Introduction. Originally written as masters thesis, State University of Iowa, 1940. Although precedents for this ambitious research program existed in earlier work by Lewin and the Turkish-born social psychologist Muzafer Sherif, Festinger magnified the experimenters role as playwright and stage director. With customary dynamism, Festinger sought out colleagues in his new fields of interest, much as he drew together colleagues and students in his years of experimental research, including, during his early years, the well-remembered Tuesday Night Meeting or the Lewin-style Quasselstrippe, weekly meetings wholly given to collaborating on research (Patnoe, 1988). Scratching because Leon was a psychologist, and The Seekers were a semi-popular doomsday cult proselytizing the end of the world. When no objective means of evaluation are available, people satisfy this drive by comparing themselves to others. (b. Brooklyn, New York, 8 May 1919; d. New York, New York, 11 February 1989). In contrast, social comparison theory emphasized how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities against those of others. Directed by Lewin, Festingers dissertation An Experimental Test of a Theory of Decision (1942) represented an effort to bridge motivation theory (a more Lewinian approach) with psychophysics for a quantitative theory of decision. The Leon Festinger Theory of Cognitive Dissonance was created in the 1950s and conceptualized the dissonance, or a sense of unease, that a person feels Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point. Think about some of your deeply-held beliefs. His theory of cognitive International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Staging elaborate laboratory experiments was likened by Festinger and some of his students to the work of a playwright; in this case, art and science worked hand-in-hand to call out a real experiencewhat students of Festinger subsequently dubbed experimental realism (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1968). A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Information about spatial location based on knowledge about efference. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Cognitive dissonance refers to feelings of discomfort that occur when our actions and beliefs don't match, when we hold competing beliefs, or when we encounter information that seems to challenge some of our beliefs. (1954). A second significant influence was Lewins conceptual framework of goal valences, goal potencies, and restraining forces, a framework used by Tamara Dembo and Sybille Escalona in their research on aspirations to attain a goal. The poorly paid volunteers experienced cognitive dissonance, and later started to believe the task was more interesting than they initially thought it was. Cognitive dissonance comes into play when people try to reconcile the conflicting behaviors or ideas. Here's where things get interesting. Festinger, L., & Thibaut, J. Student volunteers from Stanford University enrolled in a study that they thought was about task performance. Coren, S., & Festinger, L. (1967). Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. London: Macat International Ltd. For example, in one study, college students who often engage in risky sexual behaviors were asked to prepare and give a speech on the importance of safe sex. So how did Festinger test this out? Festinger's research resulted in a number of interesting findings. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1957. Social psychology. Alternative view of the "Gibson normalization effect". According to Festinger, two main factors influence the level of dissonance we experience in a given situation: Festinger specified three primary ways in which dissonance may be reduced: In 1954, Festinger proposed that humans have a natural drive to evaluate their opinions and abilities. They do this by adding new information to the belief or by changing the importance of the belief or parts of the belief. Festinger, L., & Canon, L. K. (1965). Alex Festinger worked as an embroidery manufacturer. In 1959, Festinger and his colleague James Carlsmith devised an experiment to test people's levels of cognitive dissonance. Leon Festinger was a renowned American psychologist, researcher, and author. Of Prophecy and Privacy. Contemporary Psychology: A Journal of Reviews 2, no. Some consequences of de-individuation in a group. Social psychology and group processes. Festinger developed a few propositions to explain what would become the theory of cognitive dissonance. In Extending Psychological Frontiers: Selected Works of Leon Festinger, edited by Stanley Schachter and Michael Gazzaniga. Over the ensuing decade, research replicating and extending earlier findings, as well as conceptual clarifications, notably by Elliot Aronson, effectively rebutted these critiques. Leon Festinger (8 May 1919 11 February 1989) was an American social psychologist, perhaps best known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison 4 (1957): 8992. But given that they had sustained no damage, they also recognized that they had much less to be anxious about. According to Festinger, people are most likely to engage in comparisons with individuals who are similar to them on relevant dimensions. In the late 1950s, two psychologists, Leon Festinger and James M. Carlsmith, did a cognitive dissonance experiment on what they called forced compliance. When people experience dissonance, they are motivated to reduce it, especially if it is causing a lot of stress or discomfort. Gazzaniga, M. S. (2006). WebLeon Festinger, (born May 8, 1919, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.died February 11, 1989, New York City), American cognitive psychologist, best known for his theory of cognitive dissonance, according to which inconsistency between thoughts, or between Best known for his theory of cognitive dissonance, first introduced in 1956 in the coauthored book When Prophecy Fails, Festingers social psychology departed from mechanistic notions of humans, and he can well be considered as part of the vanguard of social psychologists who revamped views of cognition in line with the information and communication theory of the mid-twentieth century, and who brought these into play with individual and group dynamics. Leon Festinger was born on May 8, 1919 in Brooklyn, New York. Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology. At that time, Festinger was not interested in social psychology at all. Whereas physical distance relates to actual space (e.g., between people or apartment units), functional distance refers to the level of contact encouraged by the design of the environment. '': Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) played such a major role in the emergence of the new scientific psychology as a discipline se, Leo, Leonardo (actually, Lionardo Ortensio Salvatore de), https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/festinger-leon, https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/festinger-leon, https://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/festinger-leon. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. that the experiment was fun. Festinger, L. (1943d). Usually, a state of dissonance is induced by having individuals engage in an activity that conflicts with some undesirable behavior or attitude on their part. 'border="1" width="20" height="20"><\/a>')
