...Cognitive Dissonance Paper Psy: 400 July 11, 2011 Professor Adrian Fletcher, M.A. Cognitive Dissonance Paper The scenario of this paper is a young girl is living in a good Christian home. Her current boyfriend is trying to push her to have sex before she believes she is ready for this type of commitment or intensity. She has been taught to wait until marriage to have sex with her new husband. Because of her boyfriends intense pressure she believes she is being pulled to give in to him before they marry. She does not want to disappoint her family by breaking the rules of the household but she truly does love the boyfriend. Does she give into the boyfriend or obey the family ground rules this she has to decide. She also has to realize that if she gives in, there is that underlying chance she could become pregnant from it. The family thinks she is too young to be making these types of decisions. They understand her desire to be with her boyfriend but they encourage her to hold on to her values. She has the opportunity to decide what to do before it is too late. She also understands that her faith is strong but sometimes desires can overtake the reasoning of the faith. She is afraid to make the commitment to her boyfriend because she believes if she does give in, then it would not be right spiritually, and she will be committing a sin not only against herself but also against her God as well. She is torn and cannot seem to get her boyfriend to understand they need to wait...
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...Cognitive Dissonance Life is a timeline that begins at birth and ends with death. People are given choices that are followed by reactions and behaviors that occur in one’s life. Life includes growth, reproduction, and functional behavior. People consciously make decisions that may affect their life as well as others. A family is formed when a group of two, male and female reproduces to create a life. That life begins to develop and growth starts to begin in stages such as infancy, childhood, adulthood, and late adulthood. It is the obligation of the parents to love, care, teach, and protect the child. Love is natural and develops as parenthood begins. The caring for the child comes naturally through the instinct of the parent. A parent’s job is to teach their child love, respect, morals, values, and beliefs. It is a parent’s responsibility and instinct to provide and protect the life that is created. Attitudes, moods, and choices are developed by the child as personalities are formed. The child then begin to make choices in life of right and wrong and is faced to make adult like decisions of their own and are responsible to pass the knowledge down to their child. Parent and child share a rare relationship that includes life and death which begins and ends with a purpose and intentions. Scenario Remembering 4 years ago today while I stand here on the porch listening to night noises and the children playing...
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...Cognitive Dissonance Paper The Misuse of Handicap Parking In today’s hurried world with the busy schedules it seems that a time limit has been set in order for each person to accomplish a to-do list before heading home as the sun fades for the day. Many times when we are in a hurry to pick up the last item needed to prepare dinner, drop of dry cleaning from last week or grab the medication for a sick child before the pharmacy closes, but there never seems to be a parking spot close enough to the front door that would allow us to enter and exit quickly, they are all full up and nothing is left but those for the disabled. As we drive around and around waiting, hoping for someone to get in their car and give up the space only three from the door we become agitated and perhaps even a little angry at the fact that some get the courtesy of parking so close while we have to park all the way in the back and walk what seems blocks just to enter the front door. The question of ‘why are there so many spots for them, couldn’t they take a few out and give everyone else closer parking?” , “ I don’t feel good today, why can’t I park there?”, “ I don’t ever see anyone use the handicap spots, so why shouldn’t I be allowed to use them when I’m in a hurry?” For most people these questions are never asked because we in fact know why there are so many, why parking in them even though we may not feel our best is not allowed or even if they are completely empty most of the time why they are reserved...
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...In the 5th Chapter of Opening Skinner’s Box, Lauren Slater explores Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory. She defines the theory as an explanation of the compulsion to “… bring your beliefs back into alignment with your actions, so as to reduce the dissonance between your self-concept and your questionable behavior” (Slater). She focuses on a classical version of the theory, and consequently becomes fixated on a woman named Linda Santo and her daughter, who she feels perfectly embody Festinger’s theory. In her quest to understand how cognitive dissonance is applied in their lives, she treats Santo with disrespect for her faith and actively tries to show her the flaws in a harmless belief that she has built her life around. Her blatant disregard...
