PSY220H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Cognitive Dissonance, Leon Festinger, System On A Chip
Document Summary
Dissonance theory has achieved a level of public recognition that rivals such famous psychological models as reinforcement theory and freudian psychoanalysis. Within soc. psych. , dissonance theory has had a fascinating history, which has included periods of intense interest, periods of virtual neglect, heated disagreements between researchers, and numerous proposed alternative explanations for findings. Feeling bad about irrational behaviour: the arousal of dissonance. People have thousands of cognitions stored in their memories, but will be aware of only a small number at one time; most cognitions are irrelevant to each other, but some are logically connected (either positively or negatively). Consonant cognitions: consistent with one another; they imply that the other is valid or good e. g. i brush my teeth twice a day and tooth brushing prevents cavities . Dissonant cognitions: inconsistent with one another; they imply that the other is wrong or bad (logically discrepant) e. g. i smoke and smoking causes cancer .
