Becoming The Next Zimbardo

  Have you ever felt guilty after eating a sweet treat while on a diet? That is because of cognitive dissonance , which is the discomfort someone feels after their attitudes and behavior do not match (Festinger, 1957). Further, there is induced compliance (or insufficient justification ) which is where our attitudes and behaviors do not match because someone persuades us to act in a way opposite to our attitude (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). Additionally, when we are not rewarded sufficiently, we change our attitude to justify our behavior (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). A great example of insufficient justification is when experimenters recruited participants to eat grasshoppers for either a “nice” person or a “mean” person (Zimbardo et al., 1965). Participants who ate grasshoppers for a “mean” experimenter developed a more positive attitude toward eating grasshoppers than those who ate grasshoppers for a “nice” experimenter to justify their behavior and reduce their discom...

  How do you feel about attending college? Do you have a positive or negative reaction to that question, and has this reaction been stable over time? This reaction is called an attitude , which is a response towards something that lasts over time but can change (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Although it may seem like attitudes are the sole predictors of behavior, they are not (Azjen, 1991). In fact, the Theory of Planned Behavior model states that attitudes , subjective norms , and perceived control interact to create an intention that predicts one’s behavior (Azjen, 1991). Subjective norms are external or social pressures, whereas perceived control refers to one’s ability to behave a certain way (Azjen, 1991). The Theory of Planned Behavior also found that attitudes are more predictive of behavior when they are specific and strong (Azjen, 1991). Further, attitudes can become strong from a large amount of information on something, personal experiences, and when someone is person...