Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive dissonance is having a thought, idea, attitude, or belief that seems to be out of tune. Cognitive dissonance tends to result in different ways based on the situation that it occurs in. If a person is forced to say an opinion that differs from their own, they experience an out of tune feeling. In Roger Hock’s book â€Å"Forty Studies that Changed Psychology,† he recognizes the study of cognitive dissonance performed by Leon Festinger. In â€Å"Thoughts Out of Tune,† the article specifically explaining Festinger’s study, Hock goes further into detail.He explains that if we are forced to state an opposed view, while preparing for it, we tend to believe it along with out own. This creates confusing, stress, and dissonance. Festinger’s study explains why and when people may or may not feel cognitive dissonance. Festinger proposed whatever you state publicly, will be a reflection of your personal views. If any person must sp eak publicly for any reason that goes against their own private belief, they will definitely feel uncomfortable. However, when offered a reward, the comfort levels can change.If someone offers the speaker a large reward, the speaker will feel more comfort in changing their attitude about the ideas or beliefs being said, even when they don’t believe them. If someone offers the speaker a small reward, the speaker will feel more discomfort because they do not feel there was justification in what they are being rewarded and will have more of a negative attitude than those being greater rewarded. Festinger performed his experiment on a control group, group A, and group B. Each group contained twenty participants. Group A was the group given one dollar to perform the experiment.Group B was given twenty dollars to perform the experiment. All group were interviewed after the performing ‘the experiment,’ which was to empty and refill a tray of 12 spools for 30 minutes and to turn 48 square pegs a quarter of a turn clockwise for 30 minutes. This was done in order to bore the participants and create negative feelings about what they had to do. Afterwards they were asked to fabricate their feelings toward the experiment to another group waiting outside. Group A was given one dollar. Group B was given twenty dollars. The control group was given no money and was able to be interviewed after performing the tasks.Group A and group B were told after speaking their opposed opinions that the experiment was fun and exciting, they were able to be interviewed and leave. The interview questioned their true beliefs on how they felt toward ‘the experiment. ’ They were asked to rate the experiments on a scale that offered the questions: whether the tasks were interesting and enjoyable, how much the person learned about their ability to perform the tasks given, whether they believed the experiment and tasks were measuring any importance or not, and if th ey had any desire to participate in another experiment similar to the one performed.In the findings, the control group had extremely negative ratings on the questions asked. Festinger concluded that when demanded to realize the differences among personal views and attitudes, we would tend to feel cognitive dissonance. This can encourage us to bring change to these views or attitudes to enforce them to become harmonious and agreeable with each other. This will continuously create changing attitudes whether they are big or small. The change will depend on the justification for the behavior.Festinger’s conclusions had shown to support his hypothesis. David Matz and Wendy Wood performed an experiment similar to Festinger’s study. Matz and Wood did a study on cognitive dissonance in groups and the consequences of disagreement. In the first of several experiments done, they tested ‘the nature of arousal induced by attitude heterogeneity in groups. ’ This determi nes if attitude likeness in groups could be related to dissonance. In the study, people were placed into groups. These groups were given one of three possible situations.These situations included what would occur after taking a survey. The groups would either discuss what they decided for a major issue, discuss their decisions and try to come to a consensus, and the last group would not discuss anything about the survey at all. The participants that were educated about the study acted as though they had a particular opinion. After the discussion, the participants, of the decision-making group, filled out a questionnaire about the responses and ease of agreeing for a consensus.The results were that the group having to reach a consensus found it easy and were motivated when the group was able to agree as opposed to when the group disagreed. The participants admitted to feeling anxiety and discomfort when having a disagreement with the group. This relates to Festinger’s study be cause they both relate to feeling uncomfortable. Although Festinger’s experiment was concentrated on a self and not a group, they both explain how different situations can cause discomfort and negative feelings.Festinger explains how someone not expressing their true feelings for any reason will undergo the feelings of cognitive dissonance. Matz and Wood are explaining the same thing but showing how people can understand cognitive dissonance by holding their opinions and not expressing themselves in fear of going against a group. The disagreement creates negative feelings causing the participant to feel out of place or out of tune. These experiments teach us that not expressing how we feel for any reason whether it’s being paid, persuaded, in fearfulness, we will tend to feel negative emotions.Disagreement will always cause discomfort in turn causing cognitive dissonance. References Chen, M. K. , & Risen, J. L. (2010). How choice affects and reflects preferences: revis iting the free-choice paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(4), 573-594. doi: 10. 