Browsing by Subject "Cognitive dissonance"
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Item Open Access Outgroup Similarity as a Source of Cognitive Dissonance: An Investigation of the Turncoat Effect(2010) Hall, Deborah LeeA long tradition of social psychological research suggests that perceptions of similarity and common ground can promote more harmonious relations among otherwise diverse social groups. Yet perceived similarity with and empathy for members of an outgroup can also intensify intergroup bias by threatening the positive distinctiveness of one's group. In the present research, cognitive dissonance theory is used as a framework for understanding how people experience and react to similarity with members of a rival outgroup and for clarifying the conditions under which outgroup similarity reduces or intensifies intergroup prejudice. Four studies tested the hypothesis that outgroup similarity elicits subjective feelings of cognitive dissonance, including psychological discomfort and negative self-evaluation. Study 1 was a pilot test in which similarity to an outgroup member was associated with negative self-evaluation but not psychological discomfort. Study 2 strengthened the interpretation of the turncoat effect as cognitive dissonance by demonstrating that the effect varies as a function of a classic dissonance moderator--perceived choice. Participants induced to experience outgroup similarity reported psychological discomfort and negative self-evaluation, but only when they believed their feelings of similarity resulted from a high degree of personal choice. Study 3 identified strength of ingroup identification as another key moderator of the effect: Only participants who were highly identified with their ingroup reported feelings of dissonance after an induction of outgroup similarity. Finally, Study 4 investigated the implications of three dissonance reduction strategies for intergroup prejudice.
Item Open Access Reward magnitude and liking for instrumental activity(1962) Leventhal, Gerald S. (Gerald Seymour), 1936-It is commonly assumed that the more an object facilitates attainment of important goals, the more it is liked. Dissonance theory yields an opposite prediction. A two process conception of the relation between reward and attitude which reconciles these views is presented. A V-curve relation between reward magnitude and liking for activity instrumental to reward attainment is hypothesized. At the point where the relative number of dissonant cognitions is psychologically insignificant or zero, a direct satisfaction process supplants the dissonance process. The slope of the reward-attitude curve shifts from negative to positive at this transition point. In an experiment designed to test this hypothesis students were offered 2, 4, or 3 experimental credit points for committing themselves to three hours of work at a highly repetitious task. Experimental credit points contribute to students' final course grades and are therefore highly valued by subjects. The instructions were varied such that both the task and the subject’s part in the experiment were placed in either a neutral or a negative light (Neutral or Negative Instructions conditions). Regardless of the Instructions used, 8 Credit groups expressed greater liking for the activity and more pleasure with participating than 4 Credit groups. Contrary to expectation. Affect scores for 2 Credit Neutral subjects were similar to those of 4 Credit Neutral subjects and significantly lower than those of 8 Credit Neutral subjects. Several possible explanations of the lack of difference between 2 and 4 Credit Neutral groups are discussed. It is suggested that the reward-attitude function is U-shaped rather than V-shaped and that these two groups both He in a relatively flat region of the curve in which dissonance and direct satisfaction effects operate simultaneously to increase attitudinal positivity. Though Negative Instructions (administered to one 4 Credit and one 8 Credit group) were expected to produce an inverse relation between reward and liking, they simply resulted in a uniform drop in Affect Scale scores. The Instructions variable had no impact on Desired Frequency of Rest Period, a less direct index of attitude. For the reward manipulation an opposite trend occurred. Varying the number of credit points had a relatively stronger effect on Desired Frequency of Rest scores and a relatively weaker (though still significant) effect on the Affect Scales. This result suggests that the Instructions variable actually failed to alter activity attractiveness. The effects of Negative Instructions on Affect Scale ratings could have been produced either by subjects* tendency to conform to the experimenter's apparent expectations or by the decrease of inter-personal situational restraints against public expression of dislike for the experiment in the experimenter's presence. Neither acceptance nor rejection of the general two-process hypothesis of attitude formation is warranted by these data. Nevertheless, the experiment clearly demonstrates that reward magnitude and attitudes toward activities instrumental in securing the regard are positively related under certain conditions, a finding which suggests an important restriction on the generality of Festinger’s dissonance theory.Item Open Access The Clash of Culture and Cuisine: Conflicting Expectations and Disordered Eating in Chinese Adolescent Women(2019-04-17) Ng, StephanieAlthough eating disorders have commonly been considered to affect predominantly white female populations, they have found to be increasingly prevalent in Chinese contexts. Despite the well-established negative consequences of eating disorders and body image disturbances, there has been a significant lack of cross-cultural research conducted on these issues in Chinese populations to date. The purpose of the present study is to fill this research gap by 1) exploring the perception of conflicting expectations regarding cultural eating norms and ideal body standards as a culturally specific risk factor in the development of disordered eating and body image concerns in Chinese adolescent women, 2) using existing research to develop a conceptual model of strategies that women may use to resolve the distress resulting from the perception of these conflicting expectations and 3) identifying risk and protective factors contributing to the choice of adaptive or maladaptive strategies. Thirty-four Chinese adolescent women (aged 18-22) participated in semi-structured interviews involving questions about typical mealtime scenarios, their perceptions of conflicts between expected eating behaviors and body shape standards, and how these conflicting expectations affected their emotions and satisfaction with their bodies. The results of this study provide initial support for the proposed conceptual model of conflict resolution, by demonstrating that the conflict of cultural expectations was a significant reason for distress reported by a majority of participants, and that different strategies of conflict resolution resulted in adaptive or maladaptive emotional and behavioral outcomes. Risk and protective factors in the development of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes in the present sample of Chinese adolescent women were identified following an analysis of responses; implications of these findings for future prevention, treatment and research efforts were also reported.