Dealing With Threats to The Self Part 2

1. Dealing With Threats to The SelfPart 2

2. Motivated reasoning • The tendency to interpret information in a way that favors pre-existing beliefs and desires. • Political debates • Health information

3. Motivated Reasoning

4. Cognitive Dissonance • A state of psychological tension that is aroused when a person simultaneously holds two thoughts that contradict one another.

5. Theory of Cognitive Dissonance Inconsistency between thoughts Experience cognitive dissonance Attempt to reduce dissonance

6. Festinger & Carlsmith (1959) • Participants did boring tasks for 1 hour. • Paid $1 or $20 to tell another subject that the tasks were enjoyable. • During interview, asked how much they enjoyed the tasks.

7. Types of Cognitive Dissonance • Attitude-Behavior inconsistency • Effort justification • Post-decisional dissonance

8. Self-Affirmation Theory • People want to see themselves positively. • Dissonance is a threat to the self. • When dissonance is aroused, people can deal with it directly or by affirming the self in an unrelated domain.

9. Steele & Lui (1983) Control group: Dissonance---------------------- Attitude change Self-Affirmation group: Dissonance--Self-AffirmationLess attitude change

10. Self-Affirmation and Motivated Reasoning • Cohen et al. (2000) • P’s were pro-choice or pro-life • Read a debate b/w activists on each side of the issue. • Self-affirmation manipulation.

11. How do People Deal with Self-Threats? • Self-Handicapping—prior to performance • Self-Serving Bias—after performance • Motivated reasoning • Change thoughts/attitudes/behaviors to reduce discomfort (cognitive dissonance theory). • Affirm an unrelated part of the self (self-affirmation theory).