." Leon Festinger. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Aronson, Elliot, and J. M. Carlsmith. However, those who were only paid $1 to lie had to justify this some other way, in order to reduce the dissonance of both lying and receiving little reward. Their study of Westgate housing offered a social ecology of group and friendship formation; people living close to or coming into frequent informal contact with one another (mail room, stairwell, etc.) . Cognitive dissonance was first investigated by Leon Festinger, arising out of a participant observation study of a cult that believed that the earth was going to be The publicly stated belief will be held onto and given more importance. Introduction to Psychology: Tutoring Solution, Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, Leon Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, History and Approaches: Tutoring Solution, Biological Bases of Behavior: Tutoring Solution, Sensation and Perception: Tutoring Solution, States of Consciousness: Tutoring Solution, Studying Intelligence: History, Psychologists & Theories, History of Intelligence Testing in Psychology, Studying Intelligence: Biological vs. Environmental Factors. Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards: 1959. American Psychologist 14, no. He later concluded that the rumors helped to justify the intense fear residents of these neighboring villages felt after the earthquake. Festinger, L. (1947b). The original idea stemmed from his observation that people generally liked consistency in their daily lives. 2. When Lewin died unexpectedly in 1947, Festinger became director of the center and focused his attention fully on social psychology. Think back to our example about eating meat. Cognitive dissonance soon became an important and much-discussed theory. The term cognitive dissonance has since its conception entered into everyday conversation, and is used routinely in newspaper and popular journals as shorthand for mental tension, or conflicting beliefs, or inconsistency in belief and behavior across topics as wide-ranging as war, eating disorders, and risk and denial. Encyclopedia.com. Here's where things get interesting. Festingers original theory was based on insight. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. An important early research project was based on attitude surveys of residents in married student housing. Interesting stories about famous people, biographies, humorous stories, photos and videos. Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology. . They were the ones who were in a state of cognitive dissonance. The groups prophetess, Dorothy Martin (alias Mrs. Keech), foretold of the world ending on 21 December 1954. Known as the patron saint of personality, Psychology Now that we know a little bit about cognitive dissonance, let's talk an important experiment that led to the development of this theory. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson, 1957. Miles, J. Groups (or clubs) were formed of previously unacquainted individuals who were asked to discuss various issues. He is best known for developing cognitive dissonance theory and social comparison theory. Arising out of his interest in communication and influence, especially Jamuna Prasads 1950 study in rumors following a severe earthquake in Bihar, India, in 1934, Festingers theory of cognitive dissonance reigned for almost a decade of experimental social psychology, and continues to spawn research in other disciplines. Leon Festinger (8 May 1919 11 February 1989) was an American social psychologist, perhaps best known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. Similarity in attitudes was also critical: attitudes of residents tended to converge, but residents who held deviant attitudes were likely to be social isolates. The old man had been part of that great emigration of East European Jews in They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. As Festinger himself wryly reflected, technically my PhD is in child psychologyalthough I never saw a child (Patnoe, 1988, p. 252). Interaction of perceptually monitored and unmonitored efferent commands for smooth pursuit eye movements. Festinger, L. (1955b). 255 lessons. First, Festinger suggested that people are aware when our beliefs and our actions are inconsistent. Aronson, Elliot. Instead they came up with different ways to rationalize their beliefs (reducing their cognitive dissonance). Introduction. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. People going through cognitive dissonance will find some rationale for whatever is causing the conflict, or they may choose to ignore the event in question altogether. 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. These types of quizzes help people to determine how they measure up to others or to what the editor says is desirable. Is there curvature adaptation not attributable to purely intravisual phenomena. (1989, February 12). (1951). Movement between studies in situ and the laboratory became a defining signature of Festingers early and most well-known social psychological research. Samelson, Franz. [1] At its heart, cognitive dissonance theory is rather simple. Sampling and related problems in research methodology. For example, if someone decided never to eat candy bars because they are unhealthy, but then ate one with a friend, they might try to reduce their cognitive dissonance by deciding it is okay to a eat candy bar with friends. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Festinger was the son of Russian immigrantsAlex Festinger, an embroidery manufacturer, and Sara Solomon who left Eastern Europe before World War I. 'border="1" width="20" height="20"><\/a>')
