Recall that Elliot Aronson and J.Merrill Carlsmith (1963)told preschoolers that they were not allowed to play with a toy that the children had already rated as more attractive than other toys.Half of the children were threatened with mild punishment if they disobeyed,and the other half with severe punishment.When the experimenter left the room,none of the children played with the forbidden toy.When the experimenter returned and asked the children to rate all the toys again,those children who received

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The children who received mild threats reduced their dissonance by rating the forbidden toy as less attractive than before. This is consistent with the theory of cognitive dissonance, which suggests that when our actions go against our beliefs or attitudes, we experience dissonance and seek to reduce it by changing our beliefs or attitudes. In this case, the children who were threatened with mild punishment for disobeying likely experienced dissonance between their desire to play with the forbidden toy (which they previously rated as more attractive) and their belief that it is wrong to do so. To reduce this dissonance, they may have changed their belief about the toy and rated it as less attractive than before.

Recall That Elliot Aronson and J