Induced Compliance Paradigm Research Articles

Dissonance in the Induced-Compliance Paradigm: A Commentary on Vaidis et al. (2024)

Dissonance in the Induced-Compliance Paradigm: A Commentary on Vaidis et al. (2024)

From the Illusion of Choice to Actual Control: Reconsidering the Induced-Compliance Paradigm of Cognitive Dissonance

The induced-compliance paradigm is a fundamental pillar in the literature on cognitive dissonance. A recent failed replication by Vaidis et al. casts doubt on the widely used experimental method, thereby challenging the literature and prevailing theorizing about the role of perceived choice in cognitive dissonance. However, the nonreplication of the experimental effects could be attributable to methodological factors, such as laboratory settings and cross-temporal dynamics. We therefore reanalyzed the replication data to further explore the relationship between dissonant-attitude change and choice perceptions, employing self-report items instead of the traditional experimental manipulation of choice. Our analysis revealed a significant interaction effect between perceived choice and dissonant behavior (writing a counterattitudinal essay vs. a self-chosen essay) on attitude change: Participants who wrote a counterattitudinal essay aligned their attitudes only if they reported high (vs. low) freedom of choice. These findings suggest a crucial role of choice perceptions in dissonance reduction, consistent with the original theorizing. Future research can employ various methods and draw from adjacent fields, especially from the literature on control perceptions, to reconsider the induced-compliance paradigm and advance research on cognitive dissonance.

A Multilab Replication of the Induced-Compliance Paradigm of Cognitive Dissonance

According to cognitive-dissonance theory, performing counterattitudinal behavior produces a state of dissonance that people are motivated to resolve, usually by changing their attitude to be in line with their behavior. One of the most popular experimental paradigms used to produce such attitude change is the induced-compliance paradigm. Despite its popularity, the replication crisis in social psychology and other fields, as well as methodological limitations associated with the paradigm, raise concerns about the robustness of classic studies in this literature. We therefore conducted a multilab constructive replication of the induced-compliance paradigm based on Croyle and Cooper (Experiment 1). In a total of 39 labs from 19 countries and 14 languages, participants ( N = 4,898) were assigned to one of three conditions: writing a counterattitudinal essay under high choice, writing a counterattitudinal essay under low choice, or writing a neutral essay under high choice. The primary analyses failed to support the core hypothesis: No significant difference in attitude was observed after writing a counterattitudinal essay under high choice compared with low choice. However, we did observe a significant difference in attitude after writing a counterattitudinal essay compared with writing a neutral essay. Secondary analyses revealed the pattern of results to be robust to data exclusions, lab variability, and attitude assessment. Additional exploratory analyses were conducted to test predictions from cognitive-dissonance theory. Overall, the results call into question whether the induced-compliance paradigm provides robust evidence for cognitive dissonance.

Does cognitive dissonance occur in older age? A study of induced compliance in a healthy elderly population.

Does cognitive dissonance change as people age? Although cognitive dissonance has been one of the most widely studied theories in psychology, scant research has investigated the experience of dissonance over the life span and, to our knowledge, no prior research has investigated its effects in healthy older adults. The current study is the 1st empirical test of cognitive dissonance in an elderly population. We found that, consistent with dissonance theory, older adults showed effects of cognitive dissonance as measured by attitude differences in the direction of attitude-discrepant behavior in a classic induced compliance paradigm. Implications for the development of prohealth, dissonance-based interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Religious concept activation attenuates cognitive dissonance reduction in free-choice and induced compliance paradigms

ABSTRACTPast research suggests that religion imbues people with a sense of certainty – via an increase in personal control, by providing meaning in life, or by activating associated norms. Based on findings suggesting that uncertainty and cognitive dissonance share many underlying features, we investigated whether thinking about religion, either situationally or chronically, buffers against cognitive dissonance. In four methodically diverse studies, we found converging support for this hypothesis. Semantically or symbolically activating Christian religious concepts, as well as being a self-reported believer, attenuated participants’ need to reduce post-decisional dissonance via a spreading of alternatives in a free-choice paradigm (Studies 1, 2, & 4) as well as after counterattitudinal advocacy in an induced compliance paradigm (Study 3). The attenuation of post-decisional dissonance was found for a US American online sample (Studies 1 & 4) and for German university students in a laboratory setting, where the dissonance-inducing decision had factual consequences (Study 2).

