Born in Brooklyn, New York, Festinger was the son of Russian immigrantsAlex Festinger, an embroidery manufacturer, and Sara Solomon who left Eastern Europe before World War I. SEE ALSO Aronson, Elliot; Attitudes; Cognitive Dissonance; Lewin, Kurt; Social Comparison. Copyright 2012-2021 Stories People All rights reserved. As Festinger explained, the group attempted to decrease the dissonance they felt as a result of the failed prediction by adding this new belief to explain away the inconsistency. 1. The extent to which a person changes, however, depends on several factors, namely the importance and relevance of the comparison group, and how attracted the individual is to that group. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. New York: Dryden Press, 1953. Festinger, L. (1947a). 'target="_blank"> Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. In fact, Festingers rush to complete his doctoral studies in three years was motivated, he said, to avoid the war, claiming to be one of the original draft dodgers (Patnoe, 1988, p. 253). Comparisons in economic thought: Economic interdependency reconsidered. The group paid $20 maintained that the experiment was boring. The research coming out of Festingers collaboration with May Brodbeck, Don Martindale, Jack Brehm, and Alvin Boderman, a project funded by the Behavioral Sciences Division of the Ford Foundation, which moved from the field to the laboratory, book-ended Festingers years of research in social psychology. This experiment reflects several features of Festingers research. As he saw it, the laboratory could limit theory and research because one has purified the thing so that you can see whether or not what you are looking for is there. To Festinger, switching back and forth between laboratory studies and studies in the real world, or field studies, as he referred to them, helped to clarify theory and get hunches and that kind of thing (Patnoe, 1988, p. 255). He dealt with his cancer as a research problem. The centre was committed to the application of psychological concepts and methods to solve social problems, and it attracted many talented students, including Stanley Schachter and Harold Kelley. Staging elaborate laboratory experiments was likened by Festinger and some of his students to the work of a playwright; in this case, art and science worked hand-in-hand to call out a real experiencewhat students of Festinger subsequently dubbed experimental realism (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1968). (2010). All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. As he took courses in one and another science, his impression of psychology grew as a science where there were stillquestions to be answered (p. 132), a field awaiting new contributions an irresistible draw to a young scientist and chess enthusiast. succeed. Self-evaluation as a function of attraction to the group. These types of quizzes help people to determine how they measure up to others or to what the editor says is desirable. Later, when the center relocated to the University of Michigan, Schachter followed up on the housing study findings in experimental laboratory work he conducted for his dissertation on deviation, rejection, and communication. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2006.t01-3-.x?journalCode=ppsa. Back, K., Festinger, L., Hymovitch, B., Kelley, H., Schachter, S., & Thibaut, J. In the study, undergraduate students of Introductory Psychology at Stanford University were asked to take part of a series of experiments. WebRecall that Leon Festinger and J. Merrill Carlsmith (1959) paid participants either $1 or $20 to tell another person that a boring, tedious task was really fun and interesting. Laboratory Experiments. In Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences, edited by Leon Festinger and Daniel Katz. This became known as the principle of propinquity a fancy way of saying that the closer we are to someone physically, the more likely we are to be attracted to them. He described this work as a beautiful series of studies in which he [Hull] took what is still an obscure phenomenon and examined it (Cohen, 1977, p. 132). These theories Biographical Memoirs, 64, 98-110. For abilities, observing those with similar abilities allows people to learn what actions they are capable of. Turn to Social Psychology . 'border="1" width="20" height="20"><\/a>')
. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. He was survived by his wife Trudy and four children. Cognitive dissonance was conceptualized as a tension between opposing beliefs or between belief and behavior, with the tension functioning as a motivational force driving one to reduce the emotional or cognitive strain. It would not be until three years after completing his doctoral studies that Festinger immersed [himself] in the field [of social psychology] with all its difficulties, vaguenesses, and challenges (Festinger, 1980, p. 237). Social comparison theory posited that people evaluate their abilities and opinions by comparing them with those of others when it is not feasible to test them directly. PracticalPie.com is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program. In 1955, Festinger moved to Stanford University and published his theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957. People want to be slightly better than everyone else because the desire to be better or to improve is emphasized in Western cultures. His theorys counterintuitive predictions held great appeal. (April 27, 2023). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Finally, we could change how you remember the situation that caused dissonance. 2023 . The premise of their study was to better understand what happens to someone's personal beliefs when they are forced to comply with something contrary to their beliefs. He continued his research on cognitive dissonance as well as other behavioral issues. But given that they had sustained no damage, they also recognized that they had much less to be anxious about. WebLeon Festinger is a well known social psychologist and a pioneer for cognitive dissonance and social comparison. Gazzaniga, M. S. Leon Festinger: Lunch with Leon. Perspectives on Psychological Science 1, no. Movement between studies in situ and the laboratory became a defining signature of Festingers early and most well-known social psychological research. "Festinger, Leon Leon Festinger (Psychologist Biography) | Practical Psychology Festinger, L. (1959b). Festinger graduated with a B.A. 4 (1957): 8992. Anne has experience in science research and creative writing. We may think fast food is bad for our health, but cant resist stopping at Mcdonalds on our way home from work. ';h'+escape(document.title.substring(0,150))+';'+Math.random()+ Festinger, L. (1947b). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons. The other students, however, had to justify having spent time doing useless tasks and getting only a dollar as a reward. Festingers parents departed Russia for the United States just before the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Historian of psychology Edwin G. Boring (1964) went so far as to parallel Festingers studies of cognitive dissonance with the condition of the scientist, instancing occasion after occasion where the scientist persists and perseveres in the face of cognitive dissonance. Festinger infiltrated the Seekers with the goal of studying their cognitive reactions and coping mechanisms when their beliefs failed, a thought-process which Festinger copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. A number of these experiments are reported in Festingers second book on dissonance theory, Conflict, Decisions, and Dissonance (1964).
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