Festinger, L., & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). He published his paper on social comparison theory in 1954. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leon-Festinger, The New York Times. Persuasive technology: Using computers to change what we think and do. In 1951 Festinger moved to a tenure-track position at the University of Minnesota, where Schachter was already on the faculty. A theory of social comparison processes. Informal social communication. All of the tasks in the experiments were designed to be extremely boring, frustrating, repetitive, and time consuming so that everyone would dislike the experience. Leon Festinger (Psychologist Biography) | Practical Psychology Whereas the experimental laboratory research into cognitive dissonance was also met with forceful critical analysis of its methodological shortcomings (Chapanis & Chapanis, 1964), the original real-world study was, in contrast, quite remarked upon as a far more illuminating and provocative account of it than mere natural history description would be likely to have given us (Smith, 1957, p. 90). For example, if someone decided never to eat candy bars because they are unhealthy, but then ate one with a friend, they might try to reduce their cognitive dissonance by deciding it is okay to a eat candy bar with friends. And they were specific! In 1945 Festinger became assistant professor at the Research Center for Group Dynamics, which was then headed by Lewin, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The theory of cognitive dissonance has been used to increase health-promoting and other desirable behaviors. Festinger, L. (1943). 1 (2006): 8894. "Festinger, Leon WebSince this cant be done with facts, its done with people. '" alt="" title="LiveInternet: number of pageviews and visitors'+ "Festinger, 1980, p. 237, After graduating, Festinger worked as a research associate at Iowa from 1941 to 1943, and then as a statistician for the Committee on Selection and Training of Aircraft Pilots at the University of Rochester from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. Festinger, L. (1955b). After Boys High School, Festinger entered the College of the City of New York, and, on obtaining a BS, left in 1939 for Iowa City to study under German migr Kurt Lewin, completing his MA in 1940 and his PhD in 1942, both in the Child Welfare Research Station from the University of Iowa, although his own work was not in the area of child research. (2003). As a result of these changes, behavior might also change. Think about some of your deeply-held beliefs. Cognitive dissonance or cognitive dissociation is a term in social psychology that describes a feeling of unease and internal conflict that occurs when someone deals with information contradictory to one's beliefs. Leon Festinger was born on May 8, 1919 in Brooklyn, New York. (1953). Such changes, however, may also lead to rationalization or confirmation bias. What if you believed something but acted in a way that contradicted that belief? Festinger filtered Lewinian notions of life space, force fields, and tension in developing his theory of cognitive dissonance, influencing the larger shift-change in mid-twentieth-century U.S. psychology away from behaviorism, toward what some saw as a more imaginative side to human life (Gruber, Hammond, & Jessor, 1957). He is also known in social network theory for the proximity effect (or propinquity).Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950, Festinger studied psychology under Kurt Lewin, an important figure in modern social psychology, at the University of Iowa, graduating in 1941.American, 1959, p. 784 However, he did not develop an interest in social psychology until after joining the faculty at Lewins Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1945.Festinger, 1980, p. 237 Despite his preeminence in social psychology, Festinger turned to visual perception research in 1964 and then archaeology and history in 1979 until his death in 1989.Aronson, 1991, p. 216, Festinger was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 8, 1919 to Russian-Jewish immigrants Alex Festinger and Sara Solomon Festinger. Editor. American Psychological Association. Learn about Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, read the cognitive dissonance experiment, and see examples. We provide you with news from the entertainment industry. When they become aware of inconsistencies, it triggers an unpleasant psychological state of arousal, which then motivates them to reduce the inconsistency. This is usually accomplished by offering surveys on topics such as health, relationships, and personality characteristics. Festinger earned his masters degree in child behavior in 1940 and his PhD in child behavior in 1942. When we notice that another individual is better than we are in a particular area of ability, we attempt to improve our performance level. Festingers initial interest in social psychology was sparked by accident. Festinger also did work on statistics, and, in his own words, even strayed to doing a study using laboratory rats (Festinger, 1980, p. 237). Cognitive Dissonance Theory & Examples | What is Cognitive Dissonance? Milite, George A. He was interested in trying to understand how people make sense of things when beliefs and actions don't match. FAMpeople is your site which contains biographies of famous people of the past and present. On the basis of these messages, she predicted that a global flood would destroy the world on December 21, 1954. The leader of the group claimed to be receiving messages from extraterrestrials called the Guardians. Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards: 1959. American Psychologist 14, no. Sometimes there is no way to come to terms with conflicting information. He attended Boys High School in Brooklyn and was a very good student. Meet 5 of the Worlds Computer Programming Prodigies, 7 of the Best-Performing Cryptocurrencies and their Founders. A quantitative theory of decision. But the influence of the theory of cognitive dissonance and the original study of the millennialist group has been far more extensive than numbers alone can convey. Four years later, he expressed disappointment at what the field of psychology and he himself had accomplished. In Festingers study, the impact of functional distance was seen from the fact that lower floor residents who lived next to the stairway were more likely than other lower floor residents. For abilities, observing those with similar abilities allows people to learn what actions they are capable of. Gitlin, Todd. Ways people may decrease cognitive dissonance is by changing their beliefs, behavior, or the perceptions of beliefs. Gazzaniga, M. S. Leon Festinger: Lunch with Leon. Perspectives on Psychological Science 1, no. He and his colleague James Carlsmith came up with an experiment to test it out. Festinger, L., Schachter, S., & Back, K. (1950). WebLeon Festinger is a well known social psychologist and a pioneer for cognitive dissonance and social comparison. https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/festinger-leon, "Festinger, Leon Many of the graduate students had interrupted their studies to serve in the war, as was the case with Schachter (with whom Festinger formed a close and lifelong friendship and colleagueship). This experiment reflects several features of Festingers research. SEE ALSO Aronson, Elliot; Attitudes; Cognitive Dissonance; Lewin, Kurt; Social Comparison. Groups (or clubs) were formed of previously unacquainted individuals who were asked to discuss various issues. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Festinger was the son of Russian immigrantsAlex Festinger, an embroidery manufacturer, and Sara Solomon who left Eastern Europe before World War I. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. When no objective means of evaluation are available, people satisfy this drive by comparing themselves to others. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Festinger, L., Sedgwick, H. A., & Holtzman, J. D. (1976). copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Self-Perception: An Alternative Interpretation of Cognitive Dissonance Phenomena. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 1 (1967): 199218. https://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/festinger-leon, Milite, George A. As Festinger himself recalls, "the years at M.I.T. 7 (1958): 194195. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point. A theory of cognitive dissonance. Alternative view of the "Gibson normalization effect". Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. Those who were only paid $1, however, were more likely to change their attitude a bit, saying that the experiment was interesting. At least two significant influences steered Festingers interests as an undergraduate. When a person's behavior or beliefs change in response to cognitive dissonance, the term to describe this phenomenon is called dissonance reduction. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. He read the literature, spoke with the He then turned his attention to early human history, producing a book, The Human Legacy (1983), in which he analyzed human problem solving and adaptation. Cognitive dissonance was conceptualized as a tension between opposing beliefs or between belief and behavior, with the tension functioning as a motivational force driving one to reduce the emotional or cognitive strain. Shifts in explicit goals in a level of aspiration experiment. One year later he moved to the University of Rochester to work as a statistician for the National Research Councils Committee on the Selection and Training of Aircraft Pilots. Festinger, L., & Holtzman, J. D. (1978). Tell him you disagree and he turns away. They didn't need to adjust their attitude because they were paid plenty of money to lie. 2023
. Some scholars consider this important since they doubt that people compare all of their abilities and opinions to those of others. WebSocial comparison theory was first proposed by Leon Festinger in 1954 and states that individuals are continually evaluating themselves in order to assess their own standing on a wide range of characteristics. . We may think fast food is bad for our health, but cant resist stopping at Mcdonalds on our way home from work. Accordingly, social psychology needed its own experimental approach. Social psychology describes cognitive dissonance as the feeling of unease, or dissonance, that happens when someone deals with contradictory information. WebIn the 1950s, Leon Festinger was scratching his head over a group of people who called themselves The Seekers. Friendship processes.