151 Psychology 4/15/2009
Chapter 6 The Need to Justify our Actions:
Knowing Ourselves by Social Comparison
How do we use others to define ourselves? One way is to measure our own abilities and attitudes by seeing how we stack up against other people.
Cognitive Dissonance
Knowing Ourselves by Comparing Ourselves to Others
Social Comparison Theory: Festinger The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to others
Knowing Ourselves by Comparing Ourselves to Others
(1) When do you engage in social comparison?
When there is no objective standard to measure yourself against, and you are uncertain about yourself in a particular area.
Knowing Ourselves by Comparing Ourselves to Others
Knowing Ourselves by Comparing Ourselves to Others
If we want to know the top level to which we can aspire, we engage in upward social comparison You'll feel better about yourself if you engage in downward social comparison .
(2) With whom do you choose to compare
yourself?
Compare to others roughly comparable to ourselves Because we are interested in accurate selfperception
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Downward social comparison
Comparing oneself to others who are worse off Interviews with women with breast cancer
Patient w/ one lump removed: "How awful it must be for women who had a full mastectomy" Older patient w/ mastectomy: "The people I really feel sorry for are these young girls" Young patient w/ mastectomy: "If I hadn't been married, this thing would have really gotten to me"
Self-concept in action
SelfSelf-Enhancement The tendency to focus on positive info about oneself
People have many strategies to enhance
Self-Handicapping
Behaviors designed to sabotage our Behaviors designed to sabotage our performance to provide a subsequent performance to provide a subsequent excuse for failure excuse for failure
Berglas & Jones
Bogus intelligence test--analogies Analogies are easy or impossible Subjects all told they did well Ss with impossible analogies don't believe it make external attribution (luck) Ss with easy analogies believe it make internal attributions (I'm smart)
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.
Berglas & Jones, Cont'd
Second test Can choose one of two experimental drugs One impairs/one enhances performance "Easy" Ss pick enhancing drug "Impossible" Ss pick impairing drug Built in excuse for expected failure Any success makes them look really smart
BIRGing & CORFing
Basking In Reflected Glory:
Associating ourselves with successful others
Cutting Off Reflected Failure:
Distancing ourselves from unsuccessful others
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Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger, 1957)
Want a stable, positive self-image Inconsistent cognitions & behaviors are unpleasant Negative arousal--physiological response Feeling of discomfort from acting inconsistently w/ self-concept = Cognitive Dissonance
Reducing Cognitive Dissonance
3 basic ways: By changing our behavior to bring it in line with the dissonant cognition. By attempting to justify our behavior through changing one of the dissonant cognitions. By attempting to justify our behavior by adding new cognitions.
Smoking is bad for your health. I smoke.
Drive to reduce dissonance
Change behavior
Quit Smoking
Brain and Dissonance
Change dissonant cognitions Add a new cognition
Decide smoking isn't that bad for you Smoking makes me look so cool (relaxed, weight) Self-affirmation--But I've got a great job! Makes you feel better w/o directly addressing the source of the dissonance
Often produces attitude change
Can't undo behavior, so change cognitions
FMRI Study (Westen et al., 2006) found: reasoning areas of the brain shut down when confronted w/ dissonant info pleasure areas up light when consonance is restored
Source of image: Microsoft Office Online.
Why we overestimate the pain of disappointment
We are "good" at reducing dissonance
Post-decision dissonance
There are always good things about an option we didn't choose, & bad things about an option we did choose
Thoughts about these features produce dissonance & doubt after the decision
Avoid dissonance by re-evaluating options in a biased way
Impact Bias The tendency to overestimate the intensity and duration of our emotional reactions to future events.
Cognition/attitude is changed to justify our choices Toaster vs. Coffee maker (Brehm)
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THE PERMANENCE OF THE DECISION
Justifying Your Effort
If effort is expended, then we are motivated to perceive the effort as worthwhile
Hazing of new group members Severe initiation = liked group more Changing the cognition/attitude justifies effort
Decisions vary in how permanent they are--how hard they are to revoke. Ask bettors while they're in line to make their bet, or after the bet is made
A decision's finality increases dissonance and the need to reduce it
Justifying Your Effort
Aronson and Mills (1959) College students volunteered to join a group that would be meeting regularly to discuss the psychology of sex. To be admitted to the group, they volunteered to go through a screening procedure. 3 groups:
P's who went through a severe initiation convinced themselves that the same discussion was a worthwhile experience
1. 2. 3.
Screening procedure was extremely demanding & unpleasant Mildly unpleasant No screening
Individuals tend to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain.
Insufficient Justification
Classic study by Festinger & Carlsmith (1959) P's spent an hour on really boring tasks Paid $1 or $20 to say they liked study Afterwards, P's asked to rate how much they actually enjoyed the tasks
Insufficient Justification
Festinger & Carlson (1959)
$20; no dissonance $1; dissonance Perceived choice Attitude change justifies behavior
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Insufficient punishment
Arouses dissonance when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object Aronson & Carlsmith (1963)
Insufficient punishment
Several weeks later, who played w/ the toy? When punishment was mild, attitude changed
Threatened with Mild vs. Severe punishment for playing w/ most-liked toy No kids played w/ the toy Then, asked how much they liked the toy Mild group said they didn't like it as much as before
Insufficient justification for not playing with toy
What kinds of Rewards and Punishments?
If you want someone to do something (or not do something) only once, promise a large reward or threaten severe punishment. But if you want someone to become committed to an attitude or behavior, the smaller the reward or punishment that will lead to compliance, the greater & more permanent the eventual change will be. Large rewards and severe punishments, as strong external justifications, encourage compliance but prevent real attitude change.
Dissonance Theory predicts how we feel about others
We like those we help E.g., Want someone to like you, ask them to do you a favor Justify our behavior We hate who we hurt After hurting someone, we like them less Justify our behavior
Davis & Jones (1960): How much do you dislike the person you insulted?
P's are coaxed to be mean toward confederate
"shallow, untrustworthy, boring"
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 easy change hard change choice no choice
IV1: Choice or Not IV2: Easy or Hard to undo
Get to meet the person later & correct feedback
-> Convinced themselves they didn't like the victim of their cruelty, that he deserved to be hurt!
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