Benchmark - Cognitive Dissonance, Social Attribution, and Learning and Instruction
Berrioe1
PSY866_wk7_Benchmark_lopeswritereport.pdf
Submission Ide: 5f902ab2-4049-4ae9-a71c-f72e2761ea1d
55% SIMILARITY SCORE 18 CITATION ITEMS 20 GRAMMAR ISSUES 0 FEEDBACK COMMENT Internet Source 0% Institution 55%
Edwin Berrios
PSY866_Benchmark_WK7.docx
Summary
1992 Words
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 1
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 2
Introduction
The application of theories for instruction and learning has always been difficult when
they are contradictory. For example, the cognitive dissonance theory asserts that beliefs and
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND
INSTRUCTION
Edwin G. Berrios
Grand Canyon University
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Date: 29-Nov-2017
behaviors have an influence on attitudes, while the social attrition theory claim that people create
casual inferences just to bring an explanation of the behaviors of others, actions, and mental
states. This discussion will make a contrast between the cognitive dissonance theory and the
social attrition theory by taking into consideration the applications of the two theories in trying to
improve learning and instruction. Also, this essay will discuss the similarities of the Christian
worldview to the personal worldview. This discussion will also take into consideration the
potential of a private worldview to countermand cognitive dissonance.
Theoretical research and perspectives on the cognitive dissonance theory
According to Harmon-Jones, (2019) cognitive dissonance is a state of psychological
tension that occurs when one chooses between equally unpleasant or attractive alternatives. . The
cognitive dissonance theory was proposed by a social psychologist called Leon Festinger in
1957. Festinger believed that when a person’s actions or beliefs are not consistent with each
other, it brings a situation where a person gets an uncomfortable feeling. According to Festinger,
the need to drift away from cognitive dissonance is considered to be natural as the need to satisfy
anger or the need for safety. In order to understand dissonance and the cognitive dissonance
theory, it is important to show how a person can get an unpleasant sensation.
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 3
Use of whitespace before comma and be...: . .
Passive voice: theory was proposed by
Spelling mistake: Festinger Fe stinger
Spelling mistake: Festinger Fe stinger
Spelling mistake: Festinger Fe stinger
Passive voice: is considered to be
Spelling mistake: Festinger Fe stinger
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Spelling mistake: Vaidis Views
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Passive voice: research was done by
Cognitive dissonance is usually an overwhelming experience of mental stress or
discomfort by a person due to taking actions that are contrary to their personal values or holding
contrary beliefs. A popular example to demonstrate dissonance theory is a person on diet and still
engages in binge eating. Such a person will certainly experience negative feelings, which
Festinger termed as cognitive dissonance. Another basic example is when a person is trying to
quit cigarettes but continuously enjoys the act of smoking cigarettes. This person will have an
overwhelming experience of mental stress or cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance theory
falls into the classification of the theories of consistency as it views individuals as a seeker of
consistency with motivations of discrepancies in the perceptions of their cognition. Bran and
Vaidis, (2020) examine the paradigm of cognitive dissonance. In their research, a state of
dissonance is induced to participants in order to make them experience hypocrisy for the
advocacy of religious behaviors that they do not engage satisfactorily. The research found out
that the feeling of cognitive dissonance was observed with an increase of guilt and shame.
Participation in a self-affirming religious task usually leads to the elimination of guilt and shame
from the experience of cognitive dissonance.
Another research was done by McGrath, (2017) on cognitive dissonance was aimed to
expound on the idea of the increased likeliness of individualistic cultures that will lead to the
reduction of the cognitive dissonance by use of post-decision making with a comparison of
collectivist cultures. There is attribution in the differences in the conceptualization of judgment
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 4
free-choice paradigm to thoroughly examine the variance between dissonance in Western and
Eastern Europeans. The results from that study revealed that Western Europeans were likely to
make a post-decision dissonance reduction than Eastern Europeans through the spreading of
alternatives.
