The Need To Justify Our Actions Answer Key Part 4

137. According to your authors, threats of severe punishment ultimately teach people a. that crime doesn’t pay. b. to avoid getting caught. c. to obey the rules. d. to distrust authority. Answer: B 138. ________ refers to long-lasting attitude change that arises from attempts to reduce cognitive dissonance. a. Self-verification b. Self-persuasion c. Self-focused attention d. Self-esteem maintenance Answer: B 139. Jan and Michelle would both like to ride a motorcycle. Jan’s parents explicitly prohibit her from riding a motorcycle and tell her that she’ll be grounded should she choose to disobey them. Michelle’s parents express their concern for her safety and tell her that they would be very disappointed if she decided to take a ride. According to dissonance theory, two months after the warnings, who would be more likely to ride a motorcycle if given the opportunity? a. Jan would be more likely to decide to ride the motorcycle. b. Michelle would be more likely to decide to ride the motorcycle. c. Both would decide to ride the motorcycle, but for different reasons. d. Neither would decide to ride the motorcycle, but for different reasons. Answer: A 140. In a variation of the “forbidden toy” experiment by Aronson and Carlsmith (1963), another researcher issued mild and severe threats to prevent children from playing with a very attractive toy. Several weeks later, a woman came to the school, allegedly to administer tests to the children. When she left the room to score the tests, children were left alone with the same attractive toy and other less attractive toys. Almost 80 percent of the children who were issued severe threats by the researcher played with the attractive toy; only 30 percent of those children issued mild threats succumbed to temptation. This experiment is noteworthy because it demonstrated that a. Like preschoolers, older children work to reduce dissonance. b. Attempts to reduce dissonance yield long-lasting attitude and behavior change. c. A sense of self is necessary for dissonance to be aroused and subsequently reduced. d. Excessive external justification for restraint can produce dissonance and attitude change. Answer: B 141. Why does self-persuasion work better than being lectured by other people to behave in a certain way? a. Self-persuasion is based on implicit attitudes. b. Self-persuasion takes place internally and involves convincing yourself of something. c. Self-persuasion is automatic. d. Self-persuasion is usually an effortful and conscious process that takes time. Answer: B 142. In research presented in the text, a social psychologist had army reservists eat fried grasshoppers, allegedly as part of a research project on survival foods. Reservists who ________ liked the grasshoppers more. a. had previously eaten ants b. ate grasshoppers at the request of a pleasant officer c. were given a week’s leave d. ate grasshoppers at the request of a stern, unpleasant officer Answer: D 143. Too late, your neighbor discovered that he couldn’t flush his toilet. He has asked you to come help him unstop his plugged toilet. It’s not a task that you look forward to, but you come over to help. Based on the psychology of insufficient justification, you’d be most likely to change your attitudes about fixing broken plumbing if you helped a. Tom, because he helped you change a tire last week. b. Ben, because he sometimes steals your morning paper. c. Adam, because he’s a friend who happens to be your neighbor. d. Juan, because he’s your neighbor and your boss. Answer: B 144. Michael and Pam are friends, but have never dated. Michael wants to ask Pam out on a date, with the hope that she will think of him as more than just a friend. Based on research on external justification and dissonance theory, under which of the following conditions will Pam like Michael the most? a. Michael asks her to go to the Dave Matthews concert. Pam loves the Dave Matthews Band but didn’t have a ticket, so she accepts enthusiastically. b. Michael asks her to go to the Dave Matthews concert. Pam loves the Dave Matthews Band and didn’t have a ticket, but she says no because she has a big paper due that week. c. Michael asks her to a Valentine’s Day dinner at a restaurant that Pam doesn’t like very much, and she accepts. d. Michael asks her to a Valentine’s Day dinner at a very expensive restaurant that Pam loves, and she accepts. Answer: C 145. According to the authors of your text, using ________ rewards or punishments leads to longer lasting attitude change than using ________ rewards or punishments. a. larger; smaller b. tangible; intangible c. smaller; larger d. meaningful; smaller Answer: C 146. A mother is trying to get her child to behave in the store and to stop running around, yelling, and grabbing things off the shelves. According to cognitive dissonance theory, if she wants to stop the child’s behavior immediately for the time being, she should use a ________, but if she wants to more permanently change the behavior she should use a ________. a. bribe; punishment b. small reward; large punishment c. large punishment; small punishment d. large punishment; large reward Answer: C 147. Based on information provided by your text, external justification