Dissonance reduction as emotion regulation: Attitude change is related to positive emotions in the induced compliance paradigm.

The aim of this study was to clarify how positive and negative emotions are related to the common attitude-change effect in cognitive dissonance research. Drawing on appraisal theories of emotion, and emotion-regulation research, we predicted that negative emotions would be inversely related to attitude change, whereas positive emotions would be positively related to attitude change in the induced compliance paradigm. In two studies, participants (N = 44; N = 106) wrote a counter-attitudinal essay under the perception of high choice, and were later asked to state their emotions in relation to writing this essay, as well as to state their attitude. Results confirmed the predictions, even when controlling for baseline emotions. These findings untangled a previously unresolved issue in dissonance research, which in turn shows how important emotion theories are for the understanding of cognitive dissonance processes.

Dissonance and abstraction: Cognitive conflict leads to higher level of construal

AbstractThis study investigated the effects of cognitive conflict on abstract thinking. According to action‐identification theory, an ambiguous and unfamiliar situation might propel an individual to a more abstract mindset. Based on this premise, cognitive conflict was hypothesized to put people in an abstract mindset. The induced compliance paradigm, in which participants are asked to write a counter‐attitudinal essay under either low choice (producing little dissonance) or high choice (producing more dissonance), was employed. Results showed that an abstract mindset was in fact activated in the induced compliance paradigm, and this effect was more pronounced for participants having a more concrete mindset to begin with. The results suggest that the experience of cognitive conflict is closely related to increased abstraction.

The Effect of the Induced Compliance Paradigm on Emotions During Inter-group Conflict

The existence and intensity of a conflict are dependent in part on the attitudes and emotions of an individual. Previous studies demonstrated the effectiveness of creating cognitive dissonance in order to change attitudes towards out-group members. The current study examines the ability to decrease negative emotions and to increase the empathy in a conflict situation through the induced compliance paradigm. An experiment was performed on 60 Jewish students in Israel regarding the context of the conflict between Jewish and Arab-Israeli citizens in Israel. Some of the participants (n=43) performed an induced-compliance task focused on writing an essay as an Arab-Israeli student about their emotions after reading an authentic case study. Results revealed that after performing the task, cognitive empathy decreased significantly, while hatred levels increased significantly. In general, activities which were hypothesized to decrease negative emotions and increase empathy caused opposite effects. Findings are discussed in the context of this study’s hypothesis and in respect to related research in this field. Insights from this study may provide useful recommendations for building experimental frameworks which aim to develop and increase empathy during conflict situations. Future research directions are discussed in the context of emotion regulation in regards to inter-group conflict.

Dissonance-induced false memories: Evidence from a free-choice paradigm

People often misremember the past as consistent with the present. Recent research using an induced-compliance paradigm has revealed that cognitive dissonance is one mechanism that can underlie this memory distortion. We sought to replicate and extend this finding using a free-choice paradigm: Participants made either an easy or a difficult choice between two smartphones and, either immediately or two days later, reported their memories for their decision experience. Participants who made a difficult decision produced the spread-of-alternatives effect expected by dissonance theory, and they were also more likely than those in the easy conditions to misremember their initial decision more favourably than they had initially rated it. Overall, our findings replicate the effect of dissonance on memory distortion and, further, show that the effect generalises to other dissonance-inducing situations.

Some Theoretical Considerations on Attitude, Arousal and Affect during Cognitive Dissonance

AbstractThis article provides a general overview of cognitive dissonance research with the induced compliance paradigm. We begin by describiang how dissonance affects individuals' attitude change and address issues related to measurement of attitude. Next, we describe the arousal component of dissonance, how it has been measured and the issues that have been raised about its nature. Finally, we explore the emotional component of dissonance and review different ways for measuring and identifying the negative affect associated to dissonance. We conclude by claiming that a more intensive study of the process of dissonance, and particularly of its arousal and emotional components, will allow a more in‐depth understanding of the mental processes involved in cognitive dissonance.

