In the movie Mother, John Henderson is a somewhat successful science fiction writer who cannot seem to have a successful marriage. After finalizing his second divorce, John begins to question what caused all of his failed relationship with women. He then links how his past wives never believed in him, just like his mother. In order to fix the relationship between John and his mother, Beatrice, he decides to move back in with her into his old room from high school as an experiment to help him figure out where his past relationships have gone wrong. John is in need of approval from his mother whom he thinks is the cause of the failed marriages. When John tells his mother about the details of the experiment, she is convinced that she had …show more content…
no effect on his love life and denies John’s beliefs. John must find the cause of his troubled relationships and convince his mother to realize that she dismisses anything that does not fit with her core beliefs. In order to resolve the conflicting ideas of what is known and what is felt, John and Beatrice must change their attitudes towards each other to avoid the distressing mental state of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling that is brought on when one’s behavior does not match beliefs. Cognitive deals with thinking and the mind while dissonance deals with inconsistencies and conflict; therefore, there is no consistency between thoughts and actions. The theory of cognitive dissonance was first brought to attention by a former Stanford University social psychologist named Leon Festinger. He believed that humans have an inner drive to be consistent and the need to avoid dissonance. The need to avoid distressing feelings brought on by dissonance is as basic as the need for safety or the need to satisfy hunger (217). When one feels the discomfort and tension, humans will become highly motivated to change behaviors and beliefs. The amount of dissonance felt will be depending on how important the given issue is to that person and how much difference there is between the behavior and belief. In 1957, he published the theory and used smoking cigarettes as his topic to help better understand the concepts of dissonance. At this time in the United States, there were around a hundred million cigarette smokers in America. There was a growing concern that smoking cigarettes would eventually lead to lung cancer, but after numerous studies and certainty of the study’s reports, there was a clear link between smoking cigarettes and an increased risk of lung cancer, emphysema, and lung disease. All smokers had to contemplate about the conflicting thoughts brought on from the evidence of the studies. The first thought was, “smoking is dangerous to my health,” and the second thought was, “I smoke cigarettes.” Festinger gives the example of a man named cliff who smokes a pack every day. Even though Cliff is now aware of the hazardous health risks that smoking can bring, he dismisses the risks and continues to smoke. The contradiction that Cliff faced was clear and uncomfortable, and his behavior, use of cigarettes, and his belief, smoking cigarettes will be detrimental to health, did not change because it would not be consistent with his ongoing habit. Festinger believed that there are multiple different types of “mental gymnastics” that people will put themselves through in order to avoid feeling dissonance. To protect themselves from the discrepancies of their actions and attitude, Leon came up with three hypothesizes about the mechanical mechanisms humans use to ensure harmony include: selective exposure, postdecision dissonance, and minimal justification. The first hypothesis that Festinger created on reducing dissonance between actions and attitudes was: Selective Exposure Prevents Dissonance. In this theory, it claimed that people who do not want to feel dissonance avoid information that it may increase. Festinger uses the example of choosing our own friends because people always tend to join people who are also like them. By choosing those who are similar to us, it usually does not bring any inconsistencies that may bring discomfort. This is where Festinger says humans “stick with our own kind.” Just because dissonant information is present, it does not mean that a person may see it as a threat. If a person does not see information as threat, the avoidance mechanism will not kick in to effect. Postdecision Dissonance Creates a Need for Reassurance was Festinger’s second hypothesis.
This theory dealt with the internal tension that a person gets following an important decision. The three conditions that are most likely to increase the feeling of postdecision dissonance include the more important the issue , the longer an individual delays in choosing between two equally attractive options, and the greater difficulty involved in reversing the decision once it has been made (220). Once a decision has been made, feelings of second guessing and regret begin to weigh on one’s mind. This leads them to go seek reassurance about the choice whether it is information on the topic or social support. This is a way to seek approval from those who do not bring feelings of dissonance to …show more content…
them. The last of Festinger’s hypothesizes was: Minimal Justification for Action Induces a Shift in Attitude. His theory said that behavior can eventually lead to a change in attitudes by offering just enough reward or punishment to induce compliance. Compliance is when one conforms to the beliefs of another person publically without really having the same beliefs. The reason for conforming into this group is due to being offered the “just enough” amount that caused the change of behavior and lead to change of attitude (222). From Festinger’s three hypothesizes, there have three major reviosions to his work dealing with the cause and effect of cognitive dissonance.
