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

Recall that Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) paid participants either $1 or $20 to tell another person that a boring, tedious task was really fun and interesting.The results of their experiment demonstrated that

Ronald wants to start a new club on campus, and he really wants his members to be involved and love the club.How would you suggest he use effort justification to increase members' sense of enjoyment of the club and their loyalty to the club?

Research using MRIs suggests that when people experience cognitive dissonance, they

A tobacco grower says, "I'm not the only one growing it.If I stop, someone else will be there." Assuming that the man was experiencing dissonance from the fact that he was making his living from a crop that is bad for people's health, he appears to be reducing this dissonance by

The Pattersons bought their TV from a store with a thirty-day return policy, and the Stevensons bought the same TV from a different store with a policy that "All Sales Are Final!" Based on what the text reports about cognitive dissonance, which family is more likely to be satisfied with their TV?

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

A Japanese psychologist by the name of Sakai observed participants partaking in dissonance-reducing behaviors.Sakai also had a fellow group member of the participants 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

Your text describes several situations in which a person may decide to behave immorally, a behavior which is likely to arouse a fair amount of cognitive dissonance.How are people most likely to reduce this dissonance stemming from an immoral act such as lying or cheating?

According to the authors of your text, why do young people often fail to use condoms every time they have sex?

Willow's mother took away her television privileges as punishment for missing her curfew when the punishment could have been much more severe, such as being grounded for a week and losing access to her cell phone.Why is Willow's mother using insufficient punishment, according to dissonance theory?

________ refers to long-lasting attitude change that arises from attempts to reduce cognitive dissonance.

Who is more likely to dehumanize the enemy in order to deal with cognitive dissonance they are experiencing?

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

"Live fast and die young, that's what I always say," Rosie pronounces, as she stuffs down three more Ding-Dong snack cakes and opens another pint of high-fat ice cream.Rosie knows that her diet is unhealthy and harmful, of course.To reduce her dissonance, Rosie is

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?

Based on research by Aronson and Carlsmith (1963) in which children were threatened with either mild or severe punishment for playing with a forbidden toy, which of the following situations would make a child most want to play with a toy?

After reducing postdecision dissonance, people are more likely to rate the chosen and unchosen alternatives as

Your friend teaches preschool, and there is one little boy in her class who is giving her fits.He is constantly misbehaving, throwing toys, threatening other children, and sometimes even physically attacking them.So far, her stern punishment has stopped his destructive behavior when she's there, but when she leaves the room or when a substitute fills in, he's back to his old ways.You suggest that she use dissonance to change his behavior permanently.What would you tell her?

After filing your ballot for an election, you are more convinced than you were before filing the ballot that you voted for the best candidate.This example illustrates the idea that when decisions are _______, individuals engage in a greater amount of dissonance reduction.

Researchers have found evidence of cognitive dissonance in the form of postdecision dissonance in which of the following animals?