Reduction in Cognitive Dissonance According to Normative Standards in the Induced Compliance Paradigm

This study investigated the influence of the assessment of the discrepant act on dissonance reduction. In particular, we tested the influence of normative standards on a trivialization of the discrepant act and the assessment of research topic importance. The results suggest that dissonance reduction varies depending on whether the discrepant act is assessed as violating normative standards or not. In the cognitive dissonance state and in the absence of standards, performing a discrepant act leads individuals to trivialize it. However, when individuals perceive that the discrepant act violates normative standards, they reduce cognitive dissonance by overestimating the research topic. This result is interpreted in terms of the avoidance of negative consequences of social control reactions and the protection of self-concept.

Dissonance‐based interventions for health behaviour change: A systematic review

Increasing evidence suggests that various health behaviours are amenable to change following the induction of cognitive dissonance. This systematic review sought to evaluate the effectiveness and methodological quality of dissonance-based health behaviour interventions and to explore identified sources of heterogeneity in intervention effects. Bibliographic databases were searched for relevant articles from inception to March 2012. Only studies targeting non-clinical health behaviour in non-clinical populations were included in the review. One author extracted data and assessed quality of evidence and a second author verified all content. Reports of 20 studies were included. A variety of health behaviours and outcome measures were addressed across studies. Most studies produced one or more significant effects on measures of behaviour, attitude or intention. Across studies, methodological risk for bias was frequently high, particularly for selection bias. Gender and self-esteem were identified as potential moderator variables. The evidence for the effectiveness of dissonance-based interventions was generally positive. The hypocrisy paradigm was found to be the most commonly applied research paradigm and was most effective at inciting change across a range of health behaviours. There was no observable link between type of target behaviour and positive outcomes. Researchers are encouraged to minimize potential for bias in future studies and explore moderators of the dissonance effect. What is already known on this subject? A recent meta-analysis indicates that dissonance-based interventions primarily based on the induced compliance paradigm are effective for eating disorder prevention (Stice, Shaw, Becker, & Rohde, 2008, Prev. Sci., 9, 114). However, it is currently unclear whether such outcomes are generalizable to interventions targeting non-clinical health behaviours such as smoking, sun protection and sexual risk taking. Other research indicates that studies based on the hypocrisy paradigm may lead to changes in non-clinical health behaviours (Stone & Fernandez, 2008, Soc. Personal. Psychol. Compass, 2, 1024; Stone & Focella, 2011, Self Identity, 10, 295) although this literature lacks systematic evaluation of interventions across a range of experimental paradigms. What does this study add? The hypocrisy paradigm appears most effective in inciting change across a range of non-clinical health behaviours. The dissonance effect may be moderated by variables such as self-esteem and gender. Risk of bias needs to be minimised to increase the validity of studies within this topic area.

Psychopathic personality traits and cognitive dissonance: Individual differences in attitude change

In a study using a classic cognitive dissonance paradigm, 164 undergraduate participants were induced to deceive a fellow student; half were directly instructed to lie whereas the other half were politely requested but not instructed to lie. Participants were assessed for psychopathic traits using the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised: Short Form and the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, and for Machiavellianism using the MACH-IV. As predicted, participants low in psychopathic traits exhibited classic cognitive dissonance effects following their lie whereas participants high in psychopathic traits did not. Results for Machiavellianism were nonsignificant. These results indicate that cognitive dissonance effects in an induced compliance paradigm are reduced or eliminated among individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits.

Dissonance Arousal and Persistence in Attitude Change

If dissonance theory rightly predicts short-term attitude changes, it has yet to prove its ability to predict long-term changes. Therefore, this paper will try to assess the persistence in attitude change following dissonance arousal in an induced-compliance paradigm. To this end, undergraduate students took part in two induced-compliance experiments (N = 52 in Study 1 and N = 40 in Study 2) following a 2 (free choice vs. no choice) X 2 (time of measure: short vs. long term) mixed design. The attitude change was measured immediately after the counterattitudinal essay and one month later. The results suggest that dissonance-provoked attitude change is durable over time. In fact, only the participants in the free-choice condition changed their attitude in the short term; their attitude change persisted one month after the experimental situation.

