When dissonance is reduced: The timing of self-justificatory attitude change

George R. Goethals, Joel Cooper

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tested hypotheses regarding the timing of self-justificatory attitude change following forced compliance. In a study with 93 undergraduates, it was predicted that if Ss believed that they would receive further information about the occurrence or nonoccurrence of possible unwanted consequences, they would show attitude change only after being informed that unwanted consequences were to occur. It was also predicted that if Ss believed at the time of commitment that they had all of the information that they would receive about behavioral consequences, attitude change would take place immediately after behavior if Ss thought it was definite or possible that unwanted consequences would occur. Finally, it was predicted that attitude change following forced compliance is not reversed by unexpected information regarding the nonoccurrence of anticipated consequences. Results support the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)361-367
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of personality and social psychology
Volume32
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 1975

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'When dissonance is reduced: The timing of self-justificatory attitude change'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this