Faith Jaffa

Theory Analysis
Comm 2050
April 24, 2021

Theory Analysis
Introduction

Cognitive dissonance is when someone's beliefs don’t match their actions. First I’m
going to talk about the theory and what it means. Next I’m going to share some
information about the author and what the theory looks like now. Lastly I will evaluate
the theory and share recommendations on how the theory can be improved.

What is Cognitive Dissonance?

Cognitive Dissonance is when someone's beliefs, thoughts, or attitudes don't match. For
example, “you want to take care of the planet but you still use plastic bags (Cooper &
Hogg, 2019)”. You are doing the opposite of what you believe in. You can recognize this
theory in your friends and family. One form of this theory you may see often is when you
have a friend who acts like the people they are around. For example, with you they
agree with everything you say, have no opposing opinion, and act very similar. But when
they are with a different group of people, they are a completely different person.
Because they try to please everyone around them, their morals change which causes
cognitive dissonance.

Theory Approach

This theory uses Empirical/Scientific approach because researchers want to predict

what a person will do when they are experiencing Cognitive Dissonance. In some of the
earlier studies, scientists would take a look at a group of friends and see how similar
they act and what characteristics they share. They would put people in different groups
to see if over time they would eventually change. Everyone did change while they were
with these different groups. They eventually started saying similar things or reacting
similar ways. Through time, their beliefs and actions changed from what they originally
were.

Author

Leon Festinger created this theory in 1957. He created it because he noticed different
groups of people would act differently depending on the people they spent the most
time with. He wanted to see why people were like that and what they were trying to get
from it.

Current Theory Status

The theory is still the same as it was in 1957. Now Joel Cooper and Michael A, Hogg
are working on this theory. Cooper and Hogg are trying to dig deeper and understand
what is causing people to have dissonance and how they react in certain situations.
Rather than putting people in different groups to see if they change, they wanted to find
different ways to notice the theory. Rather than observing people in groups, Cooper and
Hogg are having students and different groups of people doing things that are
uncomfortable and something they don’t agree with. For example they had a student
give a presentation on how fees should be more expensive. “The student doesn’t think
that fees should go up but he was up for the challenge and did the presentation to
experience dissonance (Cooper & Hogg)”. These experiments allowed them to see how
people felt when going against their beliefs. When the student was giving the
presentation, some students actually started to change their beliefs a little bit.

Seven Criteria and Theory Evaluation

This theory has a wide scope of ways you can test it. All the researchers on this theory
all have had logical consistency. Their information overall is similar but the study is done
in different ways. The meaning of the theory is parsimony, minimal and straight forward.
As far as utility goes, the theory can be very useful when trying to understand people in
your life and their values. This theory has a wide variety of ways it can be tested and
used. There is not one right or wrong way. When people may be experiencing cognitive
dissonance, they may be going through heuristic as well. They may be trying to
understand and learn more about themselves. And may not know wrong from right yet.
This theory is hard to test with time. The time can vary tremendously depending on
many factors.

It’s obvious that this theory exists and you can see it in old friends, current friends, and
family. If you are close with someone, you can usually tell when they are doing
something they not long ago were against. People don’t change their beliefs quickly, it
takes time. After a while of someone spending a lot of time with a different crowd, they
will change. Change isn’t always bad and sometimes it can be beneficial. It’s important
to recognize the changes you have made and evaluate the people you spend the most
time with. This theory is hard to measure. It’s not easy to understand someone's beliefs
and values shortly after meeting them. This makes it harder for researchers to do a
completely accurate analysis. The most recent studies are beneficial because you can
see how strangers react to uncomfortable situations.
Recommendations and Improvements to the Theory

Overall I think the study on this theory is really good and accurate. I would recommend
continuing to put people in situations they feel against and uncomfortable about to see
how they would react. This theory is hard to study because there's not a lot of
approaches you can take.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s important who you spend the most time with. Whether you know it or
not, you are changing and becoming like the group you are with. It’s not always a bad
thing but it is something to be careful about. That is why it is so important to have
friends who share similar values as you. This theory is still being researched and tested
everyday. Understanding this theory is very beneficial and can help you have a better
understanding of the people you may want to spend a lot of time with. Everyone who
has worked on this theory has done an amazing job at gathering valuable information
and sharing it to help others. I learned a lot about how crucial friends and
communication is.

Cherry, K (2020). What is cognitive dissonance?: VeryWell Mind. Web. Retrieved

February 11, 2021 from
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cognitive-dissonance-2795012#:~:text=Le
on%20Festinger%20first%20proposed%20the,beliefs%20and%20behaviors%20
are%20consistent.

Cooper, J., & Hogg, M. A. (2019, May 3). International Review of Social Psychology.
https://www.rips-irsp.com/articles/10.5334/irsp.277/.

Suls, J (2021). Leon Festinger: Britannica. Web. Retrieved February 13, 2021 from
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leon-Festinger