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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Cognitive dissonance. 2: A theoretical grounding of motivational interviewing.

PURPOSE: The aim of this article is to demonstrate the utility of the concept of cognitive dissonance in clinical psychology by showing how it may underlie an existing intervention. The technique of motivational interviewing (MI) is taken as an example of an area where the literature on cognitive dissonance can find such an application. The further aim of this exercise is to utilize insights from cognitive dissonance to suggest possible modifications to the intervention as it currently stands. METHODS: A mapping is undertaken of principles of cognitive dissonance as found in Draycott & Dabbs (1998) onto the description of nature, principles and techniques of MI as set out by Miller & Rollnick (1991). Following this, areas where insights from cognitive dissonance are ignored or underutilized are drawn out and used to suggest modifications to MI. RESULTS: The nature, principles and techniques of MI are, without exception, found to relate to one or more of the principles of cognitive dissonance. Criticisms and amendments to the technique of MI can be offered with the aim of making this mapping of cognitive dissonance more exact. Several practical suggestions can be made and a more structured approach offered. CONCLUSIONS: The concept of cognitive dissonance can clearly be seen to be of use in understanding the mechanism of action of MI. It can further be of use in guiding modifications to this existing intervention. This concept, and others available through the experimental psychological literature, can be of use in all branches of clinical psychology.

Cognition Disorders↗
PubMed2005

On the cultural guises of cognitive dissonance: the case of easterners and westerners.

Cognitive dissonance and effects of self-affirmation on dissonance arousal were examined cross-culturally. In Studies 1 and 2, European Canadians justified their choices more when they made them for themselves, whereas Asian Canadians (Study 1) or Japanese (Study 2) justified their choices more when they made them for a friend. In Study 3, an interdependent self-affirmation reduced dissonance for Asian Canadians but not for European Canadians. In Study 4, when Asian Canadians made choices for a friend, an independent self-affirmation reduced dissonance for bicultural Asian Canadians but not for monocultural Asian Canadians. These studies demonstrate that both Easterners and Westerners can experience dissonance, but culture shapes the situations in which dissonance is aroused and reduced. Implications of these cultural differences for theories of cognitive dissonance and self-affirmation are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of smoking characteristics on cognitive dissonance in current and former smokers.

The effect of smoking characteristics on the development of cognitive dissonance in current and former smokers is examined. Smoking characteristics (number of cigarettes per day, number of years smoked, and years since quitting) and health beliefs were obtained from over 9,000 respondents to the 1986 Adult Use of Tobacco Survey. Overall, current smokers exhibited more cognitive dissonance involving smoking-related beliefs than did former smokers. Logistic regression analysis indicated that heavier current smokers (those smoking > or = 20 cigarettes per day) were more likely to exhibit cognitive dissonance over smoking-related health beliefs than were lighter smokers. In contrast, number of cigarettes consumed per day had only minor effects on former smokers' beliefs; former smokers who had smoked for more years (> or = 17), or who had quite recently (within the last 8 years), were more likely to showed greater dissonance than former smokers without these characteristics. The factors underlying these results and their implications for smoking cessation programs are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Attitudes and dating aggression: a cognitive dissonance approach.

This study examined the association between attitudes about dating aggression and select dating aggressive behaviors (verbal aggression and jealous behavior) in high school students. Our hypothesis, derived from cognitive dissonance theory, was that discrepancies between self-reported attitudes and aggressive behavior at Time 1 (i.e., putative cognitive dissonance) would predict decreases in aggression between Time 1 and Time 2 beyond what would be predicted by change in attitudes over the same period. Results indicated that cognitive dissonance (as indexed by the discrepancy between attitudes and behavior) was generally a significant predictor of behavior change, providing significant improvement in prediction of behavior over attitude change alone. We discuss the implications of these findings for prevention efforts and directions for future research in this area.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Drinking, the majority fallacy, cognitive dissonance and social pressure.

