Dissonance arousal: Physiological evidence

Two studies examined whether cognitive dissonance is accompanied by physiological arousal. In Exp I, a standard induced-compliance paradigm was replicated and found to produce the expected pattern of attitude change in 30 male undergraduates. In Exp II, physiological recordings were obtained from 30 additional male undergraduates within the same paradigm. Ss who wrote counterattitudinal essays under high-choice conditions displayed significantly more nonspecific skin conductance responses than other Ss, but they did not change their attitudes. Results support dissonance as an arousal process. Results also indicate that the Ss misattributed their arousal to the physiological recording device. Findings are discussed in terms of dissonance theory, misattribution phenomena, and social psychophysiological research methods. (38 ref)