A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance¶
Festinger, L. (1957). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford University Press.
Cited by¶
6 citations across 6 artifacts.
Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.
Primes¶
- Approach-Avoidance Conflict
- Not procrastination as such: procrastination has multiple causes (executive-function weakness, temporal discounting); approach-avoidance is one specific gradient structure that can produce delay, not the delay itself. Not static ambivalence: approach-avoidance is a dynamic gradient model; static ambivalence is the co-existence of incompatible attitudes without gradient-proximity dependence.
This sourceHolds that incompatible cognitions produce an aversive tension motivating change; cited as the contrast case of static (non-gradient) ambivalence.
- Not procrastination as such: procrastination has multiple causes (executive-function weakness, temporal discounting); approach-avoidance is one specific gradient structure that can produce delay, not the delay itself. Not static ambivalence: approach-avoidance is a dynamic gradient model; static ambivalence is the co-existence of incompatible attitudes without gradient-proximity dependence.
- Belief Formation
- Social psychology: Conformity-driven belief change (Asch lines, Sherif autokinetic effect), group polarization, in-group testimony privilege, dissonance reduction as a driver of belief formation, and the social-identity contingency of doxastic assent, a regime Festinger (1957) formalized in his theory of cognitive dissonance as a motivational engine for retroactive belief-fixation.
This sourceAgents experience aversive tension from incompatible cognitions and reduce it through belief change, selective exposure, or reinterpretation.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
The book's own abstract confirms Festinger 1957 as the source of cognitive dissonance theory within motivation, but says nothing of belief formation, belief-fixation, or doxastic assent.
“Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance has been widely recognized for its important and influential concepts in areas of motivation and social psychology.”
- Social psychology: Conformity-driven belief change (Asch lines, Sherif autokinetic effect), group polarization, in-group testimony privilege, dissonance reduction as a driver of belief formation, and the social-identity contingency of doxastic assent, a regime Festinger (1957) formalized in his theory of cognitive dissonance as a motivational engine for retroactive belief-fixation.
- Cognitive Dissonance
- At least two active cognitions. Two or more mutually accessible cognitive elements — beliefs, attitudes, memories of recent action, self-concepts — are simultaneously present to the person.
This sourceFoundational theory: inconsistent cognitions create aversive tension that motivates reduction via belief change, selective exposure, or reinterpretation.
- At least two active cognitions. Two or more mutually accessible cognitive elements — beliefs, attitudes, memories of recent action, self-concepts — are simultaneously present to the person.
- Confirmation Bias
- .
This sourceFoundational theory that inconsistent cognitions produce aversive tension motivating belief change, selective exposure, or reinterpretation — the motivational source blended with the cognitive sources of confirmation bias. Live-verified (Stanford UP).
- .
- Dissonance
- Two beliefs about unrelated topics are different; "I value honesty" held together with "I lied to my friend" is dissonant.
This sourceInconsistency between beliefs, or belief and behavior, generates aversive pressure resolved by revising belief, behavior, or self-image — the cognitive specialization of the general prime.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
The Festinger abstract identifies the book as the source of cognitive-dissonance theory but says nothing about octaves, a minor second, or the honesty/lie example, so it backs only the concept's frame.
“Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance has been widely recognized for its important and influential concepts in areas of motivation and social psychology. The theory of dissonance is here applied to the problem of why partial reward, delay of reward , and effort expenditure during training result in increased resistance to extinction.”
- Two beliefs about unrelated topics are different; "I value honesty" held together with "I lied to my friend" is dissonant.
Domain-specific¶
- Ben Franklin Effect
- The mechanism runs through cognitive dissonance (Festinger 1957)
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
“Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance has been widely recognized for its important and influential concepts in areas of motivation and social psychology.”
- The mechanism runs through cognitive dissonance (Festinger 1957)
Verification¶
Does it exist? Confirmed. This work's DOI resolves to a registered record, which fixes its identity. That is all it fixes.
Does it back the claim? Read against the text for 3 of 6 citations: 3 supported in part. Each verdict is shown under its citation below, with what in the work backs the sentence.
Support is checked per citation rather than per work — the same source can be cited soundly in one article and wrongly in another. Per-citation recording began recently, so a citation with no recorded check is a gap in the record rather than evidence it went unchecked.
See how references were verified.
Links previously used in the corpus¶
Before the registry existed this work was also linked 2 other ways.
- https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=3850 ×2
- https://www.sup.org/books/sociology/theory-cognitive-dissonance ×1
Registry ID ref:df2523871ce8 · see in the full table