. He was also active in professional organizations including the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Boring, Edwin G. Cognitive Dissonance: Its Use in Science. Science 145 (1964): 680685. Smith, M. B. "Deustch, 1999, p. 11 He "became a symbol of the tough-minded, theory-oriented, pure experimental scientist," while Ron Lippitt, a fellow faculty member at Lewins Research Center for Group Dynamics with whom Festinger often clashed, "became a symbol of the fuzzy-minded, do-gooder, practitioner of applied social psychology. Festinger was born in Brooklyn New York on May 8, 1919 to Russian-Jewish immigrants Alex Festinger and Sara Solomon Festinger. Comparative PsychologyHolland H. Waters and Bradford N. Bunnell In addition to physical distance, Festinger and his colleagues found that functional distance also predicted friendship formation. Some of the arguments that have been raised against it are: In social comparison theory, Festinger suggested that people compare themselves to similar others but he did not state the basis of that similarity. Foreword. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Perhaps one of the greatest impacts of Festingers studies lies in their "depict [ion] of social behavior as the responses of a thinking organism continually acting We provide you with news from the entertainment industry. I. Sometimes there is no way to come to terms with conflicting information. London: Macat International Ltd. The other students, however, had to justify having spent time doing useless tasks and getting only a dollar as a reward. WebLeon Festinger is a well known social psychologist and a pioneer for cognitive dissonance and social comparison. MASLOW, ABRAHAM To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Leon Festinger. Close proximity or propinquity was thus found to be key to small group and/or friendship formation. The study documented a textbook phenomenon: friendships were more likely to occur the closer the people were physically (even by just a few yards). Gazzaniga, M. S. Leon Festinger: Lunch with Leon. Perspectives on Psychological Science 1, no. His most popular works are listed below: Leon Festinger married pianist Mary Oliver Ballou in 1943. 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. Whereas the experimental laboratory research into cognitive dissonance was also met with forceful critical analysis of its methodological shortcomings (Chapanis & Chapanis, 1964), the original real-world study was, in contrast, quite remarked upon as a far more illuminating and provocative account of it than mere natural history description would be likely to have given us (Smith, 1957, p. 90). San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. 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. Ways people may decrease cognitive dissonance is by changing their beliefs, behavior, or the perceptions of beliefs. We may consider ourselves to be honest, but try to cheat on an online exam. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Leon Festinger finished his high school life in Boys High School in Brooklyn and finished his degree in psychology in City College of New York in 1939. Festinger, L. (1961). First, we might change our beliefs. Festinger and Carlsmith theorized that the group who was paid $20 didn't really need to justify why they had lied; they were paid a lot of money to do it! Cognitive dissonance may occur when (1) a person has to decide something, (2) when there is forced compliance, or (3) when something requires effort to achieve. WebCognitive dissonance is a part of this need for consistence. At least two significant influences steered Festingers interests as an undergraduate. He is best known for his work A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957), which inspired a great deal of creative research and caused the term cognitive An exact test of significance for means of samples drawn from populations with an exponential frequency distribution. ." People want to be slightly better than everyone else because the desire to be better or to improve is emphasized in Western cultures. Trends in Cognitive Theory. In Contemporary Approaches to Cognition, edited by H. Gruber, K. R. Hammond, and R. Jessor. 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. Festinger, L., Cartwright, D., Barber, K., Fleischl, J., Gottsdanker, J., Keysen, A., & Leavitt, G. (1948). https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/eminent, 40+ Famous Psychologists (Images + Biographies), Cognitive Dissonance (Definition + Examples), Social Comparison Theory Leon Festinger (Definition + Examples). 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. Learn about Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, read the cognitive dissonance experiment, and see examples. "Schachter, 1994, p. 99 Festinger attended Boys High School in Brooklyn, and received his BS degree in psychology from the City College of New York in 1939.Schacter, 1994, p. 100, He proceeded to study under Kurt Lewin at the University of Iowa, where Festinger received his MA in 1940 and PhD in 1942 in the field of child behavior.American, 1959, p. 784 By his own admission, he was not interested in social psychology when he arrived at Iowa, and did not take a single course in social psychology during his entire time there; instead, he was interested in Lewins earlier work on tension systems, but Lewins focus had shifted to social psychology by the time Festinger arrived at Iowa.Festinger, 1980, p. 237 However, Festinger continued to pursue his original interests, studying level of aspiration,Festinger, 1942 working on statistics,Festinger, 1943aFestinger, 1943b developing a quantitative model of decision making,Carlsmith & Festinger, 1943 and even publishing a laboratory study on rats.Festinger, 1943c Explaining his lack of interest in social psychology at the time, Festinger stated, "The looser methodology of the social psychology studies, and the vagueness of relation of the data to Lewinian concepts and theories, all seemed unappealing to me in my youthful penchant for rigor.
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