He stayed there until the end of World War II. Overtly changing a belief is often difficult, so most people will instead change the perceptions around their beliefs. Bob drinks a beer, and to deal with the cognitive dissonance of going against his beliefs, he decides it is okay to drink beers when with friends. Leon Festinger, the creator of a revolutionary experiment Festinger was an American social psychologist who was born in New York in 1919. Festinger married Mary Oliver Ballou, a pianist, in 1942, and together they had three children: Richard, Kurt, and Catherine. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Drakopoulos, S. A. Maslow was a prominent personality theorist and one of, Allport, Gordon Willard All rights reserved, Leon Festingers Books, Awards, and Accomplishments. Festinger was interested in how the group would respond to the discrepancy between their beliefs and the failed prophecy of an apocalypse. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Leon Festinger (8 May 1919 11 February 1989) was an American social psychologist, perhaps best known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison The original idea stemmed from his observation that people generally liked consistency in their daily lives. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. psychology, psychology of personality, social psychology. WebLeon Festinger is a well known social psychologist and a pioneer for cognitive dissonance and social comparison. Social psychology describes cognitive dissonance as the feeling of unease, or dissonance, that happens when someone deals with contradictory information. He continued his research on cognitive dissonance as well as other behavioral issues. We provide you with news from the entertainment industry. Festinger, L. (1943). What was the 1st study's method? Festinger, L. (1947b). All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Leon Festinger was a renowned American psychologist, researcher, and author. He is best known for developing cognitive dissonance theory and social comparison theory. In addition to challenging the dominance of behaviorism, Festinger spearheaded the use of scientific experimentation in social psychology. Cognitive dissonance refers to feelings of discomfort that occur when our actions and beliefs don't match, when we hold competing beliefs, or when we encounter information that seems to challenge some of our beliefs. To this, Festinger added that if one replaces the word balanced with consonant and imbalance with dissonance, Heiders process concerning interpersonal relations and his own could be seen to be the same (Festinger, 1957, pp. His thesis Wish, Expectation, and Group Performance as Factors Influencing Level of Aspiration (1940) extended his undergraduate research, a study of tensions between individual and group comparison in levels of aspiration under varying conditions of expectations, intentions, wishes, ideals, and goals. When they become aware of inconsistencies, it triggers an unpleasant psychological state of arousal, which then motivates them to reduce the inconsistency. Close proximity or propinquity was thus found to be key to small group and/or friendship formation. Accordingly, social psychology needed its own experimental approach. Tendencies toward group comparability in competitive bargaining. 2023