第105章
I
chose school A, therefore I have to give up all things I liked about school B. What does he do to
reduce the dissonance? He accentuates the positive aspects of school A and the negative aspects
of school B. He may decide that the things he liked about school B are not really important.
Two students have identical new cars. One student’s car was a gift from her parents while the
other student had saved for several years to buy her car, doing without things she would like to
have in order to accumulate the money for the car. A well-known automotive magazine assigns
the car its “lemon of the year award,” claiming that the car is unsafe and undependable, and that
it is poorly engineered and designed. Which student is likely to feel more uncomfortable about
the magazine’s negative evaluation of the car? Obviously, the student who had to save money to
buy it. What are her dissonant cognitions? “I spent my savings for this car. The car is a lemon.”
What can she do to reduce the dissonance? She can discredit the magazine and the database that
was used for the evaluation. She can also remind herself of the things she likes about the car.
For most of us, there are things we would like to have that we cannot. When the desire for
something” is very important to us, we may have dissonant cognitions that make us tense and
unhappy. For example, suppose you are in love with a person who does not love you. What are
the dissonant cognitions? I would like to have a serious relationship with Lucy. Lucy doesn’t
love me.” What do people do to reduce the dissonance in this type of situation? One method is
the “sour grapes” approach. “Lucy isn’t so great after all. She is bowlegged and chews with her
mouth open.” The expensive sweater is not practical and the sports car that is so appealing is the
type of car driven by people who are too status-conscious. The group that did not ask you to join
is composed of snobs that you would not want to associate with anyway.
Jenny and Jack are both in danger of failing a course. The instructor gives a take-home exam that
students must sign, declaring that they did not receive help from another person. Both Jenny and
Jack have friends who took the course and made good grades, and who could help them, and
345
PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE
both feel that cheating is wrong. Jenny gives in to temptation and gets help from her friend, gets a
good grade on the final, passes the course, but now she suffers from cognitive dissonance. What
are Jenny’s dissonant cognitions? “I think it is wrong to cheat. I cheated.” How will she reduce
the dissonance? She will probably not feel as strongly about cheating. She may also belittle the
amount of help she got from the friend, telling herself that she did most of the work, and that she
would have passed the course without the help of the friend.
Jack did not succumb to the temptation of getting his friend to help him. He made a poor grade
on the final and failed the course. He may have some dissonance, too. What are Jack’s dissonant
cognitions? “If I had cheated I would have passed the course. I didn’t cheat.” What will he do to
reduce his dissonance? Jack is likely to become more strongly opposed to cheating than before.
He may feel badly about failing, but will feel good about his integrity and strength of his
convictions.
These next applications are similar to dissonance due to the investment of time, money, or effort,
but in these cases, the person gets little or nothing in exchange for the investment. If we give
money to a charity, we convince ourselves that it is a worthy cause. If we work for a political
candidate, we convince ourselves that the candidate is a good and competent person. If we paint
our room, we convince ourselves that we have made a big improvement. If we gave money to a
charity we didn’t trust, worked for a candidate who is a scoundrel, or made the room dingy by
painting it, our time, money, or effort would have been wasted, and our self-esteem would suffer
because we did something stupid, so we seek to justify our behavior by convincing ourselves that
our time, money, or effort served a good cause.
In 1978, nine hundred members of the People’s Temple in Guyana fed a poisonous drink to their
children, drank it themselves, and lay down on the ground to die. People were attracted to the
Temple’s charismatic leader, Jun Jones, and were initially drawn to his meetings in San Francisco
by Jones’ emotional message of love and hope. Small demands were made on new members, like
giving one percent of their incomes and giving one night a week to a cause. At this point,
dissonance due to inadequate justification could occur. The dissonant cognitions were, “I’m
giving of my time and money. Why am I doing this?”