4 ostdecision Dissonance Reduction Did you ever have to make up your mind To pick up on one and leave the other behind Its not often easy its not often kind Did you ever have to make up your mind ohn Sebastian Alley Music Corporation and Trio Music ID: 13500
Download Pdf The PPT/PDF document " CHAPTER SIX means of dissonance reducti..." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
228 CHAPTER SIX means of dissonance reduction are available (Fried & Aronson, 1995; Dickerson, Thibodeau, Aronson, & Miller, 1992; Stone, Wiegand, Cooper, & Aronson, 1997). 4. P ostdecision Dissonance Reduction Did you ever have to make up your mind? To pick up on one and leave the other behind. ItÕs not often easy, itÕs not often kind. Did you ever have to make up your mind? J ohn Sebastian, (Alley Music Corporation and Trio Music Co., 1965, 1966) John SebastianÕs lyrics remind us that making decisions is often difÞcult. Living with our decisions can also bring problems. According to cognitive dissonance theory, dis- sonance arises whenever a person is forced to choose between two alternatives of near equal attractiveness. This is because the cognition ÒAlternative X has many desirable featuresÓ is inconsistent with the cognition ÒI wonÕt be enjoying those features because I chose alternative Y.Ó To reduce this dissonance, the theory predicts that people will enhance the features of the chosen alternative and devalue the features of the unchosen alternative immediately after making the choice. This effect is known as postdecision dissonance reduction (Frenkel & Doob, 1976; Knox & Inkster, 1968). Figure 6.10 shows a schematic representation of postdecision dissonance reduction. To illustrate, imagine that you are deciding whether to attend one of two concerts, featuring either the Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC. Immediately before you decide, the Attractiveness Before deciding After deciding Attractive Unattractive Unchosen alternative (Backstreet Boys) Chosen alternative (*NSYNC) FIGURE 6.10 Postdecision Dissonance Reduction In this hypothetical example, a person is initially deciding whether to attend a concert by two equally attractive bands: the Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC. Dissonance arises immediately after the person makes a choice, because the person will not be enjoying the positive features of the unchosen alternative. To reduce dissonance, the person increases the attractiveness of the chosen alternative (*NSYNC) and decreases the attractiveness of the unchosen alternative (Backstreet Boys). bro0796X_ch06_194-237 6/10/05 5:28 AM Page 228 Nish _05:Desktop Folder: EQA