scholarly journals Cognitive Dissonance from 2 years of age: Toddlers’, but not infants’, blind choices induce preferences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Grosse Wiesmann ◽  
Dora Kampis ◽  
Emilie Poulsen ◽  
Clara Schüler ◽  
Helle Lukowski Duplessy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Concept Development ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Second Year Of Life ◽  
Second Year

As adults, not only do we choose what we prefer, we also tend to adapt our preferences according to our previous choices. We do this even when our choices were blind and we could not have had any previous preference for the option we chose. These blind choice-induced preferences are thought toresult from cognitive dissonance as an effort to reconcile our choices and values. In the present preregistered study, we asked when this phenomenon develops. We reasoned that cognitive dissonance may emerge around 2 years of age in connection with the development of children’s self-concept. We presented N=200 children aged 16 to 36 months with a blind choice between two toys, and then tested whether their choice had induced a preference for the chosen, and a devaluation of the discarded, toy. Indeed, children’s choice-induced preferences substantially increased with age. 26- to 36-months-old children preferred a neutral over the previously blindly discarded toy, but the previously chosen over the neutral toy, in line with cognitive dissonance predictions. Younger infants showed evidence against such blind choice-induced preferences, indicating its emergence around 2 years of age. Contrary to our hypotheses, the emergence of blind choice-induced preferences was not related to measures of self-concept development in the second year of life. Our results suggest that cognitive dissonance develops around 2 years. We speculate about cognitive mechanisms that underlie this development, including later-developing aspects of the self-concept and increasingly abstract representational abilities.

scholarly journals Cognitive Dissonance, Ego-Involvement, and Motivated Reasoning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Explanatory Variable ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Persuasive Messages ◽  
Ego Involvement ◽  
Advance Research

One of the enduring topics for persuasion research is motivated reasoning, when people respond to persuasive messages in ways other than seeking to form an accurate attitude. This essay advances the position that the existing research can be synthesized using the self-concept approach to cognitive dissonance with ego-involvement added as the key explanatory variable to indicate when an issue is likely tied to the individual’s self-concept and thus potentially produce cognitive dissonance. The research on motivated reasoning is reviewed with this theoretical lens with recommendations on how to use this theory to advance research on understanding and reducing maladaptive motivated reasoning.

The effect of families’ socioeconomic status on the self-concept development of learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 189 (14) ◽  
pp. 2334-2346
Author(s):  
Velisiwe Gasa ◽  
Enid Pitsoane ◽  
Lesiba Molepo ◽  
Patricia Lethole
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Concept Development ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept

Dissonance and Attitude Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Stone ◽  
John J. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Attitude Change ◽  
The Self ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance Theory ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Dissonance Theory ◽  
And Behavior

Cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) was first introduced by Leon Festinger. Cognitive dissonance is the process by which people detect an inconsistency between cognitions, such as attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. When individuals become aware of an inconsistency between cognitions, they experience a state of psychological discomfort that motivates them to restore consistency. Factors such as the importance of the cognitions and the magnitude of the discomfort play a role in determining how people restore consistency. Festinger described three primary ways people can reduce dissonance: change a cognition; add new cognitions; or change the importance of the inconsistent cognitions. Many early studies showed that when people are unable to change their behavior, they will change their attitudes to be more in line with the inconsistent behavior. Over the years, CDT has undergone many challenges and revisions. Some revisions focus on the importance of cognitions about the self in the processes by which dissonance motivates attitude change. Others focused on the consequences of the behavior and various cognitive mechanisms that underlie the experience of dissonance. In the early 21st century, research has examined the underlying motivation for dissonance-induced attitude and behavior change, and how people prefer to reduce dissonance once it is present. And, as with the entire field of social psychology, dissonance researchers are also raising concerns about the replicability of classic dissonance effects and focusing their attention on the need to improve the methods the field uses to test predictions going forward.

The Self-concept Development of Chinese Primary Schoolchildren

Childhood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
SING LAU ◽  
CAROL K.K. SIU ◽  
MARIA P.Y. CHIK
Keyword(s):  
Concept Development ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Primary Schoolchildren

scholarly journals Grade and Gender Effects on Self-Concept Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa Alrajhi ◽  
Said Aldhafri ◽  
Hussain Alkharusi ◽  
Ibrahim Alharthy ◽  
Hafidah Albarashdi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Peer Relations ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Concept Development ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
School Students ◽  
Study Results ◽  
And Gender

Background: Different biological and environmental factors may play roles in the development of self-concept. Many studies have focused on gender or age differences in self-concept separately. Objective: The current study aimed at examining the effects of grade, gender and their interaction on the development of four self-concept dimensions (appearance, school, parent-relations, and peer-relations) among Omani adolescents. Methods: The study sample was 651 middle and high school students from two districts in Oman. The students were enrolled in grades 7, 9 and 11. The study utilized the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-1, Marsh, 1988) to assess students' levels in the self-concepts dimensions. The study adopted the descriptive design using Two Way Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Results: The study results demonstrated that grade and gender interaction affected appearance self-concept development; however, this interaction had no effects on the other dimensions. Moreover, gender and grade differences were found in some dimensions of self-concept. Conclusion: The study suggested that the effects of grade level and gender varied based on the self-concept dimensions. Adolescents' self-concept should be given a careful attention for its important role in providing healthy outcomes.

Rationalization is irrational and self-serving, but useful

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Quilty-Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Attitude Change ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Dissonance Reduction

Abstract Rationalization through reduction of cognitive dissonance does not have the function of representational exchange. Instead, cognitive dissonance is part of the “psychological immune system” (Gilbert 2006; Mandelbaum 2019) and functions to protect the self-concept against evidence of incompetence, immorality, and instability. The irrational forms of attitude change that protect the self-concept in dissonance reduction are useful primarily for maintaining motivation.

Another brick in the self: Non-relational self-expansion and self-concept size

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent A. Mattingly ◽  
Gary W. Lewandowski ◽  
Amanda K. Mosley ◽  
Sarah N. Guarino ◽  
Rachel E. A. Carson
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Relational Self
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