Transcript CHS AP Psychology Cognitive Dissonance Theory

CHS AP Psychology
Unit 12: Social Pyschology
Essential Task 12-2: Discuss attitude formation
and how attitudes change with specific
attention to schema, primacy effect, cognitive
dissonance and the central and peripheral
routes to persuasion.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• (Leon Festinger 1957)
• Occurs whenever a person has two
contradictory cognitions or beliefs at the
same time. They are dissonant, each one
implies the opposite of the other.
• The less coerced and more responsible we
feel for an action the more dissonance. The
more dissonance the more likely we are to
change our attitude
• It creates an unpleasant cognitive tension
and the person tries to resolve in the
following ways:
Resolution of Cognitive Dissoance
1. Sometimes changing your attitude is the easiest
way to solve this.
–
Example: I am a loyal friend, but yesterday I gossiped
about my friend Chris . . . Well I can’t change my
action . . . but I don’t want to change my view of
myself, so my attitude about Chris must be wrong.
He is more of an acquaintance than a friend.
2. Increase the number of consonant elements –
the number of thoughts that back one side.
–
It was awesome gossip
3. Reduce the importance of one or both of the
sides
–
The person I gossiped with won’t really tell that
many people.
Obedience and Conformity
• Sometimes we experience Cognitive
Dissonance when we feel we have to
obey something in which we do not
necessarily believe.
• Milgram’s Obedience Study
– What would it look like if done today?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnYUl6wlBF4
– Take notes on the video in whichever format you
choose
After the Video Clip…
Respond on the back of your notes:
a) What conditions influenced participants to
obey?
b) What elements are present in your own
life that encourage obedience?
c) What are the implications of Milgram’s
findings? As a student? A citizen? Other
roles?