COMM 10123 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Cognitive Dissonance
7 Jun 2018
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Department
Course
Professor
Internal Responses of Attitude Change
Friday, April 13, 2018
12:04 PM
1. Cognitive- "What do you honestly believe?"
2. Affective- "Is your heart really in it?"
3. Behavioral- "What do you plan to do?"
Cognitive Dissonance- the distressing mental state where people struggle with doing things they don't
believe in or doing things that are contrary to what they do believe in
Need to avoid dissonance - as strong as our desire to eat
Reducing Dissonance between Actions and Attitudes
Hypothesis 1: Selective Exposure Prevents Dissonance
Selective Exposure- tend to avoid information that would cause cognitive dissonance
Ex. Conservative tend to watch the Republican National Convention while liberals tend to
watch the Democratic convention
People tend to ignore facts that disagree with their beliefs no matter how good the
information is
Hypothesis 2: Postdecision Dissonance Creates a Need for Reassurance
Postdecision Dissonance- strong doubts experienced after making an important decision that is
difficult to reverse
3 conditions that heighten the dissonance
1. The importance of the issue
2. The longer it took to make the decision
3. The greater the difficulty involved
Hypothesis 3: Minimal Justification for Action Induces a Shift in Attitude
Minimal Justification- offering just enough of an incentive but not too much to stimulate change
o Attitude reflects Behavior
o Behavior then reflects your attitude
Logical Inconsistency vs. Psychological Inconsistency
Effort = dissonance
Application
• Do’t offe too uh of a ietie eause it a e uealisti
o Big ead/puishet does’t eual heatfelt hage
o Positive Relationships = respect and better chance of reception
• Offer just enough encouragement
o Greater the effort, the greater the chance that attitudes will change to match the effort
• Encourage people to count the cost
o Good people always help and care for others
• Make people aware of the dissonance
Polarizing Topic
• Strong opinions
• Force you to take sides
• 2013 Texas
Our Polarizing Topic
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