The first revision was made by University of California social psychologist Elliot Aronson when he was able to determine that there attitude and behavior inconsistencies do not always create dissonance. He created his theory on self-consistency, and that humans were rationalizing animals who just want to appear reasonable to ourselves. One’s self-concept must be inconsistent with the behavior displayed in order for dissonance to be present. A person’s behavior will depend on how that person views self. Princeton psychologist Joel Cooper agrees with Aronson on the first revision that having inconsistencies of attitude and behavior does not mean that dissonance is created; however, he states that knowing that one’s actions have harmed another person unnecessarily will cause dissonance. Knowing beforehand that making the decision could cause harm and still electing to continue is when someone accepts as their own personal responsibility. Stanford psychologist Claude Steele came up with the approach for reduction of dissonance through self-affirmation. The positive thoughts that this brings can block out any consistency issues one may have. When one has high self-esteem, dissonance may quickly appear, but it will soon
fade. John, Beatrice, and his younger brother Jeff all display examples of cognitive dissonance. John is the only person who is aware that there is a problem of approval in the family. John explains that his relationship with Beatrice is due to her not being proud of him as Jeff. The contradictions that are taking place are that he feels estranged from his mother who is supposed to be loving and supportive to their children. His mother always seems to be ashamed of him and is a target of constant verbal abuse for her. John believes that if he is unsuccessful at his last attempt to gain the sense of belonging, he will never reach a life where he can be his own best person. This deals with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and it’s five levels of building a pyramid starts with physiological needs, security, belonging or love, esteem, and self-actualization. Beatrice is now a widow who only has her two sons. At first, it seems as though she likes Jeff more than John because he is in a marriage with two kids, has a big house, and a great job. When John calls her on the phone, she even mistakes him for Jeff. When John arrives at her house, she is not very welcoming and is on the phone with Jeff. After John gets inside, she immediately says he looks tired which he takes negatively. He says that he drove 400 miles and she is unable to wait until he has settled in before being told that he does not look good. A mother would normally have some excitement to see her child, but she even asks him why did not want to stay in a hotel. He tries to explain that his experiment is to determine what went wrong between them in order to prevent any cognitive dissonance in future relationships. It seems as though no matter what John does or says, Beatrice always has a response that conflicts the relationship negatively. She has become able to reduce the dissonance that she may feel by putting herself through those “mental gymnastics” Festinger discussed. Beatrice would seem to filter any information that conflicts with her own belief. For example, John had to repeatedly tell her that he did not eat meat and he only wanted salad. The salad ended up being bad because she said that she put it in the freezer. She then asks if he wants some cheese that she got in bulk from Switzerland. She pulls a large block of cheese out of the freezer, unwraps it, and begins to cut with electrical cheese cutter. John sees the expiration date is over three years old, but she refuses to believe that the cheese is bad. The last example of how strong the contradictions she faced with the freezer making food last longer was with the Sweet Tooth sherbert. She opened the ice cream and it had something she called “protective frost.” John says this is clear evidence of her being cheap, but her belief is all food brands are the same and should not cost three times the price for the same product. Her defense mechanisms kick in to avoid hearing the information that could bring her dissonance by shoving some of the frost-covered sherbert in his mouth. He gags and eventually swallows it before saying that it tasted like an orange foot. Even after the way it looked and following his reaction after swallowing, her belief is that it is just as good saying, “You’re the only one who didn’t like it.” After John realized that he needed food to eat while staying at his mother’s house, he accompanies her to the store. He tells her how treating self cheaply caused him to do the same with his life. He tells Beatrice that both of them do not like their selves enough and never buy anything for self. As he begins to bring this up again, Beatrice gets defensive about jelly and reassures John that she likes herself very much, and then tells him it is not the place for discussion. The Jelly was ten dollars, but she did not approve because she believes it is the same as the two dollar jar. While at the grocery, John and