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?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This finding can be explained by cognitive dissonance theory. Participants who received only $1 had insufficient justification for telling a lie, so they experienced dissonance between their behavior (lying) and their attitude towards the task (it was boring). To reduce this discomfort, they changed their attitude towards the task to become more positive. In contrast, participants who received $20 had sufficient justification for lying (i.e., the large monetary compensation), so they did not experience dissonance and did not need to change their attitude towards the task.

Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) Asked Participants to Perform a Boring