Two Psychological Perspectives

2943 Words12 Pages
In this assignment the author will explain the contribution of psychological perspectives to the promotion of good practice in residential care services, discuss the contribution of two psychological perspectives to the promotion of good practice in residential care services and evaluate the contribution of two psychological perspectives to the promotion of good practice in residential care services As there are many psychological perspectives which help us to understand developments and behaviors of every individual. For e.g. attachment theories help us to understand why an individual may be too attached or not attached. The theory also teaches us what the effects are if an individual gets attached too much or too little. So certain…show more content…
This produces a feeling of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance etc. For example, when people smoke and they know that smoking causes cancer. Attitudes may change because of factors within the person. An important factor here is the principle of cognitive consistency, the focus of Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. This theory starts from the idea that we seek consistency in our beliefs and attitudes in any situation where two cognitions are inconsistent. Leon Festinger proposed cognitive dissonance theory, which states that a powerful motive to maintain cognitive consistency can give rise to irrational and sometimes adaptive behavior. According to Festinger, we hold many cognitions about the world and ourselves; when they clash, a problem is , resulting in a state of tension known as cognitive dissonance. As the experience of dissonance is unpleasant, we are motivated to reduce or eliminate it, and achieve…show more content…
While fringe members were more inclined to recognize that they had made fools of themselves and to put it down to experience, committed members were more likely to re-interpret the evidence to show that they were right all along. When someone is forced to do something they really don't want to do, dissonance is created between their cognition and their behavior. Forced compliance occurs when an individual performs an action that is inconsistent with his or her beliefs. The behavior can't be changed, since it is already in the past, so dissonance will need to be reduced by re-evaluating their attitude to what they have done. This prediction has been tested
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