Laboratory on Cognitive Dissonance - Lab Report Example

Running heading: Laboratory report on cognitive dissonance Laboratory report on cognitive dissonance Name Course Tutor 26th October, 2010 Abstract An experimental study I participated in at our university was carried out to test the theory of dissonance. In this experiment, 127 student participants’ attitudes were tested to find out what they thought about raising the drinking age to 21. The participants who answered “yes” went through similar tests but their results were not reported in this experiment. However, those who answered “no’ were subjected to two control conditions, where they were first asked to support their attitudes as to why the drinking age should not be raised, and the second, to support why the drinking age should be raised (contradicting their opinions). Introduction Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable mental state, achieved when an individual contradicts what he / she believes is true, and instead says that it is not true. Because of this uncomfortable state the mind will be, an individual find ways to achieve consistency by increasing the number of consonant variables, by either, convincing him/herself that what they are opposing is actually true by changing their attitudes or behaviour, or sticking to what they believe is true. Festinger (1957) found out people normally become uncomfortable with dissonances, and seek ways of correcting it. In the following experiment, the subject’s ability to reduce dissonance and draw correct results is tested. The hypotheses proved with this experiment are that people can avoid dissonance by changing their attitudes towards a subject, and produce almost similar results. i.e., dissonance states are directly related to our behaviour, just as consonant state of mind. Another hypothesis to be tested related to age of participants, the assumption is that the older a person gets, the more like they will want the age to be raised, compared to the younger ones. Another hypotheses relating to age is that the older one gets, the easier it is for them to achieve dissonance by quickly complying their mental environment. And the last assumption the last assumption is that more males than females are likely to oppose the age raise to 21. Procedure/ method On arrival, we were welcomed by an experimenter who told us were to take part in a wellness program research that was very important to the government, as its results would be used to create laws and policies about the drinking age. Participants were both males and females between the ages of 18 to 62. He explained to us how the experiment was to be done and ordered us to be as persuasive as possible in our literature composition. At firs, we were to answer the question whether or not the drinking age should be raised to 21, then those who answered “no” (whose results I report on), were later given a form to fill. This form included a number of questions regarding consumption of alcohol and the well ness of an individual, relating to age. The experimenter later informed us that they was enough evidence favouring “yes” team, and that we could support the “yes” or choose otherwise. The questions in the form were; do you agree that rising the drinking age to 21 will reduce the rate of death through accidents? We were to answer, on a scale of 1-5, 5 being not really, 1 being very true, and 2 being probably. Another question was do you think raising the drinking age to 21 ensures responsible citizenship? On a scale of 1-5, 5 being not at all, 1 being yes, and 2 being probably. In your view, is there a relationship between alcohol consumption at an early age with addiction in later life? The same grading scale was applied, as in the other two questions, with 1 being yes and 5 being no. These questions were later repeated on the controlled experiment, where the participants were to support the drinking age to 21, even though they had previously disagreed. The female participants were represented by the number 1, while the male were represented by 2 (Wicklund & Brehn, 1976). With common belief, and adolescence studies, most teenagers as from the age of 16 want to experiment with alcohol without parental or government interference. It was somehow obvious that most of them would contradict the proposal of raising the drinking age to 21. Results and interpretations In the first experiment, where participants responded honestly to their “no “ stand, the results were as follows, most participants within the age 18 to 23 (males), responded, on average, 3-5, meaning, they probably agreed that raising drinking age could reduce fatalities through road accidents. Females within the same age group responded on average 2-5, meaning they thought that raising the drinking age could curb road carnages. Those within the age bracket of above the age of 23 to 41 brought similar results ranging 1-3, meaning they strongly believed it could reduce road accidents. These results are represented by the data under Attitude 1 on the results sheet. With this attitude’s results, older people (25-62 years) responded with 3-4, with the oldest responding 2, they probably agreed that raising drinking age reduces road accidents. The second question, represented by attitude 2, was do you think raising the drinking age would ensure responsible citizenship? The highest score on this question was 5, average being 4, and the lowest score 2. This means that most of the participants thought it could probably help in bringing up responsible adults, if the drinking age was to be raised to 21. The third question, participants were asked whether they thought early consumption of alcohol could lead to an addiction later in life. The sores were put under attitude 3 on the sheet. Most males within the age of 19 to 28 answered 4, while females within the age of 19 -21 answered 1. The highest score was 5, from. Most males within the age of 18 to 20, meaning they did not think it could cause addiction, the older members responded the same with an average score of 4 (Wicklund & Brehn, 1976). On a controlled experiment where we were asked to write a paragraph supporting the notion that the drinking age should be raised, even though it was against our opinions, the results were recorded under attitudes 4, 5 and 6 on the score sheet. In the first question, about road accidents and drinking (attitude 4), most males within the age of 18-20 answered 1, (their first results were 3). Meaning they agreed that raising the age could reduce road carnage. Most females however answered between 2 and 3, leaving it a probability. In line with the first results, participants were able to change their original attitudes to agree that drinking age should be raised to 21, and this would reduce road accidents. This means that participants reduce dissonance by change of attitudes, to yield the same results. These results therefore prove our hypotheses that state that dissonance and consonance affect our attitudes, almost in the same way. If you are in a consonant state, then you behave in a way you feel comfortable. If you are in a consonant sate, then you modify your behaviour or attitude to accommodate one option so that you achieve balance, and the modification could involve choosing to comply. These results also confirm that the older the person is, probably due to experience and the growing sense of responsibility, they agree more on the raise even though they first oppose. It also proves our assumption that in deed they were easy to convince. This is because their results did not show much difference as in the first. On the second experiment involving the induced decision, (that we say yes, even though we mean no), the second question, presented on attitude 5, if raising the drinking age to 21 promotes a sense of responsibility in later life. Most female participants responded 1, followed by 2 and 4. Averagely, this is a 2 point score, and was similar to males of the same age group as well as the older participants (Cooper, 2007). Discussions and implications The above results show a very small connection between age and control of the psychological control. Most people above the age of 30 scored in all the experiments, just the same results as those under 25. As much as their results were almost similar in all the experiments, it was easy to notice their consistency in all results with almost same scores. This implies that age has very little to do with the ability to attain psychological balance. Female participants were eager to respond on scores affirming the questions, implying, they would easily affirm the proposal of age raise. The total score on all the experiments proved that mental control cannot be described as an issue of young/old, male or female. This is because the lowest (11) and the highest (41) both come from males of 28 years and (13) comes from a female of 32 years. We can therefore conclude that people are different and no matter the age or gender, everyone has their own control over themselves. References Cooper, J. (2007). Cognitive disonnance: Fifty years of a classic theory. London: SAGE Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. California: Stanford University press Wicklund, R. A. & Brehn, J. W. (1976). Perspectives on cognitive disonnance. New York: Routledge Read More