is to ________ as internal justification is to ________. a. temporary change; lasting change b. temporary change; large reward c. small reward; lasting change d. small reward; no reward Answer: A 148. According to the authors of your text, why do young people often fail to use condoms every time they have sex? a. They would feel like hypocrites were they to use condoms. b. Condoms are inconvenient, unromantic, and remind people of disease and death. c. Because most sex is spontaneous, condoms are seldom available. d. People do not think of birth control when they are sexually aroused. Answer: B 149. Recall that Aronson and his colleagues designed experiments to remind students of their own hypocrisy when it came to using condoms during sex. Participants who made videotaped speeches in which they talked about the difficulties they had using condoms actually changed their attitudes and behaviors related to condom use. These experiments are actually variations on the phenomenon of the ________ paradigm. a. justification of effort b. post-decision dissonance c. counterattitudinal advocacy d. insufficient punishment Answer: C 150. Recall that Aronson and his colleagues asked college students either to compose a persuasive message advocating the use of condoms or to compose and deliver their message in front of a video camera. In addition, half of the participants in each group were made mindful of the times that they didn’t use condoms. Which (fictitious) participant below would experience the most dissonance and express a greater willingness to use condoms in the future? a. Jane, who spoke before a video camera, but did not list the times it was hard to use condoms b. Paul, who did not deliver his speech on video, but listed the times he found it hard to use condoms c. Sally, who delivered her speech, and listed the times she found it hard to use condoms d. Otis, who did not deliver his speech, and did not list the times he found it hard to use condoms Answer: C 151. Assume that in experiments conducted by Aronson and his colleagues Sally was randomly assigned to write and deliver a pro-condom speech to be shown to high school students. She also listed all the times she found it awkward or impossible to use condoms in her sexual encounters. After completing these tasks, Sally reduced her dissonance by reporting a greater willingness to use condoms in her future sexual activities. Why? She a. was embarrassed by the tasks, and wanted to please the experimenters. b. felt like a hypocrite, and changed her attitude to reduce the dissonance. c. changed her attitude to convince the experimenters to destroy her videotape. d. felt a like a hypocrite and maintained her attitude to maintain dissonance. Answer: B 152. Recall that Aronson and his colleagues asked college students either to compose a persuasive message advocating the use of condoms or to compose and deliver their message in front of a video camera. In addition, half of the participants in each group were made mindful of the times that they didn’t use condoms. After completing these tasks, participants were allowed to purchase condoms at a low price. What is the significance of their findings from this experiment? They demonstrated that a. before people will use condoms, they must experience dissonance. b. dissonance created by feelings of hypocrisy can change both attitudes and behaviors. c. although dissonance can bring about attitude change, behaviors are not affected. d. in some conditions, fear and anxiety can actually encourage condom use. Answer: B 153. Recall that Aronson and his colleagues asked college students either to compose a persuasive message advocating the use of condoms or to compose and deliver their message in front of a video camera. Considering which participants in this study later actually purchased more condoms, what would be the best way a high-school Health teacher could promote condom use in his/her class? a. show a video about Ryan White (a victim of HIV) b. have students write an essay about being hypocrites if they chose not to use condoms c. have students pledge to use condoms d. teach students only abstinence, since it is more effective than condoms Answer: 154. B Ken participates in a psychology study where he has to make statements that are contrary to his thoughts and values. Then, the researchers reminded him of this inconsistency. Ken has participated in which of the following? a. a cognitive dissonance effect b. an justification of effort c. a rationalization induction d. a hypocrisy induction Answer: D 155. In a study presented in the text (Peterson, Haynes, & Olson, 2008), smokers were asked to create an antismoking video to be shown to high school students, invoking dissonance in the smokers. These smokers, who particularly felt like hypocrites, were most likely to a. feel a sudden urge to smoke. b. increase intentions to quit smoking. c. change the topic of conversation to something more comfortable. d. use denial. Answer: B 156. In a study presented in the text (Peterson, Haynes, & Olson, 2008), smokers were asked to create an antismoking video to be shown to high school students, invoking dissonance in the smokers. To alleviate this dissonance, what were these smokers more likely to do? a. actually