1037/a0020217 Festinger, L. , & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 203-210. Hock, R. R. (2008). Forty studies that changed psychology: explorations into the history of psychological research (6th ed. ).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Matz, D. C. , & Wood, W. (2005). Cognitive dissonance in groups: the consequences of disagreement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(1), 22-37. doi: 10. 1037/0022-3514. 88. 1. 22 Newby-Clark, I. R. , McGregor, I. , & Zanna, M. P. (2002). Thinking and caring about cognitive inconsistency: when and for whom does attitudinal ambivalence feel uncomfortable? Journal of Peronality and Social Psychology, 82(2), 157-166. doi: 10. 1037/0022-3514. 82. 2. 157 Norton, M. I. , Monin, B. , Cooper, J. , & Hogg, M.A. (2003). Vicarious dissonance: Attitude ch ange from inconsistency of others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(1), 47-62. doi: 10. 1037/0022-3514. 85. 1. 47 Push, S. D. , Groth, M. , & Hennig-Thurau, T. (2011) Willing and able to fake emotions: A closer examination of the link between emotional dissonance and employee well-being. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(2), 377-390. doi: 10. 1037/a0021395 Rosenberg, M. J. (1960). Attitude organization and change: An analysis of consistency among attitude components. New Haven: Yale University Press.

One Hundred Years of Solitude Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

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Film Schindler's List - Movie Review Example chindler' Lit i not jut a biography of Okar chindler, but it i the tory of how good can overcome evil and how charity can overcome greed. (Paldiel, 2007) chindler' Lit begin with the early life of Okar chindler. The novel decribe hi early family life in the Autro-Hungarian Empire, and hi adolecence in the newly created tate of Czecholovakia. It tell of hi relationhip with hi father, and how hi father left hi mother. Hi mother i alo decribed in great detail. Like many German in the outh, he wa a devout Catholic. he i decribed a being very troubled that her on would take after her etranged huband with hi negligence of Catholicim. Okar never forgave Han, hi father, for hi abandonment of hi mother , which i ironic conidering that Okar would do the ame with hi wife Emilie. In fact Han and Okar chindler' live would become o much in parallel that the novel decribe their relationhip a "that of brother eparated by the accident of paternity." Okar' relationhip with Emilie i alo decribed in detail a i their marriage. The heart of the novel begin in October 1939 when Okar chindler come to the Polih city of Cracow. It ha been ix week ince the Ger man' took the city, and chindler ee great opportunity a any entrepreneur would. For chindler, Cracow repreent a place of unlimited poibilitie becaue of the current economic diorder and cheap labor. Upon hi arrival in Cracow he meet Itzak tern, a Jewih bookkeeper. chindler i very impreed with tern becaue of hi buine prowe and hi connection in the buine community. oon chindler and tern are on their way to the creation of a factory that would run on Jewih labor. Around thi time, the perecution of the Jew of Poland begin with their forced relocation into ghettoe. Thi turn out to be timely for chindler a now he i able to get very cheap labor. (Fench, 1995) The next few year would go well for chindler and hi factory for they turned a great profit. In fact he made o much money that he i quoted a aying, "I've made more money than I could poibly pend in a lifetime." Hi worker were alo very happy. Thi i becaue "chindler' Jew" were treated a human a oppoed to being treated a animal. For them, working in chindler' factory wa an ecape from the ghetto and from much German cruelty. They loved chindler o much that hi factory became known a a haven throughout the Jewih community. However, thing began to go our for chindler, when the German ordered the liquidation of the ghettoe. oon all of the Jew in the Cracow ghetto were relocated to the Plazow labor camp. By thi time chindler had grown o affectionate toward hi Jewih worker that he refued to hire Pole, and intead ought of a way to keep uing the Jew that he had grown o accutomed to. A the Cracow Jew were relocated to the Plazow labor camp, Okar chindler came into direct dealing with the camp' dir ector, Amon Goeth. He did not like Amon, but he tried to get in on hi bet ide in order to keep uing hi Jew in hi factory. Amon agreed to let chindler ue them, and thu aving hi Jew from ome of the harhne of the Plazow labor camp. A the war began to go badly for the German, they decided to accelerate their "final olution" by ending the Jew to more initer concentration camp uch a Auchwitz. Thi i when Okar chindler finally come to the realization that he had the power to help hi people. (Yule, 1997) The now enlightened chindler decide to ue hi entire fortune to

