Festinger, L. & Carlsmith, J.M. (1959) Thoughts Out of Tune Festinger, L. & Carlsmith, J.M. (1959)

Leon Festinger A research psychologist Highly influential in his field Proposed famous theory of cognitive dissonance

What is Cognitive Dissonance? When you simultaneously hold two or more cognitions which are psychologically inconsistent This in turn creates discomfort and stress which motivates you to change your attitude since behavior cannot be changed

This Opinion Shift is Due to: Mentally rehearsing the speech The process of trying to think of arguments in favor of the forced position

Rewards Additional studies were conducted that offered momentary awards to subjects for giving convincing speeches contrary to their own views It was found that larger the rewards produced less attitude change than smaller rewards

Festinger’s Growing Theory After India’s 1934 earthquake, rumors spread that areas outside danger zone would be hit with additional and greater proportions (these rumors had no scientific foundation). The rumors were not anxiety-increasing, but anxiety-justifying.

The Result: The cognition of fear was out of tune with lack of any scientific basis for their fear (cognitive dissonance!) They made their world fit with what they were feeling and how they were behaving. Their spreading the rumors of greater disasters justified their fears and reduced their dissonance.

Task 71 male, lower division, psychology students participated thinking it was for measures of performance (done for bias responses) Task is scheduled for 2 hours Interview afterwards about their experiences

Method 1st Task: They were given 12 spools in a tray. Empty it onto the table. Refill. Empty again with one hand at for own pace for 30 minutes. 2nd Task: They were given a board with 48 squares. They were asked to turn each peg a quarter of a turn clockwise and repeat for 30 minutes If this seems boring, that was precisely the intention of the researchers. It was intended to provide, for each subject uniformly, an experience about which he would have a somewhat negative opinion.

Experiment Subjects were randomly assigned to 3 conditions Control group: After tasks were completed, were taken into another room to be interviewed Subjects were taken from Group A and B stating the person who instructed the tasks called in sick (cover story).

Experiment Continued... The subjects that offered to join in the experiment were to describe the experiment as “enjoyable, alot of fun, intriguing...” Some subjects were paid $1 while others were paid $20 and called into the room to wait for the incoming subject

Results Those subjects who were paid $1 for lying about the tasks were the ones who later reported liking the tasks more, compared with both paid $20 to lie and those who did not lie.

Average Ratings on Interview Questions Control group $1 group $20 1. How enjoyable tasks were (-5 to +5) -0.45 +1.35 -0.05 2. How much learned (0 to 10) 3.08 2.80 3.15 3. Scientific importance (0 to 10) 5.60 6.45 5.18 4. Participate in similar experiences (-5 to +5) -0.62 +1.20 -0.25

Festinger’s Explanation People that engage in attitude-discrepant behavior (the lie), but have strong justification for doing so ($20), will experience only small dissonance , and therefore, not feel partially motivated to make change in their opinion Insufficient justification ($1)> greater dissonance

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance Attitude-discrepant behavior Sufficient justification for behavior Dissonance small Attitude change small Insufficient justification for behavior Attitude-discrepant behavior Dissonance large Attitude change large

Questions and Criticisms Statistical analyses of the tape-recorded experiment showed no difference in the content or persuasiveness of lies Researchers such as Cooper and Fazio and refined Festinger’s Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Cooper and Fazios’ Four Steps for Cognitive Dissonance 1. Attitude-discrepant behavior must produce unwanted negative consequences. 2. Personal responsibility must be taken for the negative consequences 3. Physiological arousal must be present 4. The person must be aware that the arousal experienced is being caused by the attitude-discrepant behavior Step 1. Festinger subjects had to lie to fellow students and convince them to participate in a very boring experiment. This also explains why when you compliment someone on their clothes even though you can't stand them, your attitude toward the clothes doesn’t change. Step 2. This involves choice....If someone forces you to behave in a certain way, you will not feel personally responsible and no cognitive dissonance will result. Step 3. Physiological arousal ...they mean dissonce which is an uncomfortable state of tensions that motivates us to change our attitudes. Step 4. In Carlsmith’s and Festinger’s study....they were clearly attributed to the fact that they were lying about the experiment to a fellow student.

Follow-up Study “Illicit drugs and driving: prevalence, beliefs and accident involvement among cohort of current out-of-treatment drug users” (2000) By: Ian P. Albery, John Strang, Michael Gossop, Paul Griffiths

The aim of the study A cross-sectional study used to try and explain why drug abusers continue to drive while under the influence after completing a court-mandated treatment program for previous drug-and-driving infractions

Method 210 current out-of-treatment illicit drug users 131 male. 79 female Ages ranged from 16-59. Mean age of 30.51 years They were interviewed by a team of 17 privileged access interviewers (PAI)

Method continued... Demographic information was taken Dependence was measured using the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) Illicit drugs and driving questions: They were split into 4 sections 1. Comprised items which measured driving exposure and experience and including length of full driving years and frequency in the past 12 months