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...Cognitive Dissonance and Jenny McCarthy’s Death Toll Candace Stamper PSY/400 Russell Sempell June 4, 2014 Abstract Humans are great at rationalizing their behavior and actions. This is especially true when a group of people or a high status citizen supports an individual’s beliefs, even when there is no valid authority contributed to their stance. Individuals raised in the modern first-world are educated to believe in the science and efficiency of vaccinations to ensure public health and decrease infant and childhood mortality rates. A wealth of evidence exists to prove that vaccinations are safe, effective, and increase public health. The scientific and medical communities, by a vast majority, support the use of vaccinations and are desperately attempting to get vaccines to third world countries and end massive generations-long death tolls attributed to preventable diseases. The diseases that these vaccines prevent had been eradicated in the United States and Western Europe for decades. Why, then, are people willing to allow their children to go unvaccinated in first world nations? Cognitive dissonance may hold the answer to this question. Ian and Linda Williams are educated parents in Auckland, New Zealand, who refused to vaccinate their son, Alijah. This decision would be life-altering. The family was caught up in the recent anti-vaccine movement, promoted heavily by celebrities like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Jim Carrey, and Jenny McCarthy - one of the most famous opponents...
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...National College Women Sexual Victimization study estimates that one in five college women experience completed or attempted rape during their college years. (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000). Women have always faced significant challenges throughout their lives due to inequality between men and women. Stereotyping, lack of opportunity, pay differences, sexual harassment, gender-based violence and discrimination represent some of these challenges, which ultimately is disempowering women. This disempowerment has numerous consequences for society today. Times have changed and although unlike in the past, the thought of equality now does lie in the minds of most people, the actual effective significant change has yet to happen. This paper will define the inequalities that still exist between men and women, review the literature on sexism and inequality, and define ways to reduce and resolve it. Literature Review Sexism toward women is a damaging prejudice based in widespread social power...
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...Grading Guide Social Psychology Paper This assignment is due in Week Nine. |Content |Points Earned | |60 Percent |X/5 | |Lists the factors that contributed towards Sarah’s attitude regarding her curfew and how did |Comments: | |these factors contribute. |The factors that have contributed towards | |Explains the ways Sarah displays cognitive dissonance. |Sarah’s attitude were her new friends that | |Describes the situations that Sarah conforms to her peers’ beliefs and how. Explains some |she had made in school. Her new friends kept | |possible reasons that Sarah did this. |telling Sarah that the party was going to be | |Explains some possible reasons that Jack was interested in Sarah and how these relate to the |very fun, which by Sarah never being to a | |factors of attraction. |party before; she was excited that her new | |Describes the type of social interaction that was displayed through the fight at the party and|friends wanted to hang out...
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...equity theory, attachment styles, when to reveal and when to conceal, and the cognitive dissonance theory. These factors play a very big role in relationship baggage and they are all discussed extensively through many scholarly articles. The following articles illustrate the research done on the topic of partner baggage as it pertains to these particular factors in romantic relationships. Keywords: partner baggage, relational uncertainty, relational turbulence, dark side, interpersonal relationships According to an article by Sidelinger and Booth-Butterfield, partner baggage is defined as, “negative attributes and situations which create obstacles to optimal relationship outcomes” (Sidelinger & Booth-Butterfield, 2009, p. 405). That is just a really fun way of saying that one or both participants of a relationship have some issues that could be potentially detrimental to the relationship. Partner baggage is very common in most relationships, 69% of couples reported this about partner baggage (Sidelinger & Booth-Butterfield, 2009, p. 414). There is a lot of ambiguity in relationships to begin with (Spitzberg & Cupach, 2011, p. 31), but partner baggage adds another element of relational uncertainty. To understand partner baggage in relationships better, we will discuss this through the equity theory, attachment styles, when to reveal and when to conceal, and cognitive dissonance. Literature Review Equity Theory The equity theory can help couples determine if the...