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Skyfall Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Skyfall - Essay Example A good film will undergo multiple scripting and deliberations on the most effective elements that are likely to make it a classic piece. From the graphics, the scenes, the background setting, color, soundtrack and lighting, are examples of decisions that the production has to decide on befor5e the movie can be cast. In short, the team does not wake up one day and go to the field to shoot a movie. Common decisions they have to make include the cinematic and theoretical elements of the movie. In differentiating between these two elements, this paper will analyse the film â€Å"Skyfall† that features James Bond, Javier Silva, Gareth Mallory, Eve, Severine, Q, Tanner, Patrice, Kincade and M. From the filming of the â€Å"Skyfall†, the director portrays a series of cinematic and theoretical episodes, making the audience get the feeling of watching a film that still can be referred to as a play. The film begins with a cinematic element in a chase where Patrice an agent of Sil va is in a hot pursuit from Bond. This takes place after a raid of the M16 offices and crucial information is stolen. However, Bond is shot by Eve his colleague and falls into a river. This dramatic turn of events is prompts others to think that Bond died from the shot. Theatrically, the movie portrays various characters that are in the cast, with unveiling of undercover agents deployed by the NATO in dangerous places. However, the setting is yet again replaced by a cinematic setting where Bond re-emerges from a beach, safe and ready to keep on with his mission (Wilson, 2012). Bond picks up with his mission of tracking Patrice and retrieving the hard disc containing information about the secret agents operations. From the trip to Shanghai to casinos in Macau, he desperately searches for the accomplice. This search and the various encounters of Bond with agents working for Silva, both Cinematic and Theatrical elements are portrayed. When Patrice and Bond start a fight after the killi ng of M16 agents, music is played all the way to the moment when Bond overcomes Patrice who falls of from the storied building. The music does not only make the scene interesting but also creates a cinematic element. After a long search of Patrice, Bond finds him at a casino in Macau. The two rivals start yet another fight in which music is played as they engage in a heated fight that is a measure of strength and wits. Music is also played all through this scene in order to pass time. The scene would have appeared boring as little was said by the two. Therefore, to keep the viewer engaged and as a way of killing time, music was played (Wilson, 2012). In the fight between Bond and Patrice at the casino in Macau, a cinematic scene is created when the two face off each other in presence of animals. The appeal of this to the audience is interesting and captivating too. To win the hearts of the audience, the directors make the Bond character strong and therefore this entices them to stay by his side as he hunts and kills the bad people. This is too cinematic. On the other hand, a few scenes from the film portray the theatrical part of a film. In Macau where Bond tracks Silva, Bond gets into a fight with agents of Silva. He fights them, killing all of them. Although this reveals him as a strong character, his ability to do so single handed is questionable by the

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 13

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Literature review Essay Example for Free

Literature review Essay A reasonable risk assessment of sex offenders, when combined with good parole supervision and a community-based treatment program aimed at relapse prevention, effectively reduces recidivism. This was the finding of a study conducted by Wilson, Stewart, Stirpe, Barrett, and Cripps in Canada. Published in 2000, the study covered 107 sex offenders who were released to the custody of the Central Ontario District during a period of eight years starting in 1990. According to the authors, their study outlined the general principles laid down by Motiuk, Belcourt, and Bonta in 1995, namely: careful and continuous evaluation of offender risk which ensures that highly dangerous offenders were not allowed to return to the community by sentencing them to life in prison; focusing on criminal behavior when conducting intervention programs with the help of qualified psychologists; effective monitoring of the returning offenders’ activities in the community by employing only competent parole personnel trained in the principles of relapse prevention; and an honest exchange of information among the relatives of sex offenders, the parole personnel, and the treatment staff in order to achieve the right mix of treatment intervention and parole supervision. Wilson et al (2000) found that the strategy resulted to a low 3. 