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. succeed. Originally written as masters thesis, State University of Iowa, 1940. He earned his bachelors degree in psychology in 1939 under the guidance of Max Hertzman. Please select which sections you would like to print: Professor Emeritus, Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City. Festinger passed away a few months later on February 11, 1989, before his final research findings could be published. This was the question asked by a social psychologist named Leon Festinger in a book of the same title. The inconsistency causes an uneasy feeling, called dissonance. 27 Apr. When Alex Festinger left Russia, he was known to be an atheist and a radical. ), Theories in social psychology (pp. It has inspired works of fiction and stimulated research in other disciplines, including religious studies, political science, economics, sociology, legal theory, and philosophy of science. (1951). With customary dynamism, Festinger sought out colleagues in his new fields of interest, much as he drew together colleagues and students in his years of experimental research, including, during his early years, the well-remembered Tuesday Night Meeting or the Lewin-style Quasselstrippe, weekly meetings wholly given to collaborating on research (Patnoe, 1988). EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATIONS OF THE POWER OF DISSONANCE. Such attraction occurs because some goals can be pursued successfully only with the cooperation of others or because groups provide validation about social reality, which is necessary because some opinions and beliefs cannot be tested directly or objectively (e.g., Should abortion be legal?; Who is the greatest baseball player of all time?). In addition to the faculty mentioned above, there were several outstanding graduate studentsKurt Back, Morton Deutsch, Harold Kelley, Albert Pepitone, Stanley Schachter, and John Thibaut who would become defining figures in the field of social psychology. The Festinger theory of cognitive dissonance states that when a person deals with information or actions that contradicts their personal beliefs, they will feel uneasy, become aware of the inconsistency, and be motivated to find a way to make the actions and beliefs more consistent. His theorys counterintuitive predictions held great appeal. Dissonance reduction frequently relies on rationalization or confirmation bias. Introduction to Psychology: Tutoring Solution, Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, Leon Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, History and Approaches: Tutoring Solution, Biological Bases of Behavior: Tutoring Solution, Sensation and Perception: Tutoring Solution, States of Consciousness: Tutoring Solution, Studying Intelligence: History, Psychologists & Theories, History of Intelligence Testing in Psychology, Studying Intelligence: Biological vs. Environmental Factors. Achieving similarity with others (i.e., fitting in) makes us more confident about our own opinions and abilities. social psychology, cognitive dissonance, groups, communication, influence, social comparison and level of aspiration. WebLeon Festinger was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 8, 1919. Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (1956). Very few small discoveries turn out to be important over the years; things that would have sent me jumping and shouting in my youth now left me calm and judgmental. And even worse we do not seem to have been working on many of the important problems (Festinger, 1983, p. ix). Finally, we could change how you remember the situation that caused dissonance. Interestingly, the students who had been paid one dollar stated that they actually did find the tasks enjoyable. Information could be written, verbal, opinions, behavior, actions, feelings, objects, or anything else received from the external environment. Festinger then pursued graduate studies under Kurt Lewin at the University of Iowa. Festinger and Carlsmith theorized that the group who was paid $20 didn't really need to justify why they had lied; they were paid a lot of money to do it! 2. Festinger claims his youthful penchant for rigor led him to pursue further research on aspiration for his masters thesis and to develop a mathematical model of decision making for his dissertation. Cognitive dissonance soon became an important and much-discussed theory. Early Years and Education . Social comparison has also been employed as a strategy for improving study habits. Jeremy Varon: Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies. American Historical Review 110, no. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1956. Despite its broad appeal, Festingers work has been dogged by controversy. Cognitive dissonance may well serve as his signature in social psychology and as a marker of ideas prevalent in postWorld War II psychology. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) played such a major role in the emergence of the new scientific psychology as a discipline se, Leo, Leonardo (actually, Lionardo Ortensio Salvatore de), https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/festinger-leon, https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/festinger-leon, https://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/festinger-leon. It was a fabrication intended to The debates on cognitive dissonance are instructive on Festingers contributions on several counts, and on developments in postWorld War II psychology, especially social psychology. In 1945, Festinger moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to join Kurt Lewins Research Center for Group Dynamics as an assistant professor. Festinger's research resulted in a number of interesting findings. A number of these experiments are reported in Festingers second book on dissonance theory, Conflict, Decisions, and Dissonance (1964). Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. In so doing, he showed how the pressures to uniformity, hypothesized in the earlier article, arose from the process of social comparison. Morvan, C., & OConnor, A. J. "Festinger, Leon PracticalPsychology. This is generally the most common way people reduce dissonance. 1919-1989 American psychologist who developed the concept of cognitive dissonance. Festinger, L. (1962). ." With Henry W. Riecken and Stanley Schachter. https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/eminent, 40+ Famous Psychologists (Images + Biographies), Cognitive Dissonance (Definition + Examples), Social Comparison Theory Leon Festinger (Definition + Examples). It begins with the idea of cognitions. Controversy also surrounded Festingers complex experimental laboratory situationsaimed, as he argued, toward making them real for subjects. The old man had been part of that great emigration of East European Jews in Comparison leads to pressures toward uniformity (i.e., similarity), but the tendency to compare will cease if others are too different in dimensions that are related to the ability or opinion at issue. A Personal Memory of Stanley Schachter. Leon Festinger Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. WebIn 1988 Festinger became ill with a cancer that had metastasized to the liver and the lungs. [sic] seemed to us all to be momentous, ground breaking, the new beginning of something important. ALLPORT, GORDON WILLARD The mind feels cognitive dissonance when the information it receives is contradictory to a personal belief and wants to make it more consistent. Leon Festinger. Changing their beliefs, behavior, or the perceptions of beliefs to become more consistent with their actions is the way people deal with cognitive dissonance, which is called dissonance reduction. The influence process in the presence of extreme deviates. Half of the subjects were paid $1 to do this, and half were paid $20 to do this. Although he was extremely intelligent, some of Festingers childhood friends described him as an aggressive, sometimes scathing critic. During his teenage years, he read psychologist Clark Hulls book entitled Hypnosis and Suggestibility and discovered a scientific field that still had questions to be answered.. 255 lessons. These findings led Festinger and his assistants to develop experimental approaches that many people consider to be the birth of systematic experimental social psychology.. He then entered the University of Iowa, where he studied with the German-born social psychologist Kurt Lewin and obtained a Ph.D. in 1942. In fact, Festingers rush to complete his doctoral studies in three years was motivated, he said, to avoid the war, claiming to be one of the original draft dodgers (Patnoe, 1988, p. 253). Known as the patron saint of personality, Psychology In such situations, the conflict between what we think and what we do results in mental discomfort. With forty years of experimental psychology research behind him, Festinger closed his laboratory and turned to till new fields of inquiryanthropology, archaeology, and historyto wrestle with a larger question of what makes humans human, a quest of the origins of human societies and culture. Leon Festinger. Biographical Memoirs 64 (1994): 99110. 4 (2005): 12131214. Renowned social psychologist, Leon Festinger, and his research team (1954) became interested in this case and decided to infiltrate and study the group to see For example, liking was simply a function of reward according to behaviorism, so greater reward would produce greater liking; Festinger and Carlsmiths experiment clearly demonstrated greater liking with lower reward, a result that required the acknowledgement of cognitive processes. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. One example of this is the Study Buddy application which lets students know when their classmates are studying. Usually, people will mentally alter the perceptions around their beliefs to accomplish this change. On joining Lewin, along with Ronald Lippitt, Dorwin Cartwright, and Marian Radke, Festinger devoted himself to the field of social psychology. . Arising out of his interest in communication and influence, especially Jamuna Prasads 1950 study in rumors following a severe earthquake in Bihar, India, in 1934, Festingers theory of cognitive dissonance reigned for almost a decade of experimental social psychology, and continues to spawn research in other disciplines. Leon Festinger, (born May 8, 1919, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.died February 11, 1989, New York City), American cognitive psychologist, best known for his theory of cognitive dissonance, according to which inconsistency between thoughts, or between thoughts and actions, leads to discomfort (dissonance), Let's talk about his famous cognitive dissonance experiment. 1 (1964): 122. In addition, some critics argue that people often engage in comparisons with individuals who differ from them in important ways and that such comparisons also supply valuable self-knowledge.
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