Cognitive Dissonance and Affect: An Initial Test of a Connectionist Account

In their connectionist model of cognitive dissonance, Van Overwalle & Jordens (2002) put forward the hypothesis that positive affect increases behaviour-induced attitudes, while negative affect decreases attitudes. In this article, this hypothesised role of affect was tested for two well-known paradigms in the cognitive dissonance literature: free choice and induced compliance. For the free-choice paradigm, we replicated the findings in the difficult-high choice condition of Shultz, Léveillé, and Lepper (1999) and additionally induced negative mood. As predicted, negative mood resulted in a more negative attitude compared to no mood induction. For the induced compliance paradigm, we replicated the Linder, Cooper, and Jones (1967) dissonance and reinforcement findings and additionally induced opposite mood in the nochoice (reinforcement) conditions. Specifically, we induced positive mood in the low reward condition and negative mood in the high reward condition. Again as predicted, positive mood increased the attitude and negative mood decreased the attitude, resulting in an elimination of the reinforcement effect.

On the propositional nature of cognitive consistency: Dissonance changes explicit, but not implicit attitudes

Two studies investigated the influence of cognitive dissonance on explicit and implicit attitudes. Employing the induced compliance paradigm, participants wrote a counterattitudinal essay under conditions of either high or low perceived situational pressure; control participants did not write an essay. Consistent with dissonance theory, results indicated a more favorable explicit attitude toward the initially counterattitudinal position when perceived situational pressure was low, but not when it was high. Implicit attitudes, however, were unaffected by dissonance manipulations. Moreover, explicit attitudes were significantly related to implicit attitudes under high perceived situational pressure and control conditions, but not when perceived situational pressure was low. Results are discussed in terms of associative versus propositional modes of information processing.

Vicarious dissonance: attitude change from the inconsistency of others.

Three studies support the vicarious dissonance hypothesis that individuals change their attitudes when witnessing members of important groups engage in inconsistent behavior. Study 1, in which participants observed an actor in an induced-compliance paradigm, documented that students who identified with their college supported an issue more after hearing an ingroup member make a counterattitudinal speech in favor of that issue. In Study 2, vicarious dissonance occurred even when participants did not hear a speech, and attitude change was highest when the speaker was known to disagree with the issue. Study 3 showed that speaker choice and aversive consequences moderated vicarious dissonance, and demonstrated that vicarious discomfort--the discomfort observers imagine feeling if in an actor's place--was attenuated after participants expressed their revised attitudes.

Cognitive Dissonance and Experienced Negative Affect: Evidence that Dissonance Increases Experienced Negative Affect Even in the Absence of Aversive Consequences

Research has suggested that the dissonance produced in the induced compliance paradigm is accompanied by experienced negative affect. This research, however, used a paradigm in which participants’ counterattitudinal action had the potential to bring about an aversive consequence, thus leaving the question of whether the dissonance produced in the absence of aversive consequences causes increased negative affect. Results from two experiments demonstrated that individuals report more negative affect following freely choosing (high choice) than following being told (low choice) to write a counterattitudinal statement that would produce no aversive consequences. The second experiment also demonstrated that the negative affect is reduced following attitude change and eliminated an alternative explanation of similar, past experiments. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Feedback: Exacerbating the Need for Self-Justification with Self-Affirmations

In numerous self-affirmation studies, Claude Steele and colleagues have demonstrated that self-affirmations reduce the need to justify dissonant behavior even when the affirmation is unrelated to the dissonance-evoking action. However, research has not sufficiently examined the impact of reaffirming self-aspects that are related to the dissonance. The authors argue that relevant affirmations of this sort can make salient the standards that are violated in the course of dissonant behavior; thereby increasing dissonance and the need for self justification. In a laboratory study using the induced-compliance paradigm, it was demonstrated that dissonance can be exacerbated by reaffirming standards that are violated in the course of the dissonant behavior.

Between a rock and a hard place: Self-concept regulating and communicative properties of distancing behaviors.

This study investigated 2 properties of distancing behaviors - a class of deliberate and inadvertent behaviors that insulate persons from the consequences of negative self-discrepant behavior and signal that they should not be associated with that behavior. In Phase 1, high-choice Ss in a multiple audience variation of the induced compliance paradigm who read counterattitudinal essays on affirmative action in the presence of a Black woman did not show typical dissonance-induced attitude change. Phase 2 found that this absence of attitude change was significantly related to the extent to which Ss distanced themselves from their essays before reading them