Level Of Cognitive Dissonance Research Articles

Cognitive dissonance and its relationship to academic engagement

The current study aimed to identify the level of cognitive dissonance among Al al-Bayt students in Jordan in terms of gender, academic major, and academic level. It also aimed to reveal the predictive ability of cognitive dissonance for academic engagement. The study sample consisted of 265 male and female students from Jordan. The study used the cognitive dissonance scale developed by Al-Adamat and Atoum (2023), and the academic engagement scale developed by Diab (2014) to collect the data. The results of the study indicated that the level of cognitive dissonance was moderate. They also showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the level of cognitive dissonance in terms of gender and academic major, while there are statistically significant differences in the level of cognitive dissonance in terms of academic level and in favor of the third- and fourth-year students. Additionally, the results indicated that cognitive dissonance contributed to predicting a percentage of 10.2% of the variance in academic engagement.

The Level of Cognitive Dissonance among Learners in the Selected Secondary Schools of Lusaka District, Zambia

This study sought to determine the level of cognitive dissonance among learners in selected secondary schools of Lusaka District. The sample comprised 200 randomly selected pupils from two secondary schools of Lusaka District. This study employed a cross sectional survey research design. Cognitive dissonance scale was employed to determine the level of dissonance among learners. Overall cognitive dissonance results revealed that 50% of learners experienced high level of dissonance. The cognitive dissonance sub scales represented personal domain and external domain. Among the sub scales representing personal domain, family dissonance had the lowest mean score while the subscale with the highest mean was personal adjustment. For the impersonal domain, cognitive dissonance based on school and learning had the lowest mean score while cognitive dissonance based on perpetuance had the highest mean score. Similarly, findings indicated significant difference in the level of cognitive dissonance among learners according to school and gender. In conclusion, the level of cognitive dissonance is high among learners in Zambia.

Breaking (Fake) News: No Personal Relevance Effect on Misinformation Vulnerability.

The massive spread of fake news (FN) requires a better understanding of both risks and protective psychological factors underlying vulnerability to misinformation. Prior studies have mostly dealt with news that do not bear any direct personal relevance to participants. Here, we ask whether high-stakes news topics may decrease vulnerability to FN. Data were collected during the national lockdown in Italy (COVID-19 news) and one year later (political news). We compared truth discrimination and overall belief for true news (TN) and FN concerning COVID-19 and political topics. Our findings indicate that psychological risk and protective factors have similar effects on truth discrimination, regardless of whether the news topic is highly or minimally personally relevant. However, we found different effects of psychological factors on overall belief, for high and low personal relevance. These results suggest that, given a high level of cognitive dissonance, individuals tend to rely on proximal or emotional sources of information. In summary, our study underscores the importance of understanding the psychological factors that contribute to vulnerability to misinformation, particularly in high-stakes news contexts.

The Effect of Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Brand Loyalty on Consumer Complaint Behaviors: A Cross-Cultural Study

Consumers tend to exhibit e-WOM behavior or retention behavior or communicate with official channels rather than the brand, which can damage the brand in cases where the channels through which customers are expected to reach the brand for their complaints are dysfunctional. This study aims to examine the relationship between cognitive dissonance and brand loyalty factors as well as their impact on consumer complaint behavior in terms of differences between Turkish and Romanian consumers. For this purpose, a simultaneous quantitative research study was conducted in these two countries, with a total of 790 participants surveyed. The findings showed that the consumers’ level of brand loyalty had a significant positive effect on the level of cognitive dissonance, which significantly impacted complaint behavior. On the other hand, it was concluded that brand loyalty did not significantly affect complaint behavior. The comparative analysis revealed that Romanian customers’ brand loyalty was higher than Turkish customers’, and the dimensions concerning cognitive dissonance and complaint behavior were higher among Turkish customers.

Cognitive dissonance and its relationship to emotional intelligence

The current study aimed to identify the level of cognitive dissonance among students of Al al-Bayt University in Jordan in terms of gender, academic specialization and level, and to reveal the predictive ability of emotional intelligence for cognitive dissonance. The study sample consisted of 235 male and female students from Al al-Bayt University. The Cognitive Dissonance Scale (Al-Adamat & Atoum, 2022) and the Emotional Intelligence Scale (Al-Alwan, 2011) were used to collect the data. The findings of this study indicated that the level of cognitive dissonance was average. Statistically significant differences were identified in the level of cognitive dissonance in terms of gender, higher scores being reported by males. Also, there were significant differences in terms of academic specialization, in the favor of humanities major, and academic level, in the favor of the second, third and fourth year students. In addition, findings revealed that emotional intelligence explained 9.3% of the cognitive dissonance variance.

