Description
Balance Theory is a motivational theory of attitude change, proposed by Fritz Heider.
Heider’s Balance Theory Attitude – Attitude Consistency
We prefer it when our attitudes toward various things are consistent.
Balance Theory
• Advertisers understand balance theory!
+ -
+ + + Balanced
_
+ + Unbalanced
You
+ ???
You
+ ???
GOOD!!!
BAD!!!
Cognitive Dissonance
Festinger & Carlsmith, 1957
Arguably the most Arguably, influential study in the history of social psychology.
It was Carlsmith’s undergraduate senior honors thesis!!!
Cognitive Dissonance
1
More induced compliance
• Yale students wrote pro-police essays and later asked to rate police (1 = very anti-police, 7 = very pro-police).
7 6 5 4 3 2
Payments y serve as justification for counterattitudinal behavior – lower attitude change.
• •
Dissonance & Physiology
Dissonance stems from physiological arousal that occurs when cognitions concerning the self are discrepant. How do we know this?
– – – – – – Get participants to commit “counterattitudinal behavior” (write essay in favor of large tuition hike). Inject with (a) placebo, (b) tranquilizer, or (c) amphetamine (tell them it’s a memory drug). Who reports greatest attitude change (sign of dissonance)? Dissonance and the pill study. Get participants to commit counterattitudinal behavior. TELL them that you are giving them either (a) placebo, (b) tranquilizer, or (c) amphetamine (all pills actually placebos). Who reports greatest attitude change?
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Placebo Tranq Amphet
–
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Placebo Tranq Amphet
1 Control $0.50 $1 $5 $10
Post-decisional Dissonance (AKA Buyer’s remorse)
BEFORE PURCHASE A
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Car A Car B
“Spread of alternatives” No more remorse!
AFTER PURCHASE
B
A
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Car A Car B
B
How much do you like each car?
How much do you like each car?
Toaster Study, Brehm 1956
original 1 = radio 2 = --3 = --4 = toaster 5 = hair dryer 6 = --7 = --8 = --postdecisional 1 = radio 2 = --3 = toaster 4 = --5 = --6 = --7 = hair dryer 8 = ---
More post-decisional Dissonance “Post-decision Confidence”
100 80 60 40
What are the chances that your horse will win the race?
20 0 Before Wager After Wager
2
Effort Justification
•
Sunk Costs
Once you’ve put a lot into something, it’s hard to change course—even when you clearly should. (To do so, you have to admit that you’ve wasted time and resources.) Trivial example: You pay $8 to see a movie and movie sucks. Do you sit through it to the bitter end (stay the course), or do you leave and do something else that’s more fun (change course)? More significant example: You’re the CEO of a company that has spent $200 million out of a $300 million budget on a project that is now obviously going to fail. Do you spend the remainder of the budget (stay the course) or terminate the project (change course)? Iraq War Quotes (opposing views, both articulating sunk costs):
– “I’ve met too many wives and husbands who’ve lost their partner in life, too many children who’ll never see their mom or dad again. I owe it to them and to the families who still have loved ones in harm’s way, to ensure that their sacrifices are not in vain.”
– President Bush
• Only an idiot would work really hard at something that isn’t worth it. • Are you some kind of idiot?
•
10 8
•
6 4 2 0 Easy Initiation Hard Initiation
•
–
“...you know, our soldiers that we've lost, they're already being honored, okay? And I don't think having the death of another soldier is the answer to honoring what we've already lost.”
– Barbara Porchia, Mother of Marine killed in action
“When prophecy fails” research
• “A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.” “Suppose an individual believes something with his whole heart; suppose further that he has a commitment to this belief, that he has taken irrevocable actions because of it; finally, suppose that he is presented with evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view.” •
“When prophecy fails” research
Festinger and a few other social psychologists joined a cult-following of Marian Keech, a housewife who claimed to receive messages from aliens via automatic writing (i.e., her writings were divinely inspired). The message of the aliens was one of a coming world cataclysm, but with the hope of surviving for the elect who listened to them through Keech. On several occasions, Keech reported that the world would end on a specific date. Thankfully, it never happened. 11 original members of cult (excluding Festinger et al.). Only 2 abandoned cult after repeated prophecy failures (they were only lightly committed). Remaining 9 not only stayed in cult, but became more fervent in their beliefs. Proselytizing increased dramatically.
• •
•
• • •
“When prophecy fails” research
• • Why so much proselytizing? "The dissonance [stemming from the failed prophecies] cannot be eliminated completely by denying or rationalizing the disconfirmation. But there is a way in which the remaining dissonance can be reduced. If more and more people can be persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly it must, after all, be correct. Consider the extreme case: if everyone in the whole world believed something there would be no question at all as to the validity of this belief. It is for this reason that we observe the increase in proselytizing following disconfirmation. If the proselytizing proves successful, then by gathering more adherents and effectively surrounding himself with supporters, the believer reduces dissonance to the point where he can live with it."
