Recall that Aronson and his colleagues asked college students either to compose a persuasive message advocating the use of condoms or to compose and deliver their message in front of a video camera. In addition, half of the participants in each group were made mindful of the times that they didn't use condoms. Which (fictitious) participant below would experience the most dissonance and express a greater willingness to use condoms in the future?
A) Jane, who spoke before a video camera, but did not list the times it was hard to use condoms
B) Paul, who did not deliver his speech on video, but listed the times he found it hard to use condoms
C) Sally, who delivered her speech, and listed the times she found it hard to use condoms
D) Otis, who did not deliver his speech, and did not list the times he found it hard to use condoms

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Sally experienced both the effort justification (delivering a persuasive speech) and the induced compliance (advocating for condom use despite it being difficult in some situations) components of the experiment, leading to higher levels of dissonance. Additionally, being mindful of the times she didn't use condoms may have increased her dissonance further. This would lead Sally to express a greater willingness to use condoms in the future.

Recall That Aronson and His Colleagues Asked College Students Either