intend to quit smoking b. take care of their existing health problems, except for smoking c. lose weight d. begin exercising Answer: A 157. Consider the findings from a study by Peterson, Haynes, and Olson (2008) in which smokers were asked to create an antismoking video to be shown to high school students, thereby invoking dissonance in the smokers. Based on the findings about which participants were most likely to intend to quit smoking, who do you think would be most likely to reduce dissonance by changing his or her behavior? a. Cassie, who created a video in support of eating healthy. b. Renae, who read a pamphlet about quitting smoking . c. Tim, who created one of those anti-smoking videos . d. Zach, who created a video encouraging students to vote in the next election . Answer: C 158. Megan is always reminding her son Andrew not to talk with his mouth full. One morning, Andrew reminds her not to talk with her mouth full. This situation most resembles ________. a. the Ben Franklin effect b. cognitive dissonance c. the hypocrisy-induction paradigm d. justification of effort Answer: C 159. In an experiment by Takaku (2006) on road rage, when drivers went through a driving simulation in which they accidentally cut off another driver, and then were cut off themselves, they were less likely to a. let the offense go and relax. b. forgive the other driver. c. keep a safe driving distance. d. resort to road rage. Answer: D 160. In an experiment by Takaku (2006) on road rage, when drivers went through a driving simulation in which they accidentally cut off another driver, and then were cut off themselves, they were quicker to a. become angry. b. lay on the horn. c. forgive the other driver. d. distract themselves. Answer: C 161. Jacob recently was late to a meeting because of a traffic jam. Later that day, when his wife is late arriving home, Jacob is probably going to be ________, based on the idea of the hypocrisy induction. a. angrier b. harsher c. more easily frustrated d. forgiving Answer: D 162. Imagine that you have just moved into a house with four other people. One of your housemates, Tony, doesn’t seem to like you all that much. If you were to make use of the Ben Franklin effect, what can you do to increase Tony’s liking for you? a. offer to do Tony’s laundry b. tell Tony that you really wish the two of you could be friends c. ask Tony if he could give you a ride to the grocery store d. pretend you don’t care whether Tony likes you Answer: C 163. Based on the Ben Franklin effect, you are most likely to increase your liking for Tony when a. Tony lends you $10. b. you lend Tony $10. c. Tony returns the $10 you lent him. d. Tony finds $10. Answer: B 164. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy once wrote, “We do not love people so much for the good they have done us as for the good we have done them.” This quote is most closely related to the concept of a. postdecision dissonance. b. self-verification. c. esteem enhancement. d. the Ben Franklin effect. Answer: D 165. When a neighbor asks if he can borrow your chemistry textbook and you do him this favor, dissonance theory would predict that you will like him more due to the Ben Franklin effect, which works because you a. only do favors for people you initially like. b. share an interest in and love for chemistry. c. have to internally justify doing this favor. d. find external justification for doing a favor. Answer: C 166. Recall that researchers conducted an experiment in which some participants were asked by the experimenter to return the monetary compensation they had received as a special favor to him, while others were asked by the department secretary to return the money as a favor to the psychology department, and still others received no such request for the return of their compensation. The researchers found that participants who were approached by the experimenter evaluated him better than did participants in the other two experimental conditions. Why? a. They felt guilty because the compensation was too generous. b. Doing a favor for someone leads us to justify our own behavior. c. The experimenter’s request was more polite than the secretary’s. d. The experimenter promised to compensate them in another way. Answer: B 167. Recall that researchers conducted an experiment in which some participants were asked by the experimenter to return monetary compensation to him, while others were asked by the department secretary to return the money to a fund, and still others received no such request for the return of their compensation. Participants who were approached by the experimenter evaluated him better than did participants in the other two experimental conditions. These findings support the notion of a. the Ben Franklin effect. b. justification of effort. c. postdecision dissonance. d. self-esteem enhancement. Answer: A 168. The Ben Franklin effect would predict that you would most like someone ________, whereas behaviorist theories would predict that you would most like someone ________. a. who treated you rudely; who treated you kindly b. you did a favor for; who did a favor for you c. who rewarded you strongly; whom you rewarded strongly d. who challenged your attitude; affirmed your attitude Answer: B 169. The Ben Franklin effect is named for an incident in which Ben Franklin a. reported liking King George III of England after the Boston Tea Party. b. asked a favor of someone who had treated him coldly, and gained an ally. c. charmed several unsuspecting young ladies in his town. d. advised the president to create dissonance as a means of persuasion. Answer: B 170. It is not uncommon for cultures to dehumanize their enemies. What explains why, for example, a Vietnam veteran might dehumanize the Vietnamese or a Nazi might dehumanize the Jews? a. because they are very prejudiced b. because there is historical conflict between the groups c. to alleviate guilt for harming innocent people during the war d. to remain patriotic Answer: C 171. According to cognitive dissonance theory, soldiers may reduce their guilt about killing innocent civilians during wartime by a. dehumanizing their victims. b. killing more enemy soldiers. c. going into therapy. d. telling themselves that the war is almost over. Answer: A 172. Participants in an experiment conducted by Davis and Jones (1960) were instructed to provide hurtful feedback to another person (actually a confederate, of course). After providing such mean assessments of his performance, participants then evaluated him privately. After providing this criticism, these participants’ evaluations of the confederate were more ________ because the ________. a. positive; participants regretted having hurt an innocent victim b. negative; participants convinced themselves that the victim deserved it c. negative; victim did not stand up for himself after the insults d. positive; participants wanted to assuage their feelings of guilt Answer: B 173. Why did participants in an experiment conducted by Berscheid and her colleagues (1968) derogate their victims unless they thought they would switch roles with the victim and receive shocks themselves? In this case, participants a. reasoned that the victim would have a chance to even the score. b. were motivated to justify their cruel behaviors. c. experienced maximal dissonance, and convinced themselves that the victim deserved it. d. chose to become a victim, too, in order to make the situation fairer. Answer: A 174. Who is more likely to dehumanize the enemy in order to deal with cognitive dissonance they are experiencing? a. Erin, who had to fire warning shots during a training exercise b. Brady, who killed an enemy soldier in self-defense c. Victor, who threw a grenade into a market d. Hector, who is a sniper assigned to “eliminate” enemy soldiers Answer: C 175. When someone dehumanizes a victim and successfully reduces dissonance in this way, this is likely to lead to a. a continuation or escalation of cruelty. b. a reduction of cruelty. c. a total cessation of cruelty. d. effort justification in the form of hate groups. Answer: A 176. According to the authors of your text, what is one major danger of engaging in self-justification strategies? a. We experience cognitive dissonance. b. We will have lower self-esteem. c. We can end up becoming prejudiced. d. We can fail to learn from our mistakes. Answer: D 177. According to the authors of your text, what is one way people can begin to learn from their mistakes? a. by adding new cognitions to justify their actions b. by changing their behavior in response to dissonance c. by recognizing the tendency to justify our actions d. by using denial and rationalization to cope with distress Answer: C 178. The authors of your text provide the example of the most recent war in Iraq to demonstrate the dangers of what can happen when political leaders a. refuse to listen to reason. b. are caught up in a cycle of self-justification. c. have too much power in their hands. d. make accurate decisions based on accurate information. Answer: B 179. According to the authors of your text, when the Bush administration received evidence that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq—but after they had already invested troops and money in the war—the administration engaged in a. a conspiracy to hide the truth from the media. b. self-justification to make the war a reasonable course of action. c. an increase in the amount of stereotypes about patriots. d. the political scandal of the twenty-first century. Answer: B 180. According to the authors of your text, when the Bush administration received evidence that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq—but after they had already invested troops and money in the war—the administration quickly explained that now the war was focused on ousting Saddam Hussein and liberating the Iraqi people. In essence, the administration may have ________ as a means of reducing dissonance. a. added new cognitions b. changed its attitudes c. changed its behavior d. used self-persuasion Answer: A 181. The authors of your text explain that when political leaders get caught up in a cycle of self-justification, it can have particularly dangerous consequences. What is their advice for avoiding such a cycle in your own life? a. use a system of checks and balances with friends and family, such as is seen in our government. b. rely heavily on the advice of other people. c. defer all crucial decisions to your parents. d. learn to evaluate your