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Related Concept Videos

Cognitive Dissonance01:38

Cognitive Dissonance

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Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
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Fundamental Attribution Error01:14

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According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is...
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Cause and Effect01:53

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While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that some other factor, a confounding variable, is actually causing the systematic movement in our variables of interest. For instance, as sales in ice cream increase, so does the overall rate of crime. Is it possible that indulging in your favorite flavor of ice cream could send you on a crime spree? Or, after committing crime do you think you might decide to treat yourself to a cone?
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Attribution Theory00:56

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Behavior is a product of both the situation (e.g., cultural influences, social roles, and the presence of bystanders) and of the person (e.g., personality characteristics). Subfields of psychology tend to focus on one influence or behavior over others. Situationism is the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings. In contrast, dispositionism holds that our behavior is determined by internal factors (Heider, 1958).
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Cognitive Learning01:21

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Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
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The Scientific Method02:40

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Research is what makes the difference between facts and opinions. Facts are observable realities, and opinions are personal judgments, conclusions, or attitudes that may or may not be accurate. In the scientific community, facts can be established only using evidence collected through empirical research.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 29, 2025

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal
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Avoidance of causality outside experiments: Hypotheses from cognitive dissonance reduction.

Michael Höfler1, Alexander Giesche1

  • 1Clinical Psychology and Behavioural Neuroscience, Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

Science Progress
|April 3, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Psychology researchers often avoid causality despite its importance. This study explored why, finding cognitive dissonance reduction plays a role in this avoidance, suggesting interventions for better causal inference.

Keywords:
Causalityavoidancecausal effectscognitive dissonancenon-experimental studiesteaching

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Research Methodology
  • Causal Inference

Background:

  • Non-experimental studies frequently avoid causality, a stance criticized due to theories relying on causal relations.
  • Developing methodological tools for causal analysis has advanced significantly in recent decades.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate why psychology researchers avoid addressing causality in their work.
  • To explore the role of cognitive dissonance reduction in the avoidance of causal analysis.

Main Methods:

  • An online study involving 106 psychology researchers presented a fictitious causal statement.
  • Participants were randomized into groups to reflect on the conflict between seeking causal answers and norms of avoidance, with one group also considering benefits.
  • Attitudes towards causal questions were assessed using a 19-item list, supplemented by free-text assessments.

Main Results:

  • Exploratory findings were condensed into five hypotheses regarding the mechanisms and reasons for avoiding causality.
  • Cognitive dissonance reduction theory was used to explain these findings.
  • Hypotheses address the costs of addressing causality, methods of dissonance reduction, and the need for educational and social interventions.

Conclusions:

  • The study identifies cognitive dissonance reduction as a key factor in researchers' avoidance of causality.
  • Recommendations are provided for future research, including confirmation trials and improved causality education.
  • Open data are available for further researcher analysis.