Cognitive Dissonance in Groups: The Consequences of Disagreement.

Abstract

As L. Festinger (1957) argued, the social group is a source of cognitive dissonance as well as a vehicle for reducing it. That is, disagreement from others in a group generates dissonance, and subsequent movement toward group consensus reduces this negative tension. The authors conducted 3 studies to demonstrate group-induced dissonance. In the first, students in a group with others who ostensibly disagreed with them experienced greater dissonance discomfort than those in a group with others who agreed. Study 2 demonstrated that standard moderators of dissonance in past research--lack of choice and opportunity to self-affirm, similarly reduced dissonance discomfort generated by group disagreement. In Study 3, the dissonance induced by group disagreement was reduced through a variety of interpersonal strategies to achieve consensus, including persuading others, changing one's own position, and joining an attitudinally congenial group.

Saying is experiencing: Affective consequences of complaining and affirmation

“…When participants complained on a topic that was counter-normative for complaining they tended to report a marginally higher level of emotional tension (M = 2.88) than in the remaining conditions, which varied from 2.34 to 2.45. This is in line with the idea that compared to norm-consistent action, counter-normative behavior results in an increased tension (Festinger, 1957, Matz & Wood, 2005Rudman & Fairchild, 2004). …”

Social Category Diversity Promotes Premeeting Elaboration: The Role of Relationship Focus

“…When individuals disagree they should be more likely to question their own or other's accuracy, and think further about available information as compared to when they agree. Agreement from another individual confirms one's belief in one's own opinion, leading to a low likelihood that the joint decision will differ from the individual decisions (e.g., Brodbeck et al 2002;Matz and Wood 2005;Stasser and Stewart 1992). Furthermore, individuals find agreement more pleasing than disagreement, even when this agreement comes from an unexpected source (e.g., Phillips 2003;Taylor 1968).…”

The Psychology of Self‐defense: Self‐Affirmation Theory

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