Exam 6: The Need to Justify Our Actions

A person who supports gay marriage listens to a televised debate between two politicians on either side of the issue. According to dissonance theory, this person is likely to remember

A Japanese psychologist by the name of Sakai observed participants partaking in dissonance-reducing behaviors. Sakai also had a fellow group member of the participant observe the dissonance-reducing behavior. The observer then indicated how enjoyable he or she thought a boring task was. Results indicated that the observers experienced

In general, the more ________ a decision between alternatives, the ________ the postdecision dissonance.

Researchers (Knox & Inkster, 1968) visited a race track and interviewed people betting on the horses, both before and after they had placed their bets. They found that people who ________ were more confident in their betting decisions because ________.

Describe cultural differences in the extent to which individuals experience dissonance.

Suppose that both Oscar and Sam went through hazing rituals for the same fraternity. Oscar went through a very long and involved hazing process while Sam went through relatively mild rituals. After they both got into the fraternity, they realized that there were a lot of negative things associated with membership that they hadn't expected. According to cognitive dissonance, which of the following would you expect to happen?

As Nina lights up her fifteenth cigarette of the day, she glances at the Surgeon General's warning on the package and shrugs, thinking "Eh, cancer is for old people, and not only do I have good genes, the research on cigarettes causing cancer is inconclusive." It is unlikely that Nina will change her behavior and quit smoking unless

Imagine that before a test, the professor told Jake that if he is caught cheating, he will be expelled. Imagine that the professor told Amanda that, if caught cheating, her only punishment will be to write a short paper about why cheating is wrong. If both students don't cheat, what would dissonance theory predict?

Members of the Heaven's Gate cult, who "knew" there was a spaceship following the Hale-Bopp comet, returned a perfectly good telescope they had purchased because they failed to see the spaceship they "knew" was there. Such behaviors demonstrate that

Jan and Michelle would both like to ride a motorcycle. Jan's parents explicitly prohibit her from riding a motorcycle and tell her that she'll be grounded should she choose to disobey them. Michelle's parents express their concern for her safety and tell her that they would be very disappointed if she decided to take a ride. According to dissonance theory, two months after the warnings, who would be more likely to ride a motorcycle if given the opportunity?

Recall that Brehm (1956) asked women to rate the desirability of a number of appliances and then allowed them to choose one of those appliances as a gift. Twenty minutes later, all women re-rated the same appliances, including the one they chose. Women tended to rate the alternatives they rejected lower than they had originally, and to rate their chosen appliance more positively. These results suggest that people

George thinks of himself as an honest person until his brother reminds him that he's been known to keep extra change given to him by a cashier and to stock his home office for a sideline business with supplies taken from his job. George is now probably feeling a sense of discomfort known as

Based on the Ben Franklin effect, you are most likely to increase your liking for Tony when

Jacob recently was late to a meeting because of a traffic jam. Later that day, when his wife is late arriving home, Jacob is probably going to be ________, based on the idea of the hypocrisy induction.

According to the authors of your text, when the Bush administration received evidence that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq-but after they had already invested troops and money in the war-the administration quickly explained that now the war was focused on ousting Saddam Hussein and liberating the Iraqi people. In essence, the administration may have ________ as a means of reducing dissonance.

Imagine that both Vera and Carol are against affirmative action. Vera is offered $50 to write an essay about the benefits of affirmative action, whereas Carol is offered only $1 to write a similar essay. After writing the essays and receiving their payments, both women are asked to report their attitudes toward affirmative action. Assuming that their attitudes were similarly negative at the outset, which of the following results would you expect?

All things being equal, it would generate the most dissonance to decide which of two

Of the four people presented below, which one would feel the least regret about altering her appearance, based on information in your text about cognitive dissonance?

Mariah has had a hard semester, and her grades have suffered. She really needs a good grade in psychology to get off academic probation and stay in school. On the next psychology exam, Mariah is sorely tempted to cheat, but she decides not to. Which of the following pairs of cognitions best reflects the source of any dissonance Mariah might experience while deciding not to cheat?

Recall that in experiments presented in your text (Leippe & Eisenstadt, 1994; 1998), why did white participants experience dissonance after writing essays in favor of doubling scholarship funds for minority students?