Cognitive Dissonance: Festinger’s Experiment

Decision making is put to the test in a cognitive dissonance experiment. But what is cognitive dissonance? It is a feeling that seems to derive from a conflict between ideas, beliefs, values ​​of the subject and his behavior. Cognitive dissonance arises from the incompatibility of thought, which creates a noticeable state of discomfort in people.

We can therefore understand cognitive dissonance as a psychological tension. The concept was introduced by Leon Festinger, in 1957.

According to the author, this tension would force the subject to develop new ideas or attitudes that would alleviate the tension and that would be compatible with the subject’s belief system. This theory is associated with decision making; by deciding to do something that conflicts with our beliefs, various strategies are put in place to alleviate this tension.

Leon Festinger: the creator of a revolutionary experiment

Festinger was an American social psychologist, born in New York in 1919. His theory of cognitive dissonance has had considerable importance in social psychology, especially in the area of ​​motivation and group dynamics.

The theory is based on the fact that the human being is aware of his own actions and when he does something with which he disagrees he needs to alleviate the dissonance that is generated.

The cognitive dissonance experiment

The cognitive dissonance experiment was devised by Leon Festinger and his colleague Merril Carlsmith in 1957. It was performed in collaboration with students and was characterized by the following phases: 

• Boring  tasks were assigned to each student, individually. These tasks were repetitive, so they were unlikely to arouse anyone’s interest.

• As he exited the classroom, the student was asked to convince the next participant that the experiment was fun. In short, he was asked to lie. 

• He was offered a reward for the lie. Half of the students were offered twenty dollars for lying, while the other half was offered only one.

• The subject waiting for his turn for the experiment (accomplice of the same) told the students that a friend of his had done the experiment the week before and that it had seemed boring.

• Subjects lied while under observation. It was noted how this lie was justified. 

Cognitive dissonance showed up in those students who agreed to lie in exchange for money. They had to convince themselves that the experiment was fun to mitigate the conflict generated.

For what reason? Because the reward was not such that he felt “comfortable” with the lie. When it came to justifying their actions, they were particularly tense compared to the group that had received twenty dollars. The latter lied more naturally and carelessly.

The conflict of lies

The cognitive dissonance experiment leaves us several food for thought. The group that was offered a twenty dollar reward knew perfectly well that the experiment was going to be boring. At the same time, this group also had the right justification for saying the opposite.

The same was not true of the one-dollar group, in which subjects persuaded themselves to ease the tension generated by insufficient reward. 

Conclusion of the experiment

In the final stage, after lying, the principal examiner asked the participants if it really seemed like a fun experiment. In the twenty-dollar group, the subjects sincerely stated that the experiment was not really fun.

Paradoxically, the group that had to convince itself for the smallness of the reward, confirmed the lie and many declared that they would have gladly done it again.

Results of cognitive dissonance

• Avoidance. Subjects tend to avoid any stimuli that can make them return to their original state of dissonance. We avoid situations, people, ideas and places that put them again in confrontation with the conflict.

• Search for approval. As a consequence of the strategies implemented, we seek in others approval of the story or of the reasons why the subject convinces himself, to justify his own actions.

• Comparison. People with dissonance tend to compare themselves to other people to justify their actions.

Cognitive dissonance today

60 years have passed since this experiment and this topic still raises questions and debates today. For example, it has been proposed as a justification for the defense mechanisms that arise in various psychological pathologies.

In addition, it has also been used in the psychosocial analysis of criminals and people who justify their actions with the mechanism of the group and in the execution of orders.

The power of conviction, the relief of guilt

The experiment also questions the tendency of the human being to find psychological and mental relief.

The contrast between social norms and daily decisions pushes us to face moments of discomfort more often than we would like. The problem arises when, in the name of this desire to free ourselves from tension, we end up giving shape to maladaptive behaviors.

Being aware of dissonance can help us identify it as we are experiencing it. It can also help us to calibrate the influence that the information we obtain from our target group has on us and to observe how the norms that characterize it affect our way of acting, thinking or feeling.

Finally, it must be emphasized that cognitive dissonance puts us in front of our values, sometimes pushing us to review them or to review our way of acting.