TY - CHAP
T1 - Feeling The Anguish Of Others
T2 - A Theory Of Vicarious Dissonance
AU - Cooper, Joel
AU - Hogg, Michael A.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge grant support from the National Cancer Institute, CA097354, and the Australian Research Council that allowed us to conduct some of the research we report and helped us collaborate in the writing of the chapter.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Fifty years ago, Leon Festinger introduced a new concept into the language of social psychology. In his A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Festinger (1957) explained that two elements of knowledge that are discrepant with each other could cause a state of arousal that he called cognitive dissonance. Dissonance, experienced as an unpleasant and uncomfortable tension state akin to a drive, needs to be reduced. An individual who is in such a state is motivated to add, subtract, or otherwise alter his or her cognitions in order to be rid of the unpleasant feeling of dissonance. From these basic propositions, the theory has spawned controversy, support, and an ample share of criticism. Over the decades, the culmination of thousands of empirical studies and theoretical refinements is testimony to the impact and significance of cognitive dissonance on individual agents and actors.
AB - Fifty years ago, Leon Festinger introduced a new concept into the language of social psychology. In his A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Festinger (1957) explained that two elements of knowledge that are discrepant with each other could cause a state of arousal that he called cognitive dissonance. Dissonance, experienced as an unpleasant and uncomfortable tension state akin to a drive, needs to be reduced. An individual who is in such a state is motivated to add, subtract, or otherwise alter his or her cognitions in order to be rid of the unpleasant feeling of dissonance. From these basic propositions, the theory has spawned controversy, support, and an ample share of criticism. Over the decades, the culmination of thousands of empirical studies and theoretical refinements is testimony to the impact and significance of cognitive dissonance on individual agents and actors.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0065-2601(06)39007-7
DO - 10.1016/S0065-2601(06)39007-7
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:34247199088
SN - 0120152398
SN - 9780120152391
T3 - Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
SP - 359
EP - 403
BT - Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
A2 - Zanna, Mark
ER -