The Psychology of Justifying Our Actions: Cognitive Dissonance and Self-Concept, Slides of Social Psychology

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Chapter 6

Self-Justification and the

Need to Maintain Self-

Esteem

Chapter Outline

I. The Need to Justify Our Actions

• The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger originated the concept of cognitive dissonance , defining it as inconsistency between two thoughts. Cognitive dissonance may arise when a person engages in an act that is discrepant from one’s self -concept.

• The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort caused by information that is discrepant from your customary, typically positive, self-concept. Experiencing dissonance motivates an attempt to reduce it.

• Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Postdecision dissonance is aroused after we make any important decision; it is reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternative.

• Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

One way to engage in postdecision dissonance reduction is to proselytize, recommending your decision/behavior to others.

• Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Dissonance reduction following a difficult moral decision can cause people to behave either more or less ethically in the future, because people’s attitudes will polarize in the attempt to justify the ethical choice they made.

• The Justification of Effort

What happens when a person voluntarily works hard and the goal doesn’t seem worth it after all? People are unlikely to change their self-concept to believe they were unskilled or foolish; instead they change their attitude towards the goal and see it positively. This is called the justification of effort.

• The Psychology of Insufficient

Justification

Counterattitudinal advocacy is the process by which people are induced to state publicly an attitude that runs counter to their own attitude. If there is no external justification for counterattitudinal advocacy, a person’s attitude may change in accordance with the view that was expressed publicly. However, when external justification exists, the person’s attitude doesn’t change.

• The Psychology of Insufficient

Justification

Harsh punishments teach us to try to avoid getting caught, and thus require constant vigilance to be effective. In contrast, insufficient punishment induces dissonance about why one is not engaging in the behavior, and inspires dissonance reduction by devaluing the forbidden activity or object.

• The Psychology of Insufficient

Justification

Insufficient external justification is justification that is sufficient to produce the behavior, but insufficient for people to believe that they were “forced” through external justifications to do it.

• The Aftermath of Good and Bad

Deeds

Dissonance theory and folk wisdom suggest that we like people not for the favors they have done us but for the favors we have done them.

• The Aftermath of Good and Bad

Deeds

We are more likely to derogate people we have harmed if they are innocent victims. Derogating victims by dehumanizing them may lead to a continuation or escalation of violence against them.

• The Evidence for Motivational

Arousal

Dissonance theory assumes that discomfort due to physiological arousal motivates dissonance reduction. In fact, after engaging in counterattitudinal advocacy, people who can attribute their arousal to another source and not the dissonant behavior do not change their attitudes.