Detecting Noncompliant Behavior in Organizations: How Online Survey Responses and Behaviors Reveal Risk

ABSTRACT Ensuring organizational regulatory and legal compliance is a challenging, high-stakes management task. Overlooking or underestimating noncompliance in organizations can result in substantial fines, damage to a company’s reputation, and, ultimately, loss of business. To help alleviate this risk, we explore whether organizations can assess noncompliance by monitoring users’ answers and related mouse cursor movements in an intelligent online questionnaire. Namely, we propose that noncompliant (compared with compliant) individuals will experience more cognitive dissonance on questions about (1) what constitutes noncompliance behavior and (2) what consequences for noncompliance are appropriate. We predict that increased cognitive dissonance in noncompliant individuals will influence their questionnaire responses—as well as their mouse cursor movements—when answering these questions. We collect data to test our hypotheses in a study from individuals who voluntarily chose to cheat on an online task for monetary gain. The results suggest that the responses to these two groups of questions, along with the associated mouse cursor movement, can work together as a low-cost, scalable tool to help assess noncompliance risk. This paper contributes to theory by explaining how people who are noncompliant tend to provide more lenient answers to questions about what constitutes compliance and the consequences of noncompliance. In addition, we show how mouse-cursor deviation provides theoretical insight into the level of cognitive dissonance that users experience, and that users who are noncompliant show greater deviation on compliance and consequence questions.

Mind the Gap: Animal Protection Law and Opinion of Sheep Farmers and Lay Citizens Regarding Animal Maltreatment in Sheep Farming in Southern Brazil.

Simple SummaryAnimal protection laws are written and enforced differently depending on the category of animals they are assigned to. This generates inconsistencies in the recognition of animal maltreatment. We studied sheep farmers’ and other citizens’ opinions regarding animal maltreatment by discussing the risk of sheep maltreatment in regular farming practices in Southern Brazil. We surveyed the perception of 56 farmers and 209 citizens regarding general animal and specific on-farm sheep maltreatment issues. The understanding of some key components of animal maltreatment was similar for both respondent groups: failing to provide for the basic animal needs and aggression or physical abuse towards animals. However, citizens were more sensitive than farmers to animal stress, suffering, fear and pain. More citizens than sheep farmers believed that animal maltreatment occurs in sheep farming; nevertheless, nearly half of the farmers recognized sheep maltreatment within normal production practices. Most citizens and all of the farmers were unaware of the Brazilian animal protection laws. Most citizens stated that they would not purchase products from animals exposed to maltreatment. We suggest painful procedures as the main risk of animal maltreatment in sheep farming and a priority issue. The level of cognitive dissonance in sheep farmers and contradictions between farmers and other citizens observed in our results indicate that mitigation policies are urgently needed.We aimed to study the gaps between the law and sheep farmer and citizen opinions regarding animal maltreatment by discussing the risk of sheep maltreatment in regular farming practices in Southern Brazil. We surveyed the perception of 56 farmers and 209 citizens regarding general animal and specific on-farm sheep maltreatment issues. The main themes from these two groups about the key components of animal maltreatment were similar: failing to provide for the basic animal needs (27.0%; 96 of 355 total quotes) and aggression or physical abuse (23.9%; 85/355). However, citizens (19.8%; 60/303) were more sensitive than farmers (9.6%; 5/52) to animal stress, suffering, fear, pain or painful procedures (p < 0.05). The perspective of citizens was closer than that of farmers to expert definitions for three situations: emaciation, movement restriction and tail docking without anesthetic use (p < 0.05). More citizens (71.6%; 116/162) than sheep farmers (49.0%; 24/49) believed that animal maltreatment occurs in sheep farming (p < 0.05), but nearly half of the farmers recognized sheep maltreatment within regular production practices. Most citizens (86.4%; 140/162) and all farmers (100.0%; 0/51) were unaware of any Brazilian animal protection law. Most citizens (79%; 131/167) stated that they would not purchase products from animals exposed to maltreatment. We suggest painful procedures as a major risk of animal maltreatment in sheep farming and a priority issue. With the many decades of animal protection laws and scientific recognition of animal sentience and welfare requirements, the level of cognitive dissonance and practical contradictions observed in our results indicate that mitigation policies are urgently needed.