Beatrice run into her neighbor and her neighbor’s sister at the grocery store. When she brings up jam to them, the neighbor’s sister credits the jam and labels it “wonderful.” Even after hearing the jam was good from a neutral person; she discredits the neighbor’s sister by telling John she was in a mental institution at one point. Like most parents, Beatrice saw her two sons as an extension of her. Jeff received her approval because he seems to have achieved many things that she can boast to others about. John has also has success, but she thinks being a science fiction writer is not creative. He justifies why it is creative, but she disagrees. At the grocery store after the neighbor asked his profession, he told her a science fiction novel. Beatrice undermines him by saying like Stephen King but how he could afford expensive jelly. John simply cannot get the approval he needs, and still does not understand why she will never be proud of him. While his mother is on a date, John stumbles across some stories that his mother had written in the past. When she comes in and sees that he is reading her stories, she feels as if he had no right to go through her things. Seeing those stories brought up feelings of postdecision dissonance. This internal tension led her to agonize over the choice she made to give up writing to become a housewife and mother. Because this is a decision that was made so long ago, it would be too difficult to reverse at this point in her life. Beatrice’s postdecision dissonance was brought on by the conflicting ideas that her children were the cause of her not being able to follow her dreams and jealousy towards her son for taking the career path that she would have chosen. Because he is a reflection of her, she does not want to get the sense that her child may have passed her scholastically. He had love for writing science-fiction whereas she wrote about real people and made up a story. Her belief would be that her writing style is more creative, but she now understood why she felt dissonance towards John. On Maslow’s Heriachy of Needs, this experiment helped him get to the top at self-actualization to become his best person and live to full potential.
This story demonstrates a prime example of a patriarchal society in which the degree of influence by Dr. John in the decisions of the marriage, which ends up in his wife’s dementia. In the story right after Jane gave birth to her child she gets into a deep depression so her husband and her brother, two respected physicians ordered her rest. The house where they live is away from town and she only had contact with her husband and her nurse. "[The house] is quite alone standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people." Gilman, Charlotte
American social psychologist and original developer of the theory of Cognitive Dissonance Leon Festinger breaks down his theory into two main parts. First, the presence of dissonance, inconsistency or unpleasantness, will psychologically motivate a person to achieve consonance, consistency or pleasantness (Festinger 3). Psychologist Elliot Aronson, key researcher in the 20th century of this theory, expands on the definition of dissonance to be more straightforward. Dissonance occurs when a person holds two ideas, beliefs, or opinions at the same time that are contradictory with one and other. Part two of the theory states that a person will attempt to avoid situations or knowledge that would possibly or pro...
All sense of individuality and self worth is taken way from the narrator when her name is never revealed to the audience. Furthermore, John continues to belittle his wife by giving her the command to not walk around at night. Although the John thinks in his mind that he is looking out for the best interest of his wife, in actuality, he is taking away his wife’s abilities to make choices for herself. There is a possibility that John’s controlling personality is one of the factors that led to his wife’s psychosis. Such a controlling life style more than likely limited the narrator’s ability to live any life outside of the home.
First, the 1900’s is a time where women are trying to put away the homemaker image and obtain work. This causes many hardships between husbands and wives. Jane is on the verge of beginning to leave her homemaker image and begin a career in writing. “I am sitting by the window now, up in the atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing much as I please, save lack of strength” (Gilman, 1599). Jane is starting to recognize that she is loosing her feminism. John recognizes this and tries to do everything he can to stop Jane. John knows that Jane is putting aside her role as being a wife, homemaker and mother. In these times, husbands’ do not believe that women could balance both home and work responsibilities. Jane decides to oppose the homemaker life and branch out into writing. The feminist role is “The concept of "The New Woman," for example, began to circulate in the 1890s-1910s as women are pushing for broader roles outside the home-roles that could draw on women's intelligence and non-domestic skills and talents” (http:/...
