Exam 6: The Need to Justify Our Actions

Aronson and Mills (1959) performed an experiment in which college women were invited to join a discussion group about sex. In order to join the group, participants had to undergo either a severe initiation, a mild initiation, or no initiation. Which of the following best describes this study's findings? Women who underwent ________ initiation enjoyed the discussion the ________.

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 engaged in

What did Leon Festinger's (1957) original formulation of dissonance theory posit? Be sure to address what cognitive dissonance is, how and when it arises, and what people do to reduce it.

Recall that researchers conducted an experiment in which some participants were asked by the experimenter to return the monetary compensation they had received as a special favor to him, while others were asked by the department secretary to return the money as a favor to the psychology department, and still others received no such request for the return of their compensation. The researchers found that participants who were approached by the experimenter evaluated him better than did participants in the other two experimental conditions. Why?

Imagine you are watching a debate between two presidential candidates. You prefer Candidate A and dislike Candidate B. Both candidates offer strong arguments and weak arguments about Issue X. Which arguments would you be most likely to remember? Which arguments would you be most likely to forget? Is it likely that you change your opinion after having watched the debate? Why or why not?

The authors of your text explain that some commentators believe the Bush administration was trying to deliberately deceive the American people about the nature of their intentions in the conflict in Iraq. However, the authors of your text suggest that it is likely that the

Recall that Aronson and his colleagues designed experiments to remind students of their own hypocrisy when it came to using condoms during sex. Participants who made videotaped speeches in which they talked about the difficulties they had using condoms actually changed their attitudes and behaviors related to condom use. These experiments are actually variations on the phenomenon of the ________ paradigm.

Which of the following social psychology concepts is most closely related to the idea, "Saying is believing"?

According to research presented in the text, students shot a roll of film and printed two photographs. Some were told that they could exchange the one they chose to keep within five days, but others were told that their choice was final. What was the independent variable of this experiment?

Someone reminds you to be appropriately grateful for the gifts you receive. Were a dissonance theorist to remind you to be thankful, he or she would be giving you advice on how to

Jay just found out that he was not accepted into his dream college. Based on information from the authors of your text about impact bias, which of the following best reflects how Jay will react?

You've recently learned that eating avocados, which you love, is bad for your health. To reduce the dissonance you experience after reading this news, you would most likely

Recall that Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) paid participants either $1 or $20 to tell someone else that a tedious, boring task was really interesting. Participants paid ________ modified their original attitudes because they had ________ for lying.

Susan carefully rinses her mouth with an unpleasant-tasting mouthwash every day. One day, Susan reads an article reporting credible dental research that suggests that mouthwash is completely ineffective and that mouthwash may even be related to tooth decay. The discomfort that Susan experiences in response to this article is called

As you and your friends returned and met up for the first time since high school, you find that you've all taken different paths in life. Based on cognitive dissonance and the principle of justification of effort, who would be the least satisfied with what he or she is currently doing?

Recall that Aronson and his colleagues asked college students either to compose a persuasive message advocating the use of condoms or to compose and deliver their message in front of a video camera. Considering which participants in this study later actually purchased more condoms, what would be the best way a high-school Health teacher could promote condom use in his/her class?

Threats of severe punishment are not likely to change behaviors in the absence of the person who punishes, because such severe threats provide

Your friend Jamie shows you the gift she bought for her mother's birthday. It's an atrociously ugly fake marble statue of an angel, with the saccharine words "My Mother's an Angel" sloppily lettered on the bottom. Jamie asks you what you think, and because her feelings are easily hurt, to spare her, you say, "It's wonderful! Maybe I'll get one for my mom!" In this case, you ________ experience dissonance because there is sufficient ________ justification for your action.

Janis has just volunteered to undergo treatment for drug addiction. After she leaves the clinic, she is ________ to stay off drugs because her recovery at the clinic was ________.

Dissonance theory helps us understand the apparently irrational behavior of cult members, such as those in the Heaven's Gate cult and at Jonestown who committed mass suicide. All of the following except ________ tend to increase dissonance and hence the extreme dissonance-reducing commitment to the cult or cause and the beliefs of the leaders.