behavior critically and dispassionately. Answer: D 182. As Nina lights up her fifteenth cigarette of the day, she glances at the Surgeon General’s warning on the package and shrugs, thinking “Eh, cancer is for old people, and not only do I have good genes, the research on cigarettes causing cancer is inconclusive.” It is unlikely that Nina will change her behavior and quit smoking unless a. she gets out of the self-justification cycle. b. she is diagnosed with cancer herself. c. a close family member is diagnosed with lung cancer. d. she can no longer add cognitions. Answer: A 183. The authors of your text explain that some commentators believe the Bush administration was trying to deliberately deceive the American people about the nature of their intentions in the conflict in Iraq. However, the authors of your text suggest that it is likely that the a. media is to blame for this impression. b. Bush administration was falling subject to the FAE. c. members of the Bush administration were undergoing cognitive dissonance. d. American people underwent effort justification. Answer: C 184. Dissonance theory helps us understand the apparently irrational behavior of cult members, such as those in the Heaven’s Gate cult and at Jonestown who committed mass suicide. All of the following except ________ tend to increase dissonance and hence the extreme dissonance-reducing commitment to the cult or cause and the beliefs of the leaders. a. the sacrifice of money and possessions b. giving up other friends and relationships outside the cult c. the negative self-concepts of many people who join cults d. the amount of hard work that is done on behalf of the cult Answer: C 185. In addition to the pull of charismatic leaders, the social support of fellow cult members, and the isolation of cult members from dissenting viewpoints, why else to cult members behave as they do? a. They are people of low intelligence. b. The leaders are authoritarian and the followers are unintelligent. c. The members usually are suicidal and depressed. d. There is a high degree of cognitive dissonance in members’ minds. Answer: D Essay 186. What did Leon Festinger’s (1957) original formulation of dissonance theory posit? Be sure to address what cognitive dissonance is, how and when it arises, and what people do to reduce it. Answer: First, cognitive dissonance is a state of unpleasant arousal (like hunger or thirst) that we are motivated to reduce. Dissonance arises when cognitions that we hold are psychologically inconsistent with one another. To reduce dissonance, we can change our behaviors to bring them into line with our cognitions; we can also change the cognitions themselves by changing one or more cognitions to make them more consonant with our behaviors or with one another; or we can add new cognitions that are consonant with our behaviors or other cognitions. 187. Jessica thinks of herself as a health-conscious person. As she is eating a steak one evening, she sees a news report that consuming red meat increases the risk of breast cancer by over 50 percent! At this moment, she is experiencing a large amount of cognitive dissonance. State the three ways people can reduce dissonance, and apply these techniques to Jessica’s dissonance; that is, give an example of each of the three dissonance reduction techniques Jessica could use. Answer: The three ways of reducing dissonance are: changing the behavior to be consistent with the cognition; changing at least one cognition to justify the behavior; and justifying the behavior by adding more cognitions. Jessica could change her behavior by ceasing her consumption of all red meat. Alternatively, she could view her behavior as healthy because beef contains protein and iron. Finally, she could add the cognition that her family has no history of any type of cancer, and a long history of longevity. 188. Imagine you are about to take a very important exam that could impact your future. A friend asks you how disappointed you think you would be if you found out you did not perform very well on the exam. According to the idea of impact bias, how would your prediction likely match up with your actual reaction? Answer: According to impact bias, individuals are likely to overestimate the intensity and duration of negative emotional reactions. Therefore, you would likely overestimate how bad you would feel if you received negative feedback relative to how you would actually feel after the feedback. 189. Imagine you are watching a debate between two presidential candidates. You prefer Candidate A and dislike Candidate B. Both candidates offer strong arguments and weak arguments about Issue X. Which arguments would you be most likely to remember? Which arguments would you be most likely to forget? Is it likely that you change your opinion after having watched the debate? Why or why not? Answer: You would be most likely to remember strong arguments from Candidate A and weak arguments from Candidate B. You would be most likely to forget weak arguments from Candidate A and strong arguments from Candidate B. This happens because individuals are motivated to rationalize and reinforce their initial beliefs. Due to this process, individuals are unlikely to change their opinions, even after watching a debate. 