In a classic study conducted by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) on cognitive dissonance, under which circumstance did subjects come to believe that a boring task was interesting.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In Festinger and Carlsmith's study, participants who were paid $1 to tell someone that a boring task was interesting experienced cognitive dissonance, as they were aware that the task was actually boring but had told someone else (the experimenter) that it was interesting. To reduce the dissonance, they came to believe that the task was actually interesting, thus justifying their behavior of lying about their enjoyment of the task. Participants who were paid $20 did not experience cognitive dissonance, as the high payment provided sufficient external justification for their behavior. Therefore, choice B is the correct answer.

In a Classic Study Conducted by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959)