Exam 6: The Need to Justify Our Actions: the Costs and Benefits of Dissonance Reduction

As mentioned in the text, a Yale researcher (Cohen, 1962) conducted research at a time when the local police were very unpopular with the students.He paid some students relatively little and other students relatively more to write an essay that contradicted their true beliefs about the local police, with whom the student body had experienced unpleasant run-ins.Results of this experiment were noteworthy because they demonstrated that

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

Michael and Pam are friends, but have never dated.Michael wants to ask Pam out on a date, with the hope that she will think of him as more than just a friend.Based on research on external justification and dissonance theory, under which of the following conditions will Pam like Michael the most?

The authors of your text explain that when political leaders get caught up in a cycle of self-justification, it can have particularly dangerous consequences.What is their advice for avoiding such a cycle in your own life?

The authors of your text provide the example of the most recent war in Iraq to demonstrate the dangers of what can happen when political leaders

When people try to maintain their self-esteem and reduce cognitive dissonance, they may resort to maladaptive thinking known as

The authors of your text report that lowballing works as a persuasion technique for three reasons.Which of the following is NOT one of those reasons?

Based on information provided by your text, external justification is to ________ as internal justification is 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?

People who had already placed their two-dollar bets were more confident than people who were waiting in line to place their bets (Knox & Inkster, 1968).These findings suggest that decisions that are _______ generate more cognitive dissonance than decisions that are not.

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?

Triandis (1995) and others have argued that dissonance-reducing behaviors may be less prevalent on the surface in societies in which

What is counterattitudinal advocacy? How is it related to notions of internal and external justification?

Participants in an experiment conducted by Davis and Jones (1960) were instructed to provide hurtful feedback to another person (actually a confederate, of course).After providing such mean assessments of his performance, participants then evaluated him privately.After providing this criticism, these participants' evaluations of the confederate were more ________ because the ________.

In a classic experiment, researchers (Aronson & Mettee, 1968) gave positive false feedback to some students, negative false feedback to some students, and no feedback to others.They were interested in seeing how self-esteem would affect the likelihood of cheating.What was the result of their experiment?

Megan is always reminding her son Andrew not to talk with his mouth full.One morning, Andrew reminds her not to talk with her mouth full.This situation most resembles ________.

Imagine you are about to take a very important exam that could impact your future.A friend asks you how disappointed you think you would be if you found out you did not perform very well on the exam.According to the idea of impact bias, how would your prediction likely match up with your actual reaction?

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?

According to your authors, threats of severe punishment ultimately teach people

Recall that participants in an experiment presented in the text were provided either large or small incentives to advocate the use and legalization of marijuana.Results of their experiment revealed that dissonance and attitude change occurred when