What is it?

Feelings of inconsistency are produced when two pieces of information held "in a person's head" are in conflict

Caused by a conflict between our belief about something and the knowledge that we have performed a behavior that is contradictory to that belief

How do people get rid of dissonance?

Since we do not like dissonance, we change our belief to make it consistend with our action

Festinger:

1. Subjects complete boring task
2. Subjects rate task (TIme 1)
3. Subjects are asked to help put and tell next participant the task is great
   • Assigned to independent groups:
   • Get paid nothing
   • Get paid $1
   • Get paid $20
4. Subjects re-rate task (Time 2)
5. Measure change in ratings from TIme 1 to Time 1

   Which group do you think will show the greatest change in ratings?
   

   
   

   The group getting paid nothing:

   • Behavior: I lied
   • Belief: The task was lousy
   • No Dissonance

   The group getting paid $20:

   • Behavior: I lied
   • Belief: Task was lousy but I got paid nicely
   • No Dissonance

   The group getting paid $1:

   • Behavior: I lied for only a dollar
   • Belief: The task was lousy
   • Dissonance
   • Change ratings to decrease dissonance

   Example-Smoking
   

   • Behavior: I smoke
   • Knowledge: Smoking can kill you
     1. Change attitude - "smoking isn't that dangerous"
     2. Change behavior - "Quit smoking
     3. Explain away inconsistency - "I'll quit before it can hurt me"
     4. Reduce importance of inconsistency - "I have good genes, will live long; I exercise a lot"

   ---

   Conformity
   Soloman Asch

   Showed subjects a simple task:
   

   Asked them to make a decision, but others ahead of them answer first

   

   Subjects conform:
   

   YouTube

   Stanford Prison Experiment
   Overview
   After
   Das Experiment

   ---

   Bystander Effects
   What happens if you need to help and others are around?

   Smoke-filled room

   

   

   Obedience
   Milgram's Experiment:

   

   Overview

   
   Modern Day - Milgram
   Phone Scam, Video