Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory revolutionized the world of social psychology. It did so by focusing on the on-going cognitions in people’s minds, particularly- dissonant cognitions. His model stated that unpleasant feelings produced by dissonant cognitions motivate us to do something to change our state. My essay will focus on the reduction of dissonance, as I noted it to be an interesting phenomena which can be done in a multitude of ways- the most convenient being convincing ourselves that our behavior is logical and does, in fact make sense.
Following Festinger’s interests, this essay will shed light on matters regarding dissonant cognitions. The after-effects of negative and unpleasant occurrences, in my view, are far greater …show more content…
Humans are perpetually pursuing activities that they may deem important to their personal goals and growth. Danny Axsom and Joel Cooper, hypothesized that if an item is not initially labeled attractive, an individual may later reflect on their behavior in the past to determine their ‘actual’ attitude (which is closely tied to the self-perception theory). The greater the number of hours spent towards attaining a goal, the more attractive it seems. In their research titled “Cognitive dissonance and psychotherapy: The role of effort justification in inducing weight loss” , they investigated the effectiveness of ‘new weight loss therapies’ in high effort and low effort expenditure settings. Newspapers printed advertisements promoting innovative weight loss techniques and the individuals who responded comprised the participant pool for this study. Unbeknownst to the participants, these techniques were bogus. The prediction was that the participants in the high effort setting would be willing to push themselves towards higher levels of weight loss, even over extended periods of time when compared to those in low effort setting. Also included in this study was a ‘no effort’ control …show more content…
Brandon’s experiences with pledging are hence, a demonstration of effort justification as he overlooks the opportunity costs and tends to focus on why this phase will be worth
Following Festinger’s interests, this essay will shed light on matters regarding dissonant cognitions. The after-effects of negative and unpleasant occurrences, in my view, are far greater …show more content…
Humans are perpetually pursuing activities that they may deem important to their personal goals and growth. Danny Axsom and Joel Cooper, hypothesized that if an item is not initially labeled attractive, an individual may later reflect on their behavior in the past to determine their ‘actual’ attitude (which is closely tied to the self-perception theory). The greater the number of hours spent towards attaining a goal, the more attractive it seems. In their research titled “Cognitive dissonance and psychotherapy: The role of effort justification in inducing weight loss” , they investigated the effectiveness of ‘new weight loss therapies’ in high effort and low effort expenditure settings. Newspapers printed advertisements promoting innovative weight loss techniques and the individuals who responded comprised the participant pool for this study. Unbeknownst to the participants, these techniques were bogus. The prediction was that the participants in the high effort setting would be willing to push themselves towards higher levels of weight loss, even over extended periods of time when compared to those in low effort setting. Also included in this study was a ‘no effort’ control …show more content…
Brandon’s experiences with pledging are hence, a demonstration of effort justification as he overlooks the opportunity costs and tends to focus on why this phase will be worth