Why 1st Place Athletes Quit

 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 discomfort (Zimbardo et al., 1965). Like insufficient justification, people will experience discomfort if the consequences for a behavior are too small, which is referred to as insufficient deterrence (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1963). 

 

A personal example of insufficient justification is my journey as a tennis player (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). Throughout high school, I played just about every weekday for about two to three hours and in tournaments that would last all day most weekends. Over the summers, I invested a lot of time and money in tennis as well by attending week-long summer camps where I would play around eight to ten hours per day. I endured a lot of pain as an athlete as well. I visited a chiropractor once a week and did physical therapy for my displaced ribs, scar tissue in my shoulders, and plantar fasciitis in both feet. As you can imagine, my life revolved around tennis. Whenever I placed second or third in a tournament or came home without a huge medal or trophy, I found myself working harder and believing that the effort I put in was worth it because tennis was everything. However, when I placed first in a tournament, I asked myself “Why am I doing this?” and “Was all of that effort really worth this trophy?” Although I eventually progressed and got Division 1 offers to play tennis, I quit the sport. When I received an insufficient reward and placed lower in a tournament, I changed my attitude to match the immense effort I contributed and believed it was worth it. But, when I got first and was sufficiently rewarded for my skill, I stopped wanting to play.

 

Overall, people want their attitudes and behaviors to match and we are uncomfortable when they do not (Festinger, 1957). It is evident that we will change our attitudes and justify our behavior if we are insufficiently rewarded or punished (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959; Aronson & Carlsmith, 1963). 

 

N = 473

I have acted with honesty and integrity in producing this work and am unaware of anyone who has not. – Mara Strohl

 

References

Aronson, E., & Carlsmith, J. M. (1963). Effect of the severity of threat on the devaluation of forbidden behavior. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66(6), 584-588. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0039901

Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press.

Festinger, L., & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58(2), 203.

Zimbardo, P. G., Weisenberg, M., Firestone, I., & Levy, B. (1965). Communicator effectiveness in producing public conformity and private attitude change. Journal of Personality, 33(2), 233-255.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1965.tb01384.x