Rebuttal On Cognitive Dissonance

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Cognitive Dissonance Theory Leon Festinger declares that dissonance is unpleasant, (Leon Festinger, 1957,) and that it will encourage us to change our cognitions in order to reduce it. Another implication is that people may attempt to avoid situations that are likely to create dissonance. Thus, Dissonance Theory predicts that people will try to avoid exposure to information that they suspect may arose dissonance -- and they may seek out information that is consonant, or consistent, with their attitudes. Research has found that at times people seem to avoid potentially dissonant information (Cotton & Hieser, Olson & Zanna). That is, we are selective about the information to which we expose ourselves. We have a tendency to seek out consonant information and avoid dissonant information. Another area of dissonance concerns what happens when we engage in behavior that is inconsistent with our attitudes or beliefs. If I do not like someone but agree to do a favor for that person, the potential for cognitive dissonance exists: I do not like Fred; I agreed to give him a ride to a job interview. "He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged." J.A. Leo Lemay (NY: Library of America, 1987), p. 1404 Ben Franklin quoting an old maxim Ben Franklin Effect One situation that may create dissonance is when someone does a favor for a person he dislikes. Here, the dissonance is between those negative feelings for the other person, and the awareness of having expended effort to help them. Cognitive dissonance theory predicts that people will try to resolve this dissonance by adopting a more positive attitude towards the other person. Several experiments have borne out this prediction. This has been named the Ben Franklin effect because it was anticipated by Franklin when he served in the

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