Narrative Construction of Product Reviews Reveals the Level of Post-Decisional Cognitive Dissonance

Social media platforms host an increasing amount of costumer reviews on a wide range of products. While most studies on product reviews focus on the sentiments expressed or helpfulness judged by readers and on their impact on subsequent buying this study aims at uncovering the psychological state of the persons making the reviews. More specifically, the study applies a narrative approach to the analysis of product reviews and addresses the question what the narrative construction of product reviews reveals about the level of post-decisional cognitive dissonance experienced by reviewers. The study involved 94 participants, who were asked to write a product review on their recently bought cell phones. The level of cognitive dissonance was measured by a self-report scale. The product reviews were analyzed by the Narrative Categorical Content Analytical Toolkit. The analysis revealed that agency, spatio-temporal perspective, and psychological perspective reflected the level of cognitive dissonance of the reviewers. The results are interpreted by elaborating on the idea that narratives have affordance to express affect.

Disonansi Kognitif Gay Terkait Budaya Patrilineal di Bali

The research was purposed to know how cognitive dissonance of gay related towards patrilineal culture in Bali. Subjects of this research were two Balinese born gay. Each of the subjects have two significant others. The subjects were selected by theory based/operational construct sampling method to make sure that its represent the real phenomenon and compatible to the purpose of the research. The research used qualitative method with phenomenology approach through analysis model by Purwandari (2007). Method of the sampling was an interview with list of questions based on purpose of the research. The result showed that there was a different level of cognitive dissonance on both of subjects. It was based on their own background and causes of cognitive dissonance. The research also showed that there was a different effort from each of the subject to solved cognitive dissonance.

Tactics to deter deviant consumer behavior: a research agenda

PurposeDeviant consumer behavior (DCB) has serious negative effects on organizations, employees and other customers. While research to date has largely focused on understanding why consumers engage in deviant behaviors, less focus has been placed on exploring how to deter them. This paper aims to shift the conversation from research exploring why consumers engage in deviant behaviors to understanding how DCB could be deterred.Design/methodology/approachIn this conceptual paper, a research agenda of deterrence tactics is provided with associated propositions to guide future research in the field of DCB.FindingsA deterrence–neutralization–behavior (DNB) framework is proposed to underpin the seven deterrence tactics outlined in this research agenda. The DNB framework illustrates the positive relationship between neutralization techniques and engagement in DCB, because the techniques reduce the level of cognitive dissonance associated with performing a deviant act beyond an individual’s deviance threshold. The framework adds a new proposed moderating role of deterrence tactics. Deterrence tactics are mechanisms that will reintroduce cognitive dissonance, previously reduced through a neutralization technique, by presenting the consumer with a competing piece of information that challenges their attitudes, beliefs or behavior. Therefore, the authors propose that certain deterrence tactics could diminish the positive effect of different neutralization techniques on DCB if the tactics challenge the justifications consumers are using to excuse their actions – subsequently reintroducing cognitive dissonance.Practical implicationsPractically, this paper is the next step in an effort to provide evidence-based solutions for managers seeking to reduce the negative impact that deviance has on the organization.Originality/valueTo date, research has focused on understanding why DCB occurs with limited attention on how it can be deterred. The value in this paper is in proposing a series of deterrence tactics that are theoretically matched to established antecedents and neutralization techniques associated with DCB. Overall, this paper provides a future research agenda with propositions to build knowledge on effective deterrence tactics for curbing instances of DCB.

How does cognitive dissonance influence the sunk cost effect?

BackgroundThe sunk cost effect is the scenario when individuals are willing to continue to invest capital in a failing project. The purpose of this study was to explain such irrational behavior by exploring how sunk costs affect individuals’ willingness to continue investing in an unfavorable project and to understand the role of cognitive dissonance on the sunk cost effect.MethodsThis study used an experimental questionnaire survey on managers of firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Over-The-Counter.ResultsThe empirical results show that cognitive dissonance does not mediate the relationship between sunk costs and willingness to continue an unfavorable investment project. However, cognitive dissonance has a moderating effect, and only when the level of cognitive dissonance is high does the sunk cost have significantly positive impacts on willingness to continue on with an unfavorable investment.ConclusionThis study offers psychological mechanisms to explain the sunk cost effect based on the theory of cognitive dissonance, and it also provides some recommendations for corporate management.

Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive Dissonance (Revised): An EEG Study.

Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that our preferences are modulated by the mere act of choosing. A choice between two similarly valued alternatives creates psychological tension (cognitive dissonance) that is reduced by a postdecisional reevaluation of the alternatives. We measured EEG of human subjects during rest and free-choice paradigm. Our study demonstrates that choices associated with stronger cognitive dissonance trigger a larger negative frontocentral evoked response similar to error-related negativity, which has in turn been implicated in general performance monitoring. Furthermore, the amplitude of the evoked response is correlated with the reevaluation of the alternatives. We also found a link between individual neural dynamics (long-range temporal correlations) of the frontocentral cortices during rest and follow-up neural and behavioral effects of cognitive dissonance. Individuals with stronger resting-state long-range temporal correlations demonstrated a greater postdecisional reevaluation of the alternatives and larger evoked brain responses associated with stronger cognitive dissonance. Thus, our results suggest that cognitive dissonance is reflected in both resting-state and choice-related activity of the prefrontal cortex as part of the general performance-monitoring circuitry.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Contrary to traditional decision theory, behavioral studies repeatedly demonstrate that our preferences are modulated by the mere act of choosing. Difficult choices generate psychological (cognitive) dissonance, which is reduced by the postdecisional devaluation of unchosen options. We found that decisions associated with a higher level of cognitive dissonance elicited a stronger negative frontocentral deflection that peaked ∼60 ms after the response. This activity shares similar spatial and temporal features as error-related negativity, the electrophysiological correlate of performance monitoring. Furthermore, the frontocentral resting-state activity predicted the individual magnitude of preference change and the strength of cognitive dissonance-related neural activity.

The Effect of Cognitive Dissonance on External Information Search and Consumer Complaint Responses

The cost of influencing a new customer rapidly increases and exceeds the cost of retaining existing customer. Thus, companies tend to be more concerned with customer retention. Keeping their current market share is one of the important tasks for companies. Understanding why customers complain and switch from one company to another help companies to retain their customers. One of the reasons consumers engage in negative responses can result from dissonance experienced after purchase. The concept cognitive dissonance has been studied widely in the literature of consumer behavior. However, there are few studies discussing the relation between cognitive dissonance (its dimensions) and consumers’ complaint responses. This study adopts the 22-item scale of Sweeney et al. (2000) in order to evaluate consumers’ level of cognitive dissonance after purchasing a smartphone. This study offers three dimensions of cognitive dissonance –emotion, wisdom of purchase and concern over deal- as the predictors of external information search and consumer complaint responses. This study tests whether cognitive dissonance has significant effects on consumers’ search for external information, and in turn, on consumers’ complaint and switching intention. The empirical analysis was carried out based on the data gathered by 400 smartphone users, living in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. The survey result was analyzed by using Partial Least Squares (PLS-PM) analysis method. The results reveal that when consumers feel emotional and rational inconsistencies after smartphone purchasing, they need information from external sources (such as asking friends, relatives, other stores), and this information search behavior leads to negative consumer responses as complaint and switching intention.

Cognitive Dissonance as an Effect of Indulging on Credit

Indians are known to have high regard for savings, thanks to the age-old pro-saving lessons that are part of the Indian DNA. Till recently, this deep-rooted pro-savings attitude made sure that Indian consumers were uncomfortable with the idea of indulging, and indulging on credit has been a taboo. However, changing lifestyles and exposure to the glamour and thrill of spending are unfastening this grip. If numbers of “active card holders” and “usage of credit” are any indicator, than Indians have started accepting credit as a way of life. Most of the research work carried out on the subject is restricted to “usage patterns” in different markets and impact of demographic factors and lifestyle on acceptance and usage of credit cards. This study is aimed at finding insights on whether consumers feel that credit cards encourage them to indulge and post-spending there is a higher level of cognitive dissonance. Data, for this study, have been collected from upper-middle-class urban consumers and analyzed through statistical tools to figure out the answers to these questions. This study can be of immense use for credit card marketers as they can figure out if they have to reduce the cognitive dissonance of the consumers of their credit cards and they will also figure out whether brand positioning based on symbolic benefits would be advantageous or utilitarian value that the brand offers.

Measuring the Long-Term Effectiveness of a Compulsory Approach to Behaviour Change

This research looked into the effectiveness of a campaign at the Universiti Sains Malaysia for a compulsory ban on disposable plastics. Although there was high awareness of the ‘Say No to Plastic Bags- bags campaign, and moderate compliance on campus, we wondered whether a compulsory approach would maintain the desired behaviours off campus and over time. We surveyed a sample of 300 first-year students and conducted in-depth interviews after two years with eight students who were involved in the earlier survey. The impacts of the campaign were moderate based on the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of the students. The compulsory approach caused a minimal level of cognitive dissonance, inconsistent practice outside the campus and the possibility of discontinuation of practice in the long run, but the differences were not significant. Based on the follow-up interviews, the study concludes that knowledge alone is insufficient to motivate long-term behaviours. More important to maintain behaviour change is a strong positive attitude towards the issue and continuous sup-port from family and friends.

