Assume that you were a participant in the experiment conducted by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) in which participants were paid either a large or small sum of money to tell an innocent stranger that the boring, tedious task you had just completed was really enjoyable and very interesting.Further assume that you were paid a large amount of money to tell the stranger that lie.In this situation, you would be most likely to

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Festinger and Carlsmith's experiment found that participants who were paid a large sum of money ($20) to lie about the task experienced cognitive dissonance, a discomfort caused by conflicting thoughts and beliefs. In this scenario, the participant would likely maintain their original assessment of the task as dull and boring in order to reduce the discomfort that arises from lying for a large sum of money. Option A suggests the participant would undergo cognitive dissonance, but this is not the most likely outcome given the experiment's findings. Option C suggests the participant would justify the lie, which is possible, but not the most likely outcome. Option D is unlikely given that the participant already completed the task and would not have high internal justification for completing it again.

Assume That You Were a Participant in the Experiment Conducted