Theoretical perspective and research on social attribution theory
Counter-stereotypical and stereotypical exemplars
Social attribution theory is the process where people form explanations for causes of
behaviors or events (Dweck, 2018). This theory proposes that people usually identify social
factors and provide an outcome by explaining matters of interpersonal events or social cognition.
The causes of social proceedings are inferences that are created through attributional processes.
To explain the social attribution theory, we look at a scenario where two friends are quarreling
about whether to order pizza or Chinese food for the New Year. Such conflicts like in the
scenario usually appear trivial on the surface, however, they estrange individuals and hurt
feelings. Inferences can be created on what is happening in the scenario. Things to take into
consideration are whether there is the tendency to be quarrelsome or the need for control
between the two. Perhaps one or both parties need to dominate the relationship. Another
consideration to be taken is the circumstances of the argument. For example, if alcohol has been
using, then it is known to escalate regular calm situations. Causal reasoning acts as an important
path in donating knowledge about the qualities of each party and the situational dynamics so as
to make inferences about the causes of an event.
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 5
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Spelling mistak...: attributional attribution
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Redundant phrase: so as to to
Spelling mistake: Ramasubramanian
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Three successive sentences begin wit...: The
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
because of differences in self-construal in different societies. This means that for individualistic
cultures people have high levels of commitments when making choices than collectivist cultures.
This is because of the difference in implications of the decisions made by the individualistic
culture and that of the collectivist cultures, affecting personal preferences. The research uses a
Ramasubramanian, (2011) conducts research to determine how exposure to colored
media characters will affect the opinions of the viewers of policies that are targeting race. This
research uses the attribution theory as its primary theoretical foundation. The study used 363
participants by exposing them to stereotypical and counter-stereotypical exemplars that
constitute in-group (white) and out-group (black). The internal attribution in the research was
measured using a seven-point Likert scale that ranges from “very important factor” to “not at all
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 6
understand why an event is taking place. The reasons why and the goals of casual reasoning are
already known. The goal of causal reasoning is to discover a limited number of domain-specific
causes, which apply to specific cases. Dual processing distinction is relevant to causal reasoning
and corresponds to other aspects of social cognition. Causal reasoning is usually fast and
automatic and arriving at the best possible explanation does not need any kind of in-depth review
of various evidence but just makes use of a single sufficient explanation.
Guerra and Wubbena (2017) explore the impact of cognitive dissonance on a learning
environment. Fundamentally, it was noted that the practices and beliefs of a teacher were
interrelated in the classroom, and holding two inconsistent beliefs will lead to tension. Most
teachers are usually knowledgeable about culturally proficient education but have a different
conviction with how they view students that are from diverse backgrounds, and most of them
hold inconsistent heterogeneous beliefs. This kind of conflict of beliefs can be explained through
the cognitive dissonance theory. The suggestion that should be made to individuals that hold
opposing cognition and have cognitive dissonance is to align their associated beliefs and
behaviors. Teachers in public schools usually hold the view and expectation to secure personal
practices that align to beliefs and proficiency, however as the classroom demographics continue
to increase, it becomes more difficult. The act of teachers practicing culturally competent
teaching in a classroom is to increase the likelihood of outcomes that are positive concerning
academics for linguistically, ethnically, and economically diverse student populations. Teachers
who have deficit beliefs on students with diverse backgrounds have a high chance of reproducing
disparities in academic achievement.
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Passive voice: can be applied by
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
sufficient (enough): sufficient enough
Passive voice: it was noted that
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
an important factor.” The research reveals that participants that were exposed to African-
American characters that represented stereotypes of beliefs influences of black Americans, had
internal attributions for the perception of failure of the group, feelings of prejudice for the
direction taken by the group, and lack of support of policies that are pro-minority.