Does Advertising Moderate Mutual Fund Investor Post-Purchase Decisions?

This paper investigates how advertising influences the patterns of fund investor’s post-purchase behavior as related to fund performance. The evidence shows that fund consumer behavior is influenced by mutual fund advertising in ways similar to goods markets. We find that fund investors are willing to sell winning and are reluctant to sell losing funds. This asymmetric redemption-performance relation is in line with the disposition effect. This study also shows that consumers are less willing to sell winning funds with high fund family advertising than those with low fund family advertising, and are more reluctant to redeem losing mutual funds with high fund family advertising than those with low fund family advertising. A possible explanation for our findings is that advertising may reduce the level of cognitive dissonance, create consumer loyalty, and enhance investors’ risk tolerance, thus giving consumers more incentive to hold both losing and winning funds with high levels of advertising.

Impulse buying and cognitive dissonance: a study conducted among the spring break student shoppers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine certain aspects of the relationship between impulse buying and resulting cognitive dissonance in the context of spring break student shopping.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs exploratory analysis utilizing a quantitative approach. The sample population was drawn from college students who went on shopping trips during their spring break. The survey instrument measures the cognitive dissonance construct and the impulsive trait, among other things. Because spring break shopping by students differs from typical adult shopping, some context specific nuances are also explored.FindingsThe first hypothesis tested was that the level of cognitive dissonance resulting from impulsive buying would be significantly greater than that which occurred after a planned purchase. Additionally, informed by prior theory, it was expected that more impulsive individuals would experience a higher level of cognitive dissonance after an unplanned purchase than less impulsive individuals. However, the empirical data were found to directly contradict these hypotheses. Impulsive buyers seem to experience rather lower levels of cognitive dissonance than planned buyers. Likewise, when a typically non‐impulsive buyer makes an impulsive purchase, the cognitive dissonance experienced by him is seen to be significantly higher than when a typically impulsive buyer makes such a purchase. These findings lead to a new theory, according to which, impulse buying behavior may be a coping strategy used to avoid discomfort associated with the possible disconfirmation of expectations.Originality/valueUnderstanding present generation college students' consumption‐related behavior may give vital clues about the changing nature of consumption, as well as offering predictors for the consumption behavior of the adult population in the near future. In addition, by testing certain so far unexplored aspects of the relationship between impulse buying and cognitive dissonance, the paper enriches consumer research literature.

Between a rock and a hard place: The evaluation of demographic forecasts

Forecasting, in general, has been described as an unavoidable yet impossible task. This irony, which comprises the ‘rock’ and the ‘hard place’ in the title, creates a high level of cognitive dissonance, which, in turn, generates stress for those both making and using forecasts that have non-trivial impacts. Why? Because the forecasted numbers that are invariably accorded a high degree of precision inexorably reveal their inevitable imprecision when the numbers forming the actuality finally take place and the numbers comprising the forecast's errors are precisely measured. The current state of the art in demography for dealing with the ‘rock’ and the ‘hard place’ is a less-than-successful strategy because it is based on an acceptance of accuracy as the primary evaluation criterion, which is the source of cognitive dissonance. One way to reduce cognitive dissonance is to change the relationship of the very cognitive elements creating it. We argue that forecast evaluations currently focused on accuracy and based on measures like RMSE and MAPE be refocused to include utility and propose for this purpose the ‘Proportionate Reduction in Error’ (PRE) measure. We illustrate our proposal with examples and discuss its advantages. We conclude that including PRE as an evaluation criterion can reduce stress by reducing cognitive dissonance without, at the same time, either trivializing the evaluation process or substantively altering how forecasts are done and presented.

Reluctant Warriors: Premillennialism and Politics in the Moral Majority

This study investigates the effects of premillennialist theological beliefs on attitudes about political participation among members of the Indiana and Arkansas chapters of the Moral Majority. Premillennialism was found to increase positive attitudes toward political activity by inculcating beliefs about an active Devil taking part in human affairs, and to decrease the perceived efficacy of political participation by engendering beliefs that political activity is futile in the face of the coming millennium. This was found to produce a significant level of cognitive dissonance among Moral Majority members.