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...Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance or mental stress which is primarily caused by contradictory beliefs, can be a common part of some peoples life’s however we are psychologically motivated to avoid situations which cause mental stress. This paper will discuss a situation and the behavior using attribution theory, the reciprocal relationship between behavior and attitudes as well as how cognitive dissonance theory could be used to rationalize the behavior. Situation and Subsequent Behavior Richard is driving along a lonely road late at night after working late that day. He has a 4-year-old daughter who he has not spent much time with the entire week because of the long project that makes him work late. Similarly, he has not been having dinner with his family because he always gets home past dinner time. On this particular day, Richard leaves work a bit earlier in an attempt to get home early enough for dinner and so that he can also spend some time with his year old daughter. After driving on an almost clear road for a few miles, Richard notices little pools of blood along the road. He slows down his car and rolls down the window, as he tries to find out the source of the little pools of blood. After driving for a few meters, he notices a staggering middle-aged man who seems unstable and perhaps hurt. Richard slows down for a while, examines the staggering man from a distance; then he drives away after he remembers that his wife and daughter may be waiting for him...
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...Social Psychology Paper Kelly Skiver PSY/201 February 23, 2014 Beth Pepmiller Social Psychology Paper 1. What factors contributed towards Sarah’s attitude regarding her curfew and how did these factors contribute? In the social psychology scenario a girl named Sarah goes out with new friends to a party and stays out past her curfew. There were many factors that contributed to Sarah’s attitude about her curfew. Her new friends had just invited her to go to a party. In the scenario it said that Sarah had never been to a party before, and that she also wanted her new friends to continue to invite her out places with them. All these factors contributed to Sarah breaking her curfew and going to the party with her new friends. 2. In what ways did Sarah display cognitive dissonance? Throughout the scenario Sarah’s actions displayed cognitive dissonance. The main example of this was her actually going to the party with her friends. She thought it over in the scenario and knew breaking her curfew was the wrong thing to do yet still went out to the party. 3. In what situations did Sarah conform to her peers’ beliefs, and how? What are some possible reasons that Sarah did this? There were many ways that Sarah conformed to her new friends beliefs. Staying out was the new friends idea. Going to the party is something she really wanted to do and her new friends made it seem really fun and important to do. At the end of the night she left with her friends also...
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...College Abstract Self-esteem is an individual's estimate of one's own self worth, the extent of individual views of good, competence, and decent. Within this activity paper we will discuss why self esteem is important, and why there are discrepancies between the actual self and the ideal self. This paper will discuss the theory of cognitive dissonance in regards to the self-evaluation theory, self-affirmation theory and the realization trap while defining the self-discrepancy theory. The need for high individual self-esteem may lead to irrational logic and individual actions against their own best interest as will be theoretically supported throughout this paper. Concluding that our teams position, will support the theory that individual competence may be inaccurate at times to maintain individual self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as an individual’s estimate of his or hers own self-worth and the extent of individual views of what is good competent and decent. This activity paper will discuss the importance of self-esteem and explore any discrepancies between the actual self and the ideal self. The theory of cognitive dissonance as it relates to the self-evaluation theory, self-affirmation theory and the realization trap will be covered while also defining the self-discrepancy theory. This paper will theoretically support the concept of the need for high individual self-esteem and how it may lead to irrational logic and individual actions that work against a person’s...
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...577-587) has found that when managers are given negative feedback on an initial individual investment decision, they allocate more additional funds to that investment if they, rather than another member of their organization, made the initial allocation decision. Justification is thought to underlie this phenomenon. This study explored commitment in group and individual decisions and examined the plausibility of dissonance processes as the mediator of escalation of commitment. One hundred eighty-three individuals participated in a role-playing exercise in which personal responsibility for an initial decision was manipulated for groups and individuals. As expected, escalation of commitment occurred for both groups and individuals. In support of a dissonance explanation, dissonance processes did vary as a function of the personal responsibility manipulation, and individual variation in dissonance responses accounted for a substantial portion of variance in allocation behavior beyond that accounted for by the experimental manipulations. The results concerning dissonance processes suggest a number of ways in which escalation can be reduced in individuals and groups. The escalation of commitment to a course of action that is failing or incurring great costs has recently become a topic of interest among decision researchers (Bazerman, Beekun, & Schoorman, 1982; Brockner, Shaw, & Rubin, 1979; Conlon & Wolf, 1980; Fox & Staw, 1979; Staw, 1976, 1981; Staw & Ross, 1978; Teger...