Method continued... 2. Measured frequency of personal illicit drugs and driving behaviour during the previous 12 months and what types of drugs used prior to driving 3. Concentrated on driving accident involvement while under the influence and when not under the influence. This involvement was defined as any incident the subject was involved with as a driver, not as a passenger, which involved injury to another person or themselves, damage to property, another vehicle or the vehicle being driven by the subject

Method continued... 4. Measured the individuals beliefs and perceptions of the impairing effects of drugs on driving. Two final items measured personal frequency of driving-related convictions and whether the drug user had ever been told by a doctor or drug workers of the effects drugs could have on driving performance Scales were on how far they agreed or disagreed with 2 core statements. “Taking_____decreases driving skills” and “The chances of having an accident are greater after taking ______” 5 types of drugs were used : Heroin, methadone, stimulants, cannabis and alcohol

Results Driving Demography 68 of the sample held driver’s licenses on average for 11.32 years. Males were over-represented at 81% vs. females at 19% 119 subjects reported having driven a vehicle at some point, 51 of whom did not hold a full driver’s license Frequency of driving showed 48 to have not driven at all and 49 two or more times a week.

Illicit Drug Use The most commonly used drugs were cannabis, alcohol, and heroin SDS scores were high on all drugs showing high dependency across the board

Illicit Drug and Driving Behavior Percentage use by drivers Drug Type

Accident Involvement 41.4% who had consumed drugs prior to driving, reported having at least one road accident Of these, 62.5% reported at least one accident after having consumed drugs before driving Drivers involved in drug-impaired driving accidents were less likely to be involved in non-impaired accidents

Drug-Driving Beliefs and Perceptions This study showed that perceptions of accident involvement and impaired driving skills after drinking alcohol in comparison to other drugs for frequent and sometimes frequency of illicit drugs and driving (IDDF) groups were consistently more negative than for drivers who reported never IDDF They agreed that the chances of accident involvement and impaired driving skills were greater after consuming alcohol than cannabis, methadone, stimulants and heroin. Thus, dryg-drivers believe alcohol to be more impairing than other drugs.

Discussion Festinger explained this mentality and finding as denial because he stated that driving while using drugs after enduring a lengthy treatment program would likely create a great deal of uncomfortable cognitive dissonance that could be resolved by a major attitude shift about the drugs.

Discussion continued... It may also be that lack of awareness of outcomes drug-driving, unlike drink-driving is to blame However, reports from IDDF testing showed frequent drug-driver users to be aware and said to have been informed previously on drug-driving yet still continue to perceive alcohol a bigger risk

Are You The Master Of Your Fate? Rotter, J.B. (1966)

Julian Rotter One of the most influential behaviorists in psychology's history Proposed that individuals differ a great deal in where they place the responsibility for what happens to them When something good happens to you, do you take credit for it or do you think how lucky you were? When something negative occurs, is it usually your responsibility or do you chalk it up to fate? Psychological language: Do you believe there is causal relationship between your behavior and its consequences?

Locus of Controls When you interpret the consequences of their behavior to be controlled by luck, fate, or powerful others, this is an external locus of control When people interpret their own behavior and personality characteristic as responsible for behavioral consequences, it is an internal locus of control

The Social Learning Theory of Locus of Controls Behaviors in childhood that were followed by rein forcers establish an expectancy of a desired reinforcer Rotter claimed that the totality of your specific learning experiences creates in you a generalized expectancy about whether reinforcement is internally or externally controlled These generalized expectancies will result in charateristic differences in behavior in a situation culturally categorized as chance-determined versus skill-determined, and may act to produce individual differences within a specific condition. This is an important part of who you are.

Method Rotter designed a scale containing paired statements. One statement reflecting an internal locus while the other external You choose a statement which you believed to be more true rather than the other (personal belief) Contains 23 items with 6 filler questions

Method continued... Rotter called his test the I-E Scale He examined I-E Scale scores in relation to individuals’ interactions with various events in their lives. They found significant correlations between the scores and situations involving gambling, political activism, persuasion, smoking, achievement motivation, and conformity

Results: Gambling Individuals identified as internals by the I-E Scale tended to prefer betting on sure things and liked intermediate odds Externals would wager more money on risky bets and would tend to engage in shifts in betting called gambler’s fallacy (betting more on a number that has not come up for a while on the basis that it is due)

Political Activism Findings indicated that those who participated in marches and joined civil rights groups were significantly more oriented toward an internal locus of control This derived from questioning of African American students in the U.S. About activities related to the civil rights movement (1960s)

Persuasion 2 groups were taken. (one highly external, the other highly internal) Both shared similar views about fraternity and sorority systems on campus and asked to change another students attitude about the organizations Internals were more successful and more resistant to manipulation

Smoking Smokers tend to be significantly more external that nonsmokers Individuals who quit smoking after the original Surgeon General ‘s warning appeared on cigarette packs were more internally oriented, even though both internals and externals believed the warning to be true

Achievement Motivation A study of 1,000 high school students that found a positive relationship between an internal score and 15 out of 17 indicators that included plans for college, time spent on work, and how interested the parents were in the students’ work

