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When exemplification fails: hypocrisy and the motive for self-integrity
J Stone1, A W Wiegand, J Cooper
1Department of Psychology, Princeton University, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|January 1, 1997
Summary
People experiencing hypocrisy dissonance prefer changing their behavior over self-affirmation. Even when self-affirmation is more important, direct dissonance reduction remains the chosen strategy.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Dissonance Theory
- Self-Perception
Background:
- Cognitive dissonance arises when individuals' actions contradict their beliefs or values, creating psychological discomfort.
- Individuals possess multiple strategies to reduce this dissonance, including direct behavioral change or indirect self-affirmation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate which dissonance reduction strategy people prefer when both direct (behavioral change) and indirect (self-affirmation) options are available.
- To examine the influence of self-worth importance on the choice between direct and indirect dissonance reduction methods.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted where participants experienced dissonance arousal due to hypocritical behavior.
- Participants were offered a choice between a direct strategy (modifying behavior) and an indirect strategy (self-affirmation).
Main Results:
- In both experiments, a significant majority of participants opted for direct dissonance reduction.
- This preference for direct resolution persisted even when the indirect self-affirmation strategy was more personally significant.
Conclusions:
- Individuals predominantly favor direct behavioral adjustments to resolve hypocrisy-induced dissonance.
- The choice of dissonance reduction strategy is influenced by underlying mechanisms that prioritize direct resolution over self-affirmation, irrespective of the latter's perceived importance.