190. Why does making a decision tend to generate dissonance, how is this dissonance reduced, and under what conditions is postdecisional dissonance reduction the greatest? Answer: There are seldom any decisions in which the chosen alternative is completely positive and the rejected alternative is completely negative; there are typically downsides to the chosen alternative and upsides to the rejected alternative. Choosing something with downsides and rejecting something with upsides generates cognitive dissonance. We work to reduce this dissonance by convincing ourselves that the chosen alternative is better than it was before we made the decision and that the rejected alternative is worse than it was before we made the decision. These distortions are more common when decisions are permanent and freely chosen. 191. Carl and Roger both had similar attitudes about cheating on a partner. However, both were faced with similar situations where they could have cheated on their partners. Now, Carl thinks that cheating is the worst offense one can make in a relationship, whereas Roger thinks that most people would cheat if they were faced with the situation. Explain what could have occurred, both socially and psychologically, that could produce such diverse positions from individuals who shared a similar stance. Answer: Cognitive dissonance could be responsible for the change in attitude in both Carl and Roger. Although they started out at similar points, Carl may have been tempted but chose not to cheat in that situation. The temptation to cheat and his decision not to could have created dissonance. To reduce dissonance, he could have changed his beliefs to bring them more into line with his behavior. Because he did not cheat, he thinks that cheating is morally wrong (even more so than he did before he was in the situation). On the other hand, Roger, faced with a similar situation, decided to cheat, and this behavior also caused dissonance. Thus, to reduce dissonance, Roger also changed his beliefs, but in the opposite direction. He now believes that cheating is not very bad and that others would have chosen to take the same course of action he took in the situation. 192. Describe cultural differences in the extent to which individuals experience dissonance. Answer: Triandis has argued that in cultures that are less individualistic, dissonance-reducing behaviors might be less common. In individualistic cultures in which the self is defined independently of others— rather than interdependent with others—the threat to self-esteem may be larger in the aftermath of dissonant acts; thereby people are more likely to use self-justification to resolve the dissonance. In more collectivist cultures, a person may not feel the need to justify his/her own behavior if dissonance is aroused. However, if the person’s behavior has impacted or shamed others, dissonance is more likely to be experienced 193. Dissonance theorists might assert that just as we suffer for the things we like, we also convince ourselves that we like the things for which we suffer. Use concepts related to the justification of effort to explain this statement. Answer: It is threatening to our self-concepts as reasonable people to work hard in pursuit of a worthless goal. To invest effort for naught arouses dissonance, and we reduce our dissonance by convincing ourselves that our goal was worthwhile. We have no external justification for our effort, so we construct an internal justification by convincing ourselves that our effort was worth it. Thus, although sometimes we invest a considerable amount of effort in pursuit of things that are important to us, other times we convince ourselves—in the interest of reducing dissonance through self-justification—that things for which we have suffered are important—after the fact. 194. Ronald wants to start a new club on campus, and he really wants his members to be involved and love the club. How would you suggest he use effort justification to increase members’ sense of enjoyment of the club and their loyalty to the club? Answer: The answer may include any number of techniques designed to make members work hard and exert effort for the club with little external justification. Ronald may consider having members go through a hazing, and do something either dangerous or embarrassing. Alternatively, he may have members pay a large sum of money to join the club, or donate a large amount of time to the club to be a member. 195. What is counterattitudinal advocacy? How is it related to notions of internal and external justification? Answer: Counterattitudinal advocacy involves publicly stating an attitude or opinion that is at odds with our private attitudes or opinions. When we advocate something we don’t really believe, dissonance is aroused, and we are motivated to reduce it. When there is sufficient external justification (e.g., we had no choice) for our counterattitudinal advocacy, we have a good explanation for our behavior, and we need not change our private attitudes. When there is not sufficient external justification, we must find internal justification, and that typically takes the form of changing our private attitudes. 