7% recidivism compared to the 5. 4% cited by the study of Motiuk and Brown, and the 6.3% recidivism rate which came out of the study conducted by Barbaree, Seto, and Maric. Both studies were completed in 1996 (Wilson, Stewart, Stirpe, Barrett, and Cripps, 2000). In West Virginia, Gordon and Weldon (2003). Examined the effect of educational programs on recidivism. Studying the records of inmates who attended the General Educational Development (GED) and the Vocational training programs conducted from 1999-2000 at Huttonsville Correctional Center, they found that a recidivism rate of 8. 75% was recorded for those who completed the vocational training program. Inmates who went through both the vocational training program and the GED, on the other hand, reported a lower 6. 71% recidivism rate. Both figures were way below the recidivism rate of 26% which was observed on inmates who did not participate in either educational program. These results were comparative to the findings of a study made by Mace in 1978 of 320 inmates who were discharged from correctional institutions in West Virginia in 1973. Out of the 320, 76 were rearrested after four years, 21 (or 6. 56%) of whom were products of educational programs behind bars while 55 (or 17. 19%) did not attend any educational program while being incarcerated (Gordon and Weldon, 2003). Meanwhile, two cost-effective programs were the subject of an article authored by Harvey Shrum in 2004. Published in the Journal of Correctional Education, the article discussed two additional practices called logotherapy and intensive journal which, according to him, were better at reducing â€Å"future criminality† of both offenders and potential offenders than punishment and surveillance-based programs. Logotherapy, which means â€Å"health through meaning,† was developed by Dr. Viktor Frankl as an effective substitute to the 12-step program of rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abusers generally accepted by most parole boards. The program aims to provide inmates with a â€Å"purpose and direction in life. † Introduced forty years ago to inmates of a California Rehabilitation Center, program participants reported a recidivism rate of 5. 5%. When it was re-introduced to nineteen inmates of Folsom State Prison in 1998, the three participants who were released on parole reported a zero percent recidivism by year 2004. Intensive journal, on the other hand, was first introduced at Folsom State Prison in 1992. Created by Dr. Ira Progoff, it is a â€Å"method of self-development† that makes use of writing exercises. Inmates were made to write about their experiences, relationships with their families, their jobs and health, and the meaning that they give to their lives in a journal. These journals were reviewed and feedbacks were provided. By 2002, ten years after the program was introduced, no participant was ever rearrested (Shrum, 2004). The debate on the value of using recidivism to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of correctional programs continues and, in fact, polarized justice scholars. A dissenting opinion was voiced by Thomas in 2005 when he said that prison facilities and programs have no influence over the behavior of inmates once they return to their communities. He argued that communities are influenced by certain social, cultural, and economic factors which are beyond the control of prison facilities. Policymakers and academics, however, refuse to budge. They insist that there is no other, better measure than the rate of recidivism. According to these academics and policymakers, effective rehabilitation measures should be able to provide inmates with coping mechanisms necessary for them to deal with the â€Å"economic, social, and cultural stresses of post-release life. † In the same vein, they argue that effective deterrence programs should produce inmates who should have learned enough lessons during incarceration to dissuade them from returning to a life of crime. In both cases, they maintain that low recidivism should be the direct result. Although inclined towards the use of recidivism, Maxwell, in an article entitled: â€Å"Rethinking the Broad Sweep of Recidivism: A Task for Evaluators,† suggested that academics should not stop looking for less familiar methods of approaching the problem while policymakers should maintain an open mind so that like policy questions could be considered more objectively (Maxwell, 2005). References Gordon, H. R. D., and Weldon, B. (2003). The Impact of Career and Technical Education Programs on Adult Offenders: Learning Behind Bars. Journal of Correctional Education, 54, 4, 200-209. Maxwell, S. R. (2005). RETHINKING THE BROAD SWEEP OF RECIDIVISM: A TASK FOR EVALUATORS. Criminology Public Policy, 4, 3, 519-526. Shrum, H. (2004). No Longer Theory: Correctional Practices That Work. Journal of Correctional Education, 55, 3, 225-235. Wilson, R. J. , Stewart, L. , Stirpe, T. , Barrett, M. , and Cripps, J. E. (2000). Community-based sex offender management: Combining parole supervision and treatment to reduce recidivism. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 42, 2, 177-188.