A Theory Of Cognitive Dissonance Page

From this observation, Festinger formalized his . He argued that we have an inner drive to keep our attitudes and beliefs in harmony. When we hold two "inconsistent" thoughts—like "I am a rational person" and "I just waited all night for a spaceship that didn't come"—we experience a state of psychological distress called dissonance .

To prove this wasn't just about cults, Festinger and James Carlsmith conducted a now-famous experiment. They asked students to perform a mind-numbingly boring task: turning wooden pegs on a board for an hour. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Then came the pivot. At 4:45 a.m., Martin claimed to receive a new message: the group had spread so much light that God had decided to save the world from the flood. From this observation, Festinger formalized his

In 1954, Leon Festinger , a social psychologist, found himself fascinated by a bizarre newspaper headline about a cult called the Seekers. Led by a woman named Dorothy Martin, they believed that on December 21, the world would be destroyed by a great flood, and they alone would be rescued by a flying saucer from the planet Clarion. To prove this wasn't just about cults, Festinger

Festinger saw a unique opportunity to test a growing hunch. What happens to a person’s mind when their deeply held conviction is proven—irrefutably—to be wrong? He went undercover. The Midnight Crisis