Leon Festinger And Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger introduced the concept of cognitive dissonance as psychological tension in 1957. He tested the decision-making process in an experiment in which he examined cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is a sensation that seems to arise from a conflict between the ideas, beliefs and values of a particular individual and their behavior. Cognitive dissonance is caused by incompatibilities in thoughts that create a state of significant discomfort in us.

According to Festinger, this tension, or tension, forces the individual to form new ideas or skills to ease the tension they experience. They are often complementary to the individual’s belief system. This theory is related to decision-making processes. Every time we decide to do something that is in conflict with what we believe, we therefore distribute different strategies that alleviate the aforementioned tension that will arise.

Leon Festinger: The man behind a revolutionary experiment

Festinger was an American social psychologist born in New York in 1919. His theory of cognitive dissonance is particularly relevant to social psychology, specifically to areas such as motivation and group dynamics.

The theory is based on the fact that people are aware of their behavior, and that when we do something we really disagree with or disagree with, we must deal with the dissonance that is generated.

An experiment by Leon Festinger: Cognitive dissonance

Leon Festinger and his colleague, Merill Carlsmith, designed an experiment designed to investigate cognitive dissonance in 1957. The experiment used students as participants and consisted of the following steps:

• First, a student was assigned tedious tasks. These tasks were repetitive and uninteresting. However, the aim of the experiment was not to evaluate the student’s performance of such tasks.
• Then, when the student had finished the assignments, the researchers asked the students to convince the next participants that the experiment was fun when they came out again. In short, they were asked to lie.
• To lie, they were of course offered a reward. The researchers offered NOK 200 to half of the students. The other half was not offered more than NOK 10. Furthermore, the next person waiting to participate in the experiment (in collaboration with the researchers) would tell that one of their friends had participated in the experiment last week, and that he had told them that the tasks were boring.

• Thus, the subjects started with the lie they had been paid for. The researchers observed them simultaneously. They noted how lies can be justified.

Justification of the lie occurred because cognitive dissonance arose among the students who agreed to lie for NOK 10. They had to convince themselves that the experiment they had participated in was fun, to alleviate the internal conflict the experiment had triggered.

Why? Because the reward was not satisfactory enough to feel comfortable lying to the next participant. When they justified their behavior, they were much more tense than the group that had been paid NOK 200. The students who received more money behaved much more naturally and appeared carefree.

Lying leads to conflict

This experiment on cognitive dissonance leaves us with several conclusions. The experiment mainly showed that the group that received NOK 200 was fully aware that the tasks were boring. Because of the payment they received, they were able to justify the lie. However, this was not the case for the other group, which only received NOK 10. In this group, they were able to observe how the subjects tried to convince themselves that the tasks were actually fun, due to the tension that arises due to the insufficient reward.

The conclusion of the experiment of Leon Festinger

In the last part of the experiment, after the subjects had lied, the lead researcher asked the participants if they really thought it was fun. The group that received NOK 200, sincerely expressed that the tasks they had performed were boring. Paradoxically, the group that was paid less confirmed the lie, they said they had had fun and several even expressed that they would be willing to do the same tasks again.

The result of cognitive dissonance

• Avoidance. Subjects tend to avoid all kinds of stimuli that may cause them to relive the original dissonance. They want to avoid situations, people, ideas and places where they feel that new confrontations with the conflict may arise.
• Search for acceptance. As a result of used strategies, the individual will often also seek acceptance from a third party about the history and the reasons that led up to the situation. They do this because they feel a need to justify their behavior.

• Comparison. Those who suffer from cognitive dissonance tend to compare themselves to other people to justify their own behavior (“I’m sure you would have done the same in my situation.”).

Cognitive dissonance today

It’s over 60 years since Leon’s experiment, and this topic continues to raise questions and debates. Some suggest, for example, that there may be a justification for defense mechanisms that manifest themselves in various psychological conditions. At the same time, it is also used in the psychosocial analysis of criminals and people who justify their actions by hiding in a group, or behind phrases such as “I only did as I was told”.

The power of persuasion and liberation from guilt

The experiment also questions people’s tendency to seek psychological and mental relief. The contrast between social norms and daily decisions makes us go through this unpleasant state more often than we would like. The problem arises when, due to a desire to get rid of tension, we end up adopting maladaptive behavior.

In addition, having more knowledge about cognitive dissonance can help you identify the next time you are bothered by it. It can also help you measure the extent to which information from others in your reference group affects you. In addition, it will allow you to observe the social norms behind the phenomenon, and how they condition your behavior, as well as how you think and feel.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that cognitive dissonance can promote a confrontation with your values. That way, you can develop and “upgrade” yourself, as well as your behavior.