. For abilities, observing those with similar abilities allows people to learn what actions they are capable of. He stayed there until the end of World War II. We provide you with news from the entertainment industry. "Festinger, Leon New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. Third, we'll try and resolve this dissonance. She has a graduate degree in nutritional microbiology and undergraduate degrees in microbiology and English (myth & folklore). Cognitive Dissonance and Cults, Religions, etc. In so doing, he showed how the pressures to uniformity, hypothesized in the earlier article, arose from the process of social comparison. His father, an embroidery manufacturer, had "left Russia a radical and atheist and remained faithful to these views throughout his life. Effectiveness of Unanticipated Persuasive Communications. WebFestinger, Riecken and Schachter reported the following sequence of events: December 17. Festinger was interested in Lewins efforts to establish psychology as a field with dynamic processes involving perception, motivation, and cognition. However, when Festinger arrived at the university, Lewins interests had shifted to group dynamics or social psychology. The group paid $20 maintained that the experiment was boring. Cognitive Dissonance Theory & Examples | What is Cognitive Dissonance? '" alt="" title="LiveInternet: number of pageviews and visitors'+ There was thus a kind of feedback loop created between the real world and the laboratory, each serving to refine theory and research, as opposed to one site serving as the testing ground for application in the other. Festinger continued his work at Stanford until 1968 when he returned to New York City to assume the Else and Hans Staudinger professorship at the New School for Social Research. For his dissertation, Schachter, under Festingers direction, placed accomplices in groups. Information could be written, verbal, opinions, behavior, actions, feelings, objects, or anything else received from the external environment. Festinger, L. (1950). These theories When Lewin died unexpectedly in 1947, Festinger became director of the center and focused his attention fully on social psychology. On the basis of these messages, she predicted that a global flood would destroy the world on December 21, 1954. Learn about cognitive dissociation. A Personal Memory of Stanley Schachter. Leon Festinger Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. With forty years of experimental psychology research behind him, Festinger closed his laboratory and turned to till new fields of inquiryanthropology, archaeology, and historyto wrestle with a larger question of what makes humans human, a quest of the origins of human societies and culture. However, sometimes conflicting information cannot be fitted into a worldview and is not made congruent. This attention to what transpires in-between inputs and outputs also revealed Lewins influence in attention to a psychological representation of reality in individual consciousness, relations of one person to another or group and the environment (Zukier, 1989, p. xiii). We may consider ourselves to be honest, but try to cheat on an online exam. As dissonance theory gained scientific acceptance, the term cognitive dissonance came to be used by columnists and other commentators to describe the psychological discomfort that follows the arrival of unwanted or unexpected information or events. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Festinger infiltrated the Seekers with the goal of studying their cognitive reactions and coping mechanisms when their beliefs failed, a thought-process which Festinger American Psychological Association. Festinger further suggested that social comparison is a deliberate process but subsequent research has shown that comparisons can also be involuntary and automatic. An important early research project was based on attitude surveys of residents in married student housing. "Schachter, 1994, p. 102,
He is well known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. 44-71). As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. in psychology from the City College of New York in 1939. Festinger, under the supervision of Max Hertzman, conducted a study of levels of aspiration, which they published together in 1940 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. WebIn 1957, Leon Festinger published a theory of cognitive dissonance, which has changed the way psychologists look at decision-making and behavior. II, edited by Gregory A. Kimble, Michael Wertheimer, and Charlotte White. But after this, some of the participants were asked to tell the next group of people that the task was very exciting and interesting, even though it was boring. WebSince this cant be done with facts, its done with people. The groups prophetess, Dorothy Martin (alias Mrs. Keech), foretold of the world ending on 21 December 1954. All of the tasks in the experiments were designed to be extremely boring, frustrating, repetitive, and time consuming so that everyone would dislike the experience. 