Festinger and Carlsmith (1959)asked participants to perform a boring task and then paid them either $20 or $1 to lie to the next participant,telling them that the task was enjoyable.Afterwards they asked participants to rate how much they liked the task.Participants who received $1 rated the task as more enjoyable than participants who received $20.What has been proposed as a likely reason for this result?
A) The participants paid $20 actually liked the task but lied about how they felt.
B) The participants paid $1 actually disliked the task but lied about how they felt.
C) The participants paid $1 did not have sufficient justification for lying so changed their attitude to match their behavior.
D) The participants paid $20 experienced cognitive dissonance.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This result can be explained by Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, which suggests that when people experience conflicting beliefs or behaviors, they feel psychological discomfort, or dissonance. In this study, participants who were paid $1 to lie about enjoying the task had insufficient justification for their behavior, leading to dissonance. To eliminate the dissonance, they changed their attitudes to match their behavior and reported liking the task more. On the other hand, participants who were paid $20 had sufficient external justification for their behavior, and therefore did not experience dissonance, leading to no attitude change about the task. Thus, choice C is the best answer.

Festinger and Carlsmith (1959)asked Participants to Perform a Boring Task