In drinking and drug surveys, peers are perceived as drinking more and using more drugs than the respondent. Particularly in youth studies, this majority fallacy is often interpreted as an indication of peer pressure toward drinking and drug use. However, exaggerating the alcohol and drug behaviours of significant others may be a way of reducing cognitive dissonance. The behaviour of most people deviates from their ideal norms. The ensuing dissonance can be alleviated by introducing the behaviour of others as a third element in the cognitive field. Data from three Scandinavian surveys support the following two predictions based on the theory of cognitive dissonance: (1) The tendency to report that other people drink more than oneself is more marked in restrictive than in permissive communities. (2) On each level of alcohol intake, the tendency to report that other people drink more than oneself is stronger among respondents having negative alcohol attitudes than among respondents with positive attitudes to alcohol. The need to alleviate the cognitive dissonance caused by a discrepancy between actual behaviour and normative standards is thus one of the mechanisms generating the majority fallacy: "I may not be perfect, but other people are still worse". Feeling better than others does not necessarily amount to a pressure to turn bad.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Cognitive dissonance. 1: An overview of the literature and its integration into theory and practice in clinical psychology.

PURPOSE: Clinical psychology may not be making full use of the experimental psychological research available to it. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on cognitive dissonance in order to assess its usefulness in developing and deconstructing clinical psychological therapies and practice. METHODS: Experimental, theoretical and review articles were examined in relation to their possible clinical implications, and included in this review if they related to the arousal, maintenance and reduction of the state termed cognitive dissonance. Well replicated findings based on experimentally sound paradigms were integrated to produce an overall view of the evidence in favour of the existence of these processes, and of the principles behind them. RESULTS: It is concluded that there is an effect on attitudes and behaviour of creating inconsistency in individuals, and that this is not explained away by alternative theories, which in many cases refer to special conditions which maximally arouse dissonance. The dissonant state lasts for a few minutes, but its effects can last for up to two weeks, and might be reinstated by reintroducing the original inconsistency. Individuals can react to dissonance through a variety of cognitive alterations which reinstate consistency. The choice of response is a function of its salience and the difficulty in its execution. CONCLUSIONS: The literature supports the existence of the phenomenon termed cognitive dissonance, and one can distil the principles underlying its production, maintenance and reduction. This body of literature may provide insights into the conduct of therapy generally, as well as into the mechanisms of specific therapies which may guide modifications or development of alternative interventions.

Arousal↗
PubMed1991

Cognitive dissonance in tobacco smokers.

The knowledge and beliefs about smoking of smokers, non-smokers, and ex-smokers were examined within a cognitive dissonance framework. The 186 respondents completed a questionnaire concerned with smoking habits, knowledge of the effects of smoking, beliefs about smoking, and estimates of risk of lung cancer to themselves and to the average Australian smoker. Smokers estimated their risk of contracting lung cancer as greater than the risk non-smokers or ex-smokers saw for themselves, but less than the risk for the average Australian smoker. No differences were found in the amount of factual knowledge about the effects of smoking. However, smokers endorsed significantly more rationalisations and distortions of logic regarding smoking than did non-smokers or ex-smokers. Smokers may experience cognitive dissonance as a result of using tobacco despite its well-publicised ill-effects, and it may be that interventions targeting rationalisations for smoking will be useful in smoking cessation.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Cognitive dissonance reduction as constraint satisfaction.

A constraint satisfaction neural network model (the consonance model) simulated data from the two major cognitive dissonance paradigms of insufficient justification and free choice. In several cases, the model fit the human data better than did cognitive dissonance theory. Superior fits were due to the inclusion of constraints that were not part of dissonance theory and to the increased precision inherent to this computational approach. Predictions generated by the model for a free choice between undesirable alternatives were confirmed in a new psychological experiment. The success of the consonance model underscores important, unforeseen similarities between what had been formerly regarded as the rather exotic process of dissonance reduction and a variety of other, more mundane psychological processes. Many of these processes can be understood as the progressive application of constraints supplied by beliefs and attitudes.

Cognition↗
PubMed1976

Cognitive dissonance in the placebo treatment of insomnia -- a pilot experiment.