Conformity A test developed by Solomon Asch, in which a subject’s willingness to agree with a majority’s incorrect judgment was evidence for conforming behavior Subjects were allowed to bet with money (provided by the experimenters) on correctness of judgments Internals conformed significantly less than the externals did

Discussion Three potential sources for the development of internal-external orientations are suggested: Cultural differences, socioeconomic differences, and variations in styles of parenting In cultural differences: Ute Indians, Mexican Americans, and Caucasians were compared. The Ute Indians were more external and whites more internal

Discussion continued... These findings suggest that a lower socioeconomic position predicts greater externality Rotter did not provide supportive research for styles of parenting but suggested that parents who administer rewards and punishments that are unpredictable and inconsistent develop an external locus of control

Rotter Hypothesis of Internal Locus of control 1. Gain information from the situation in their life in order to improve future behavior in those situations or similar ones 2. Take initiative to change and improve the conditions in life 3. Place greater value on inner skill and achievement of goals 4. Be more able to resist manipulation by others

Follow-up Study “Psychological Adjustment to Cancer in a Collective Culture” (2000) Lina N.N. Sun and Sunita Mahtani Stewart They examined the associations between social support, health locus of control, and nasopharyngeal patients This was a population never studied before. Nasopharyngeal cancer is the fifth most frequently occurring kind of cancer in Hong Kong, and the fourth leading cause of death from cancer.

Looking at the Variables Social support: important predictor of emotional adjustment. It is used as a coping strategy and decreases stress. This includes support from both family members and medical professionals Perceived control: Important in buffering the effects of stressors. Studies suggest internal beliefs are more adaptive

(continued)... Individualistic predisposition to experience distress or negative affect: Hong Kong’s sample place less emphasis on independence although it is “modernized” (non-Western values). They also have access to good public care at nominal cost *Cross-cultural studies suggest Chinese individuals to more “external believers”

Methods 152 nasopharyngeal cancer patients (NCP) 105 males. 46 females. Age ranged from 15-78 years. Average age: 45.5 Average educational level was secondary and incomes reflected a middle and lower-middle class population Most patients at this point completed active treatment of NPC and were receiving follow-up care when they were recruited. Patients had a mean of 5.33 years since diagnosis.

Measures All measures were administered in Chinese Demographic information: gender, age, education level, family income, time since diagnosis, etc. Social support measures: Was measured on size of network, amount of social activity, and resilience (quality) of support

Measures continued... Locus of control: An 18-item Multidimensional Health Locus of Control was developed to assess health-related beliefs. Three constructs used were : “Internal”, “Chance”, and “Powerful Others” Coping strategies: COPE consists of 28 items measuring 12 different subscales derived on a theoretical basis Although it was administered in it’s entirety, only the items assessing use of social support as a coping style was analyzed. Here they rated the frequency of their use of specified coping strategies on a 4-point scale. With 1 (“I haven’t been doing this at all”) and 4 (“I have been doing this alot”. When the stressor the encountered most controllable and least controllable.

Measures continued... Psychological well being: They used the Chinese version of the General Health Questionnaire. Consists of statements describing various symptoms Neuroticism: 11-item Chinese Neuroticism Questionnaire. Example: “In general are your feelings easily hurt” with yes/no responses Example: Have you recently felt capable about making decisions about things” or “Have you recently been feeling unhappy and depressed”. They were asked to endorse one of four multiple-choice responses: “more than usual”, or “same as usual”, etc.

Measures continued... Domains and intensity of cancer-related stress: Patients indicated their appraised level of stress in 4 specific cancer-related stressors: 1. Fear and uncertainty about the future 2. Limitations in physical ability, appearance, or life style due to cancer

(continued) 3. Acute pain, symptoms, or discomfort from illness or treatment 4. Problems with family or friends related to cancer

Results Gender did not correlate with adjustment variables Use of Social Support: Participants reported using support more frequently when stressors were seen as uncontrollable. Families were also the most frequent source of social interaction than with friends

Results continued... The size of the social network and the frequency of social interaction did not matter, however, the quality of the support did The only domains that contributed variance to the depression score were the domains of physical ability, appearance, and life style limitations, and of problems with friends and family

Results... Health locus of control and adjustment: Contrary to prediction, internal locus of control was associated positively with depression

Discussion These finding support that social relationships are important barometers of well being in Chinese populations, and should themselves be considered outcome variables Internal Locus of control are associated positively with adjustment whereas chance locus of control relates negatively

Discussion continued... Although at certain levels it would contradict, Hong Kong culture is collective and their belief that inner causes (correct thoughts, wishes) can have important effects. “Feng Shui” which is part of “Chance” beliefs are typically accompanied by a set of prescriptions to increase control, rather than feelings of absence of control

Limitations of the Study In-depth interviews may have revealed additional variables The issue of causality cannot be addressed as the study was done cross-sectional The patients were limited to the public hospital of Hong Kong and did not include any private or other hospitals