196. Compare and contrast how cognitive dissonance theory and self-perception theory (Chapter 5) would explain the Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) $1/$20 experiment. Given that both theories can explain these results, in which situations is dissonance theory more likely to apply and in what conditions is self-perception theory probably operating? Answer: Cognitive dissonance theory says that participants in the $1/$20 experiment who were paid $20 had sufficient external justification for lying to the other participant about how enjoyable the experiment was, so they had no reason to change their attitude. In contrast, participants who told the other participant how enjoyable the (boring) experiment was for only $1 were engaging in counterattitudinal advocacy under the condition of insufficient justification for lying. These participants could resolve their dissonance by deciding they really did enjoy the experiment after all. In contrast, self-perception theory emphasizes that people explain their own behavior in the same way that an objective external observer would explain it. Thus, if an observer saw someone tell another that he or she enjoyed what appeared to be a boring experiment for $20, that observer might be suspicious about whether the other person was telling the truth and might infer that the person only said he or she liked it because of the high pay. But if an observer saw somebody tell another that he or she enjoyed the experiment for only $1, the observer would be more likely to conclude that the person really did enjoy the experiment. Two key differences differentiate when each theory is applicable: dissonance theory assumes that people have clear, strong attitudes that they are contradicting with their behavior, and thus says that people experience arousal. In contrast, self-perception theory applies when attitudes are vague or unclear, and no arousal is assumed. Given the presumed clear attitude in the $1/$20 experiment, cognitive dissonance probably was operating. 197. Your friend teaches preschool, and there is one little boy in her class who is giving her fits. He is constantly misbehaving, throwing toys, threatening other children, and sometimes even physically attacking them. So far, her stern punishment has stopped his destructive behavior when she’s there, but when she leaves the room or when a substitute fills in, he’s back to his old ways. You suggest that she use dissonance to change his behavior permanently. What would you tell her? Answer: When she punishes him sternly, she may change his behavior in positive ways, but he doesn’t have sufficient internal justification for behaving well. That’s why he tends to act up when she’s not there to administer punishment. If she really wants to change his behavior over the long haul, she should remove the external justification for behaving appropriately and encourage him to develop an internal justification for his positive behavior. Thus, the threat of mild punishment is likely to work so long as the threat is just sufficient to stop his problematic behavior but not so strong that he has an external justification for behaving appropriately. In the absence of sufficient external justification, he will convince himself—through internal justifications—that he likes or wants to behave in positive, prosocial ways. 198. How would a dissonance theorist explain the paradoxical finding that we are apt to like our adversaries after doing them a favor and to dislike our friends after treating them badly? Answer: Both findings demonstrate the power of dissonance to alter our attitudes and beliefs to make them less dissonant with our behaviors. It arouses dissonance to do something nice for someone we don’t like, so we reduce the dissonance by convincing ourselves that we may like our adversaries more than we initially thought. It also arouses dissonance to do something mean or unkind to someone whom we like. We reduce this dissonance by bringing our attitudes toward our mistreated friends into line with our behavior; in essence, we work to convince ourselves that they are not as likable as we initially thought. 199. Over the weekend, you are going to meet your new romantic partner’s parents for the first time. In particular, you want your partner’s father to like you. How might you use the Ben Franklin effect to get him to like you more? Be sure you include an example. Answer: In some way, you would need to have his or her father do you a favor. For instance, asking him for change to help pay for a purchase, or asking to borrow a book of his, or asking him to help you move heavy furniture or carry something to your room for you would be possible examples of using the Ben 200. Engaging in self-justification strategies as a response to dissonance is a process that can have negative consequences. Explain how self-justification can be negative, and what one could do to better learn from one’s mistakes. Answer: By engaging in self-justification strategies, a cycle may be created in which someone perceives others as wrong or worthy of punishment rather than using mistakes to change and improve one’s own behavior. Instead of simply trying to justify one’s actions, it would be more beneficial to reflect on one’s own mistakes and use this information to change one’s own behavior.