Insomnia in 11 general hospital in-patients was treated by a placebo. The conditions of administration of the placebo were experimentally varied, and a hypothesis derived from Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory was tested. Consistent with this hypothesis, it was found that patients who were required to make meaningful decisions concerning their treatment derived significantly greater hypnotic (therapeutic) value from it than did patients whose treatment was simply administered to them and who were not required to make such decisions. The power of cognitive dissonance theory to explain the placebo effect, and the therapeutic potential of this approach are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cognitive dissonance theory and motivation for change: a case study.

Managers frequently seek ways to create effective and lasting change among employees. When attempting change, each manager must consider what will motivate a particular employee at a particular time. To create lasting change, it is believed that a change in attitudes, beliefs, or values may be necessary. Cognitive dissonance is purported to be a powerful motivator for change. People find consistency comfortable and prefer to be consistent in their thoughts, beliefs, emotions, values, attitudes, and actions. When inconsistency exists, an individual feels an imbalance or dissonance. To reduce this feeling of imbalance, individuals may change their attitude or behavior to regain the feeling of consistency. This article explores cognitive dissonance theory and discusses a situation in which it was used to produce effective and lasting change in a nursing work unit.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2005

Cognitive dissonance in groups: the consequences of disagreement.

As L. Festinger (1957) argued, the social group is a source of cognitive dissonance as well as a vehicle for reducing it. That is, disagreement from others in a group generates dissonance, and subsequent movement toward group consensus reduces this negative tension. The authors conducted 3 studies to demonstrate group-induced dissonance. In the first, students in a group with others who ostensibly disagreed with them experienced greater dissonance discomfort than those in a group with others who agreed. Study 2 demonstrated that standard moderators of dissonance in past research--lack of choice and opportunity to self-affirm, similarly reduced dissonance discomfort generated by group disagreement. In Study 3, the dissonance induced by group disagreement was reduced through a variety of interpersonal strategies to achieve consensus, including persuading others, changing one's own position, and joining an attitudinally congenial group.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1979

Cognitive dissonance in behavior therapy: some basic treatment strategies.

As the behavioral model becomes liberalized and more encompassing very different frameworks may offer treatment resources. Several treatment techniques derived from cognitive-dissonance theory are discussed in the context of relevant theoretical postulates. Most of the techniques may be applied as needed regardless of the orientation of the practitioner.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2001

Do amnesics exhibit cognitive dissonance reduction? The role of explicit memory and attention in attitude change.

In two studies, we investigated the roles of explicit memory and attentional resources in the process of behavior-induced attitude change. Although most theories of attitude change (cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories) assume an important role for both mechanisms, we propose that behavior-induced attitude change can be a relatively automatic process that does not require explicit memory for, or consciously controlled processing of, the discrepancy between attitude and behavior. Using a free-choice paradigm, we found that both amnesics and normal participants under cognitive load showed as much attitude change as did control participants.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Personal review: Helicobacter pylori, NSAIDs and cognitive dissonance.

Helicobacter pylori and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) each cause peptic ulcers but by different mechanisms. As a result, the effect of both of these risk factors together is not a synergistic enhancement of injury, ulceration or rates of complications. Indeed, there are circumstances under which patients infected with H. pylori are less prone to NSAID-induced ulcers than those who are not infected or who have undergone eradication treatment. This may be because of opposite effects on gastric mucosal prostaglandin synthesis or for other reasons. Reluctance to accept that there may be specific circumstances where H. pylori is beneficial may arise because of the psychological process of cognitive dissonance.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Contributions from research on anger and cognitive dissonance to understanding the motivational functions of asymmetrical frontal brain activity.

Research has suggested that approach-related positive emotions are associated with greater left frontal brain activity and that withdrawal-related negative emotions are associated with greater right frontal brain activity. Different explanations have been proposed. One posits that frontal asymmetry is due to emotional valence (positivity/negativity), one posits that frontal asymmetry is due to motivational direction (approach/withdrawal), and one posits that frontal asymmetry is due to a combination of emotional valence and motivational direction (positive-approach/negative-withdrawal). Because research had confounded emotional valence and motivational direction, the theoretical explanation was muddled. Solely supporting the motivational direction model, recent research has revealed that anger and cognitive dissonance, emotions with negative valence and approach motivational tendencies, are related to relatively greater left frontal activity.

Anger↗