2023 . Festinger discovered that students who had close social relationships had similar views on housing, while students who had differing attitudes on housing tended to be social isolates. Discussion. In Contemporary Approaches to Cognition, edited by H. Gruber, K. R. Hammond, and R. Jessor. . Retrieved from https://www.nap.edu/read/4547/chapter/5, Suls, J. After reading literature on cancer, speaking with medical experts, and evaluating the possible side effects of treatment, he decided not to obtain treatment for himself. screen.colorDepth:screen.pixelDepth))+';u'+escape(document.URL)+ They were the ones who were in a state of cognitive dissonance. Basically, you're changing your perception of your action to reduce dissonance. Social comparisons may result in a change in ones opinion or ability. Movement between studies in situ and the laboratory became a defining signature of Festingers early and most well-known social psychological research. It has inspired works of fiction and stimulated research in other disciplines, including religious studies, political science, economics, sociology, legal theory, and philosophy of science. Festinger, L. (1964). From the Westgate housing study came Festingers formulation on informal communication and social comparison processes, especially what Festinger called a pressure toward uniformity, or the tendency of individuals to compare and then align opinions with those whose views are closer to ones own. This is usually accomplished by offering surveys on topics such as health, relationships, and personality characteristics. Thrilling, right?). WebRecall that Leon Festinger and J. Merrill Carlsmith (1959) paid participants either $1 or $20 to tell another person that a boring, tedious task was really fun and interesting. (April 27, 2023). Cognitive dissonance was conceptualized as a tension between opposing beliefs or between belief and behavior, with the tension functioning as a motivational force driving one to reduce the emotional or cognitive strain. Encyclopedia.com. Building collaborative networks among psychologists and graduate students went beyond the United States as Festinger created and directed the Committee of Transnational Social Psychology, and participated in its Summer Schools at which young scholars received training and at which were held scientific colloquia. The first was Informal Social Communication, published in Psychological Review in 1950. Bem, D. J. They also socialized more with residents who lived closer to them on the same floor (e.g., those living next door), than with those who lived further away. Subjects were asked afterward whether they really did find the tasks enjoyable. 169170. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. This means that, in Western cultures, complete opinion agreement may be satisfactory to everyone, but completely equal abilities will not beimplying that a state of social quiescence is never reached, as Festinger put it. In addition, some critics argue that people often engage in comparisons with individuals who differ from them in important ways and that such comparisons also supply valuable self-knowledge. Those who were only paid $1, however, were more likely to change their attitude a bit, saying that the experiment was interesting. Festinger, L. (1954). Brehm, J. W. Leon Festinger: Beyond the Obvious. In Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology, Vol. Although Festinger later reflected that homeostatic notions and theories may well be related to a Zeitgeist or philosophy underlying assumptions in human beings, whereas he intended cognitive dissonance as an explanation of a broad range of psychological phenomena (Cohen, 1977, p. 141), one is nonetheless struck first by the longevity of the concept of cognitive dissonance and second by its resonance with two moments of heightened political and cultural strain in the mid-twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century United States. At first, Festinger was puzzled as to why people would create and believe such rumors when there was hardly any evidence to support them. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. His theorys counterintuitive predictions held great appeal. First, we might change our beliefs. As a result of these changes, behavior might also change. Analytical Intelligence, Divergent Thinking & Creativity, Language Acquisition: Definition, Theories & Stages, Information Processing: Encoding, Storage & Retrieval, Categories of Memory: Sensory & Long-Term, Attention and Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Processing, George Miller's Psychological Study to Improve Short-Term Memory, Using Psychology to Improve Long-Term Memory, Memory Distortion: Source Amnesia, Misinformation Effect & Choice-Supportive Bias, Types of Heuristics: Availability, Representativeness & Base-Rate, Artistic Personality Type: Traits & Common Careers, Distributed Cognition: Definition & Theory, Divergent Thinking: Definition & Examples, Elizabeth Loftus: Experiments, Theories & Contributions to Psychology, False Consensus Effect: Definition & Example, Henry Goddard: Eugenicist & Inheritability of Intelligence, Hermann Ebbinghaus on Memory & Illusion: Experiment & Overview, Howard Gardner - Multiple Intelligences and Frames of Mind: Overview, Language Skills in Children: Development, Definition & Types, Linguistic Diversity: Definition & Overview, Recency Effect in Psychology: Definition & Example, State-Dependent Memory: Definition & Overview, What Is Creativity? In 1955, Festinger moved to Stanford University and published his theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957. Festinger wrote several books on his landmark research. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Persuasive technology: Using computers to change what we think and do. From an early age, Leon Festinger showed a deep love for science. Festinger continued his research at the University of Iowa until 1943. Maybe you had a chicken sandwich, but you decide that eating chicken is okay, it's just cows you need to avoid. The Clinical Psychology Movement: History & Lightner Witmer. As Festinger himself recalls, "the years at M.I.T. "Festinger, 1980, p. 237 It was also at MIT that Festinger began his foray into social communication and pressures in groups that marked a turning point in his own research. Encyclopedia.com. Festinger, L. (1955a). Impact of oculomotor retraining on visual-perception of curvature. It was during his time at MIT that Festinger eventually began to investigate and embrace social psychology. Festinger, L. (1943). As they finished, they were instructed that they had to inform the next group of students that the tasks had been enjoyable and interesting. He and his wife Sara were self-educated. ), Theories in social psychology (pp. But this group actually did not change their attitude much, maintaining that it was boring. (2003). The influence process in the presence of extreme deviates. The other students, however, had to justify having spent time doing useless tasks and getting only a dollar as a reward. Five years earlier, Festinger was honored by Fortune Magazine as one of ten top young scientists in universities for his research on people using groups as a testing ground for their views and self-concepts, an experimental demonstration of the power of social determinants on beliefs and abilities. However, when Bob is at a friend's house during the Superbowl, everyone is drinking beers. (1952). (2002). To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. From 1963 to 1979 he studied human visual perception, making unique contributions to the research literature.

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