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...requested personal choice of children vaccination as our topic assignment for week 3. Learning Team Cognitive Dissonance Paper: Identify a situation in which an individual has consciously made a decision to engage in a behavior that violated their cognitions--values, beliefs, attitudes, and morals (e.g., calling in sick to work when you are not actually sick, speeding, cheating on taxes). o Prepare at minimum a 1,500 word paper (no maximum) in which analyze your identified situation. In your analysis, be sure to address the following items: Describe your identified situation. Analyze the social, cultural, and spiritual influences on the individual’s behavior and on his or her personal ethics. Describe the reciprocal relationship between behavior and attitudes. Explain how the individual could have used cognitive dissonance theory to rationalize his or her behavior. o Any assignment that has more than 15% of the paper quoted (properly or improperly) will be subject to a point deduction or discipline action in the case of intentional plagiarism. You may run your paper through the UoPX Plagiarism Detector to ensure compliance. o Be sure that you view the rubric for a more thorough discussion of paper requirements. As this is an upper division psychology class, the proper use of APA formatting will be required and will be a graded focus on all papers within this course. Please be sure to submit the certificate of originality in a SEPARATE file with every assignment...
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...Cognitive Dissonance PSY/400 Cognitive Dissonance What is doing the right thing? Is doing the right thing always going to be the right thing to do ? Are there limits on doing what is right? Are there exceptions on what is right? When looking at cognitive dissonance, one has to understand what cognitive dissonance is. Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of when a person holds two conflicting thoughts in their mind at the same time. According to ITS psychology dictionary, Cognitive dissonance is define as, “a state of tension created when there are conflicts between an individual's behavior and beliefs, or between two beliefs.” (ITS Tutorial School, 2005) In this paper, the reader will look at a situation, and will automatically be able to see cognitive dissonance. We will then analyze the social, cultural, and spiritual influences on the individual’s behavior and his or her ethics. Describe the reciprocal relationship between behavior and attitudes, and explain how the individual could have used cognitive dissonance theory to rationalize his or her behavior. The Situation A man, Bob, meets a girl, Sarah, and starts to get to know her. Bob and Sarah start to click, then decide to take their relationship to another level. Bob and Sarah made the decision to become a couple and even talk about marriage. The relationship becomes serious but is still extremely new. Bob and Sarah really did not give each other a chance to get to know each other and start...
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...Lesson1: Case Study on Listo Systems Mani Kumar Budathoki International American University (IAU) MGT 500: Organization Behavior and Leadership Dr. Om Prasad Sitaula September 17, 2014 Overview of Listo Systems: Listo Systems is a pioneering graphic agency with a long span of success history. After the beginning of 1990s, the company grew frenetically and became one of the best graphic service companies in the world. The pace of new technology has created the more opportunities as well as challenges for the company and customers. However, advancements of this new technology have helped to produce more competitors with a better quality service and product. Due to more emergences of new competitors in the markets, the customers have got more options while opting to buy quality products and services. With all these changes, the industry has been facing the new threats in terms of security and product-thefts. Question No-1: The impacts of power shifting from the seller to the buyer: More competitions in terms of quality products and services are providing the customers more choices than ever before. As a result, customers want more quality products and services for less money, more flexibility and convenience, and more innovation. Listo systems had monopoly power in the early 1990s, so easily able to earn a huge success in a short span of time, but when a new technology is introduced then more and more competitors participated in providing the same services to...
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