He explained to us how the experiment was to be done and ordered us to be as persuasive as possible in our literature composition. At firs, we were to answer the question whether or not the drinking age should be raised to 21, then those who answered “no” (whose results I report on), were later given a form to fill. This form included a number of questions regarding consumption of alcohol and the well ness of an individual, relating to age. The experimenter later informed us that they was enough evidence favouring “yes” team, and that we could support the “yes” or choose otherwise.

The questions in the form were; do you agree that rising the drinking age to 21 will reduce the rate of death through accidents? We were to answer, on a scale of 1-5, 5 being not really, 1 being very true, and 2 being probably. Another question was do you think raising the drinking age to 21 ensures responsible citizenship? On a scale of 1-5, 5 being not at all, 1 being yes, and 2 being probably. In your view, is there a relationship between alcohol consumption at an early age with addiction in later life?

The same grading scale was applied, as in the other two questions, with 1 being yes and 5 being no. These questions were later repeated on the controlled experiment, where the participants were to support the drinking age to 21, even though they had previously disagreed. The female participants were represented by the number 1, while the male were represented by 2 (Wicklund & Brehn, 1976). With common belief, and adolescence studies, most teenagers as from the age of 16 want to experiment with alcohol without parental or government interference.

It was somehow obvious that most of them would contradict the proposal of raising the drinking age to 21. Results and interpretations In the first experiment, where participants responded honestly to their “no “ stand, the results were as follows, most participants within the age 18 to 23 (males), responded, on average, 3-5, meaning, they probably agreed that raising drinking age could reduce fatalities through road accidents. Females within the same age group responded on average 2-5, meaning they thought that raising the drinking age could curb road carnages.

Those within the age bracket of above the age of 23 to 41 brought similar results ranging 1-3, meaning they strongly believed it could reduce road accidents. These results are represented by the data under Attitude 1 on the results sheet. With this attitude’s results, older people (25-62 years) responded with 3-4, with the oldest responding 2, they probably agreed that raising drinking age reduces road accidents. The second question, represented by attitude 2, was do you think raising the drinking age would ensure responsible citizenship?

The highest score on this question was 5, average being 4, and the lowest score 2. This means that most of the participants thought it could probably help in bringing up responsible adults, if the drinking age was to be raised to 21. The third question, participants were asked whether they thought early consumption of alcohol could lead to an addiction later in life. The sores were put under attitude 3 on the sheet. Most males within the age of 19 to 28 answered 4, while females within the age of 19 -21 answered 1.

The highest score was 5, from. Most males within the age of 18 to 20, meaning they did not think it could cause addiction, the older members responded the same with an average score of 4 (Wicklund & Brehn, 1976). On a controlled experiment where we were asked to write a paragraph supporting the notion that the drinking age should be raised, even though it was against our opinions, the results were recorded under attitudes 4, 5 and 6 on the score sheet. In the first question, about road accidents and drinking (attitude 4), most males within the age of 18-20 answered 1, (their first results were 3).

Meaning they agreed that raising the age could reduce road carnage. Most females however answered between 2 and 3, leaving it a probability.

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