3
doc_860558283.pdf
Balance Theory is a motivational theory of attitude change, proposed by Fritz Heider.
Heider’s Balance Theory Attitude – Attitude Consistency
We prefer it when our attitudes toward various things are consistent.
Balance Theory
• Advertisers understand balance theory!
+ -
+ + + Balanced
_
+ + Unbalanced
You
+ ???
You
+ ???
GOOD!!!
BAD!!!
Cognitive Dissonance
Festinger & Carlsmith, 1957
Arguably the most Arguably, influential study in the history of social psychology.
It was Carlsmith’s undergraduate senior honors thesis!!!
Cognitive Dissonance
1
More induced compliance
• Yale students wrote pro-police essays and later asked to rate police (1 = very anti-police, 7 = very pro-police).
7 6 5 4 3 2
Payments y serve as justification for counterattitudinal behavior – lower attitude change.
• •
Dissonance & Physiology
Dissonance stems from physiological arousal that occurs when cognitions concerning the self are discrepant. How do we know this?
– – – – – – Get participants to commit “counterattitudinal behavior” (write essay in favor of large tuition hike). Inject with (a) placebo, (b) tranquilizer, or (c) amphetamine (tell them it’s a memory drug). Who reports greatest attitude change (sign of dissonance)? Dissonance and the pill study. Get participants to commit counterattitudinal behavior. TELL them that you are giving them either (a) placebo, (b) tranquilizer, or (c) amphetamine (all pills actually placebos). Who reports greatest attitude change?
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Placebo Tranq Amphet
–
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Placebo Tranq Amphet
1 Control $0.50 $1 $5 $10
Post-decisional Dissonance (AKA Buyer’s remorse)
BEFORE PURCHASE A
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Car A Car B
“Spread of alternatives” No more remorse!
AFTER PURCHASE
B
A
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Car A Car B
B
How much do you like each car?
How much do you like each car?
Toaster Study, Brehm 1956
original 1 = radio 2 = --3 = --4 = toaster 5 = hair dryer 6 = --7 = --8 = --postdecisional 1 = radio 2 = --3 = toaster 4 = --5 = --6 = --7 = hair dryer 8 = ---
More post-decisional Dissonance “Post-decision Confidence”
100 80 60 40
What are the chances that your horse will win the race?
20 0 Before Wager After Wager
2
Effort Justification
•
Sunk Costs
Once you’ve put a lot into something, it’s hard to change course—even when you clearly should. (To do so, you have to admit that you’ve wasted time and resources.) Trivial example: You pay $8 to see a movie and movie sucks. Do you sit through it to the bitter end (stay the course), or do you leave and do something else that’s more fun (change course)? More significant example: You’re the CEO of a company that has spent $200 million out of a $300 million budget on a project that is now obviously going to fail. Do you spend the remainder of the budget (stay the course) or terminate the project (change course)? Iraq War Quotes (opposing views, both articulating sunk costs):
– “I’ve met too many wives and husbands who’ve lost their partner in life, too many children who’ll never see their mom or dad again. I owe it to them and to the families who still have loved ones in harm’s way, to ensure that their sacrifices are not in vain.”
– President Bush
• Only an idiot would work really hard at something that isn’t worth it. • Are you some kind of idiot?
•
10 8
•
6 4 2 0 Easy Initiation Hard Initiation
•
–
“...you know, our soldiers that we've lost, they're already being honored, okay? And I don't think having the death of another soldier is the answer to honoring what we've already lost.”
– Barbara Porchia, Mother of Marine killed in action
“When prophecy fails” research
• “A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.” “Suppose an individual believes something with his whole heart; suppose further that he has a commitment to this belief, that he has taken irrevocable actions because of it; finally, suppose that he is presented with evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view.” •
“When prophecy fails” research
Festinger and a few other social psychologists joined a cult-following of Marian Keech, a housewife who claimed to receive messages from aliens via automatic writing (i.e., her writings were divinely inspired). The message of the aliens was one of a coming world cataclysm, but with the hope of surviving for the elect who listened to them through Keech. On several occasions, Keech reported that the world would end on a specific date. Thankfully, it never happened. 11 original members of cult (excluding Festinger et al.). Only 2 abandoned cult after repeated prophecy failures (they were only lightly committed). Remaining 9 not only stayed in cult, but became more fervent in their beliefs. Proselytizing increased dramatically.
• •
•
• • •
“When prophecy fails” research
• • Why so much proselytizing? "The dissonance [stemming from the failed prophecies] cannot be eliminated completely by denying or rationalizing the disconfirmation. But there is a way in which the remaining dissonance can be reduced. If more and more people can be persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly it must, after all, be correct. Consider the extreme case: if everyone in the whole world believed something there would be no question at all as to the validity of this belief. It is for this reason that we observe the increase in proselytizing following disconfirmation. If the proselytizing proves successful, then by gathering more adherents and effectively surrounding himself with supporters, the believer reduces dissonance to the point where he can live with it."
3
doc_860558283.pdf