Double Forced Compliance and Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Abstract

Festinger and Carlsmith's (1959) experiment has been reexamined by means of the paradigm of double forced compliance. In this paradigm, the dissonance reduction process was observed after the performance of two behaviors instead of only one as in the classical paradigms of this theory. In this experiment, French students first performed a boring task (button-turning) and then described it negatively to their peers. Because these two behaviors were related to dissonance, the total dissonance was expected to be higher among those who performed both behaviors than among those who performed only the first. The hypothesis was confirmed. The participants who described the task negatively after performing it rated it more positively than those who only performed it.     

Qualitative Evaluation Methods Applied to a High School Counseling Center

The authors present a case study demonstrating how qualitative techniques can be used to evaluate a high school counseling and guidance program.     

Contributions of Teleoanalytic Theory and Techniques to School Counseling

Counselor educators should be concerned with presenting varied theoretical approaches to school counseling. This article develops the teleoanalytic position and acquaints the reader with Adlerian concepts and procedures. 10 assumptions for understanding personality are set forth. Unique counseling procedures that develop from this rationale, such as Early Recollections, Family Constellation, and “The Hidden Reason,” are described.     

Using Cognitive Dissonance to Encourage Water Conservation1

In a field experiment on water conservation, we aroused dissonance in patrons of the campus recreation facility by making them feel hypocritical about their showering habits. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, we manipulated subjects “‘mindfulness” that they had sometimes wasted water while showering, and then varied whether they made a “public commitment” urging other people to take shorter showers. The “hypocrisy” condition-in which subjects made the public commitment after being reminded of their past behavior-was expected to be dissonance-arousing, thereby motivating subjects to increase their efforts to conserve water. The results were consistent with this reasoning. Compared to controls, subjects in the hypocrisy condition took significantly shorter showers. Subjects who were merely reminded that they had wasted water, or who only made the public commitment, did not take shorter showers than control subjects. The findings have implications for using cognitive dissonance as means of changing behavior in applied settings, especially those in which people already support the desired goal, but their behavior is not consistent with those beliefs.     

An Experimental Test of Cognitive Dissonance Theory in the Domain of Physical Exercise

The present study examined cognitive dissonance-related attitude change in the domain of exercise. Experimental participants made a decision to perform a boring exercise task (stepping on a bench/chair) under three different conditions: a free-choice condition (n = 33, Male = 17 female = 16, Age = 14.57), under a no-choice/control condition (n = 28, Male = 15, Female = 13, Age = 14.50), and under a condition that compelled participants to practice bench/chair stepping (forced-choice condition) (n = 31, Male = 15, Female = 16, Age = 14.61). Results showed that participants in the free-choice condition reported more positive attitudes than participants in the control condition and participants in the forced-choice condition. Ancillary analysis indicated that cognitive dissonance is experienced as an aversive state, and that the amount of frustration that participants experienced immediately after the free-choice paradigm predicted attitudes.     

A Brief History of Dissonance Theory

Prior to the construction of the theory of cognitive dissonance, the dominant view in American experimental psychology held that behavior, including verbal attitude statements, was learned and shaped by rewards and/or punishments. Dissonance theory took a surprisingly different view by stating that behaviors and reasons for engaging in them could be strengthened by minimizing the very rewards or threatened punishments that produced the behaviors. Many hundreds of experimental studies later, the main argument of dissonance theory is well supported, although researchers disagree about the necessary and sufficient conditions. The present paper traces the major lines of research, including contributions from around the world, and the major controversies among some of the researchers.     

The Potential Contribution of School Counseling to School Integration

The author discusses the goals of desegregation, the impact of desegregation on pupils' educational outcomes, and ways in which counselors can foster high quality education in integrated settings.     

Implications of a Person's Level of Cognitive Development for Cognitive Approaches to Counseling

Using a cognitive-developmental model of processing self-evaluations, this article presents specific counseling strategies at different levels of abstract thinking.     

Cognitive Dissonance and Post-Decision Attitude Change in Six Presidential Elections

Data from the National Election Studies were examined in an effort to isolate cognitive dissonance of two kinds: dissonance arising from a behavioral commitment in the form of voting, and dissonance arising from inconsistencies associated with having supported the losing candidate. Feeling thermometer ratings of the two principal presidential candidates obtained before and immediately after six elections (1972, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996) were analyzed. Regression estimates supported a dissonance reduction explanation of observed attitude changes. Voters, as compared to nonvoters, tended to increase the evaluative distance between candidates after an election, whereas supporters of the losing candidate were more likely than supporters of the winning candidate to decrease such evaluative distances. An additional examination of voters yielded results consistent with dissonance theory: After the election, respondents reporting favorable evaluations of both candidates (a difficult choice) tended to spread comparative candidate evaluations compared to respondents who were favorable toward only one candidate (an easy choice). The results both support and cast doubt on prior studies.     

Epistemology and School Counseling

Because a counselor's interactions with his clients should be an out-growth of his philosophical commitments, he must grapple with certain epistemological questions: (a) Can human beings know the extramental world or merely their own ideas? (b) Is human knowledge a valid representation of the extramental world? (c) Can human beings reach agreement about the nature of extramental realities? The counselor can assume two possible stances. First, there is the “realist” position which states that there is an extramental world, we can achieve valid knowledge of it, and the knowledge of various observers can agree. Second is the “phenomenalist” position: There is an extramental world, but no one can achieve valid knowledge of it, nor can various observers easily agree regarding its nature. The realist counselor should help his client perceive his problem situation as it “really” is and as it appears to others. The phenomenalist counselor cannot do this instead, he can only try to enter the client's subjectivity and to help him deepen and enrich his unique perception of the problem situation.     

认知失调引起的系列次序错误记忆初探

本实验借鉴认知失调领域自由范式的思路,以系列次序为对象,研究了错误记忆在认知失调影响下的产生特点和机制。结果表明：（1）选择操作对被试的次序回忆产生了显著影响：Z（有选择一无选择）=11．036,p〈0．01;（2）在有选择条件下,接受项目的喜好程度增加（X^2（2）=13．000,P〈0．005）,拒绝项目的喜好程度降低（X^2（2）=9．250．P=0．001）;在无选择的条件下,三种位置的频次分布无显著差异,表明认知失调引发了次序错误记忆;（3）预警变量对于次序回忆的相关程度有显著影响（Z（有提示一无提示）=3．535,P〈0．01）,对于接受项目和拒绝项目的位置回忆无显著影响（接受项目：X^2（2）=0．629,P=0．730;拒绝项目：70（2）=0．180,P=0．914）,表明错误记忆是由认知失调引起,并且难以抑制。     

Curriculum Development in School Counseling

In response to a number of current tensions affecting school counselors and their discipline, a three-pronged solution is proposed, elaborated, and summarized.     

Formal and Applied Counseling in Israel

Living in Israel is intensive and demanding but also meaningful and exciting. This article addresses the gap between the narrowly defined formal status of counseling in Israel and the widespread occurrence of counseling in various settings. It is argued that several recent changes, especially in the definition of treatment, along with the increasing need for counseling, especially in minority ethnic groups, set the stage for optimism regarding the future of counseling in Israel.