Application of cognitive dissonance theory and attribution theory to improve Learning and
Instruction
Casual reasoning
The cognitive dissonance theory and the attribution theory are very important utility for
the advancement of learning and instruction (McGrath, A. (2020)). One important factor is that
can be applied by the theories for learning is causal reasoning. Casual reasoning is a ubiquitous
and time-consuming process in comparison to other processes and inferential behaviors. Our
cognitive capacity is very limited because we have a defined boundary, and are devoted to very
small pieces of information at a time. However, the secondary memory is usually limitless and
solves casual dilemmas that are relative to people, situations, and events by accessing the long-
term memory. The understanding of causes is usually embedded into our mental representation
of specific domains in our lives. We never need to make laborious rules of causes in order to
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 7
The personal worldview to countermand cognitive dissonance
Christian worldview
No person would want to experience cognitive dissonance by not living in compliance
with a personal worldview. Whether a person realizes it or not, every individual has a worldview
and incorporates presumptions and biases affecting how we view life and reality. The formation
of the worldview is mainly from education, upbringing, books, and media. For others, worldview
is usually mainly through cultural influences. Many individuals have not considered defending
their values or belief systems. The philosophy of the life of an individual often intersects with
their religion. The Christian worldview is a complex system of beliefs with an integrated view of
the world. The Christian worldview believes in the existence of God and that all things in the
world are created. A Cristian worldview also holds that God created mankind and that all actions
to be taken by man should be aligned to his will. Negative actions against another human are
contrary to the Christian worldview and cause cognitive dissonance when such actions are taken
and conflict with the values of God. Ringnes and Hegstad (2016) discuss the concept of
cognitive dissonance in the Christian religion. Some of the Christians have very stiff believes
about life and how to act in life. For example, the Jehovah witness believes that it is very wrong
and dangerous to misuse blood. This notion puts believers of the Jehovah's Witnesses into
cognitive dissonance when they donate blood or receive blood through blood transfusion.
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 8
Conclusions
Cognitive dissonance theory believes that a state of psychological tension occurs when
one chooses between equally unpleasant or attractive alternatives, while social attribution theory
is the process where people form explanations for causes of behaviors or events. Cognitive
dissonance is usually an overwhelming experience of mental stress or discomfort by a person due
to taking actions that are contrary to their personal values or holding contrary beliefs. In many
cases, a person takes certain specific actions because it is in line with their worldview.
Worldviews and convictions of classroom educators can potentially cause cognitive dissonance.
Educators should always align their beliefs with their actions in order to avoid major disparities
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Three successive sentences begin wit...: The
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Spelling mistake: Ringnes Singles
Redundant phrase: Some of the Some
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Student: Submitted to Grand Canyon University
Possible typo: spirituals
in academic achievements. The Christian worldview is a strict behavioral system that needs
strong adherence of individuals through a spirituals path. Not adhering to this guide results in
cognitive dissonance among the believers.
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SOCIAL ATTRIBUTION, AND LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION 9
References
Bran, A., & Vaidis, D. C. (2020). On the characteristics of the cognitive dissonance state:
Exploration within the pleasure arousal dominance Model. Psychologica Belgica, 60(1),
86.
Dweck, C. S. (2018). Reflections on the legacy of attribution theory.
Guerra, P., & Wubbena, Z. (2017). Teacher beliefs and classroom practices cognitive
dissonance in high stakes test-influenced environments. Issues in Teacher Education, 26,
35-51.
Harmon-Jones, E. E. (2019). Cognitive dissonance: Reexamining a pivotal theory in psychology
(pp. xvi-303). American Psychological Association.
McGrath, A. (2017). Dealing with dissonance: A review of cognitive dissonance reduction.
Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11(12), e12362.
McGrath, A. (2020). Bringing cognitive dissonance theory into the scholarship of teaching and
learning: Topics and questions in need of investigation. Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning in Psychology, 6(1), 84.
Ramasubramanian, S. (2011). The impact of stereotypical versus counter stereotypical media
exemplars on racial attitudes, causal attributions, and support for affirmative action.
Communication Research, 38, 497-516.
Ringnes, H., & Hegstad, H. (2016). Refusal of medical blood transfusions among Jehovah's
witnesses: Emotion regulation of the dissonance of saving and sacrificing life. Journal of
Religion & Health, 55, 1672-1687.
