ATTITUDINAL CONSEQUENCES OF INDUCED DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN COGNITIONS AND BEHAVIOR

Derivations from the theory of cognitive dissonance, which postulates a drive to reduce discordant beliefs, behavior, and perceptions, can be experimentally tested with respect to problems of attitude change. One derivation from dissonance theory is that experiences entailing deprivation and suffering will be valued highly to justify the effort they entail. Students subjected to embarrassing and unpleasant experiences in the attainment of group membership placed a high value upon such membership. Another derivation is that high reward for engaging in actions counter to one's beliefs will produce less attitude change than low reward. High reward, by adding compelling cognitions for compliance, may make the act of compliance less a matter of one's own choice and hence lead to less dissonance and consequent attitude change. Different groups of school children were given varying degrees of reward for writing essays in favor of shorter summer vacations. The high-reward group showed less actual changes in attitudes in a post-test than the low-reward group.