Analysis Of Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

After viewing the two links, “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days” Part 1 and 2, several similarities were found between them, and the article “Cognitive Dissonance” by Saul McLeod. The links consisted of two films about a woman named “Sophie.” The films were set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The main plot involved Sophie, and her brother, making political leaflets and distributing them throughout a university campus. Writing and distributing the leaflets were considered a crime, because they contained political messages that attempted to persuade its readers that Hitler was ruining Germany. The leaflets were anti-Nazi, and anti-Hitler. During this time period it was considered treason to write anything that conflicted with the views of Adolf …show more content…
Sophie had really strong beliefs about how Hitler was ruining Germany, but she told a completely different story to the investigator. She denied having anything to do with the leaflets. Furthermore, she said that she pushed the leaflets off as a prank, but she didn’t having anything to do with the message. She was under duress during her interrogation, “…resulting in a state of tension known as cognitive dissonance” (McLeod). Since she was uncomfortable, she attempted to reduce or eliminate the unpleasantness with the investigator, by lying. When the investigator asked if she read the leaflets she said that she “glanced” at them. She went on to say that her brother joked about the leaflets, saying that they were a “waste of paper.” She even lied about her beliefs by saying, “He’s as apolitical as I am.” Sophie attempted to achieve consonance with these …show more content…
He found some stamps and other evidence right before she was about to be released. The investigator decided to interrogate Sophie some more. The investigator began pushing Sophie into telling him the truth. He threatened her, and showed her a confession supposedly written by her brother. Under duress, Sophie decided to finally confess and tell the truth. Sophie didn’t want to confess because she knew it would cause a lengthy prison sentence, or even death. However, Sophie conducted “Forced Compliance Behavior” to create a reduction in dissonance (duress from the interrogation) (McLeod). The article states, “Forced compliance occurs when an individual performs an action that is inconsistent with his or her beliefs” and “dissonance will need to be reduced by re-evaluating their attitude to what they have done” (McLeod). Sophie began to believe that it was a good thing to confess. She even said, “I am proud of it.” She realigned her attitude and beliefs to eliminate the