance theory. People will change their attitudes to be consistent with their behaviours. Experimental condition: ask them to lie by saying that the experiment was fun in order to receive money (either 20 dollars or 1 dollar) Only participants given 1 dollar changed their view of the experiment to being enjoyable. You have an inconsistency between the thoughts you are. When given 20 dollars, you are given a good reason to lie.
