Participants in a study freely engage in a behaviour that is contrary to their attitudes.This behaviour causes an increase in physiological arousal,but the experimenter tells the participants that this arousal is the product of a placebo pill they have taken.Under these conditions,we would not expect the participants to change their attitudes to be more in line with their behaviour,a finding that is most consistent with ______________ theory.

Question

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Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that when people engage in behavior contrary to their attitudes, they experience discomfort (dissonance) and are motivated to reduce it, often by changing their attitudes. However, if they attribute the arousal to an external source (like a placebo pill), they do not feel the need to change their attitudes, as the dissonance is explained away.

Participants in a Study Freely Engage in a Behaviour That