The desire for consistency can go beyond rational thought or force a person to rationalize when things are out of line. People find comfort in knowing what to expect. When what is known and believed is challenged, people are disrupted and forced to make a decision on how to process conflicting information. To avoid the discomfort caused by cognitive dissonance, people may ignore opposing views, examine and change their views to maintain consistency with their actions or even seek reassurance (Defining Communication Theories, 2001).
Sometimes the greatest test of a theory is its longevity. Over time, some theories will be disproved, some will be modified, and some will become the basis for a whole new group of theories. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance has stood up to challenge for over forty years, and is considered by many to be the single most important theory of social psychology. Though there have been modifications to the theory after many recreations and simulations of the original 1957 experiment, few have been able to really disqualify Festinger’s findings. It would be safe to say that many people don’t even have a full grasp of the incredible implications that Festinger’s research and experiments have towards the self-concept and behavior, myself not excluded. The actual definition of cognitive dissonance is almost too simple: an unpleasant feeling that arises from the contradiction of belief and action. Festinger, however, went on to find that dissonance would in fact change attitudes over time, helping people to justify their behavior when they know it is clearly wrong.
It is a very different motivation from what psychologists are used to dealing with but, as we shall see, nonetheless powerful” (p. 3). A few different factors determine the amount of dissonance individuals experience, including the degree to which one’s belief systems deviate from the regularity. Different cognitions, or types of knowledge, determine the overall strength of dissonance, for instance cognitions, which are connected to personal beliefs and the self, tend to result in stronger dissonance. Furthermore, the relation between dissonance and consonance could also play a role in the degree of strength of dissonance: the greater the dissonance, the more pressure there is to reduce it and reach consonance. When cognitive dissonance occurs, it often results in a conflict between a “person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action” (Festinger 1957, p.), and it is influential to individuals’ actions and behaviors. When a conflict arises, there are different steps individuals take to reduce the consequent dissonance. Festinger suggest three key strategies to minimize cognitive dissonance: (i) changing a behavioral cognitive element, or the focus is put on more supportive cognitive elements that outweigh the dissonant behavior; (ii) changing the environmental cognitive element, or the importance of the conflicting belief is reduced, and (iii) adding new cognitive elements, or the conflicting belief is changed in order to be consistent with other
To begin with, Gilman created the narrator as a nearly anonymous identity; we know her only as John’s wife. This power imbalance extends to other areas of their relationship. John dominates her in a progressively patronizing manner. His character is displayed as strong, practical and stereotypically masculine and he seems skeptical of her seemingly weak, feminine condition. John diagnoses her problem, and prescribes the “rest cure” he believes she needs. The narrator has no say in her condition, and when she attempts to speak her mind, he treats her like a child and makes light of her voice. “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that” (An Introduction to Fiction 572) which illustrates the role women are expected to play and accept in a marriage. Another main function Gilman gave of John’s control over the narrator is his inhibiting of her writing. Although she believes writing would help her condition, as I’m sure Gilman did, John insists it would only debilitate her ailment further. He stifles her creativity and intellect, forcing her into the role of the submissive wife. She is forced to hide her writings, which frustrate her more “I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition” (572).
Cognitive dissonance makes it difficult for people to accept conflicting new ideas. Conflicting beliefs create discomfort
Cognitive dissonance can be described as the feeling of discomfort resulting from holding two conflicting beliefs. It can also be said to be the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. A well-known psychologist Leon Festinger (1919–89), introduced this concept in the late 1950s where he proved that, when confronted with challenging new information; most people are observed to preserve their current understanding of the world by rejecting or avoiding the new information or by convincing themselves that no conflict really exists in one way or the other (Festinger, 04).
lected Theory: Cognitive Dissonance is an objective communication theory created by Leon Festinger, a Stanford University social psychologist. Cognitive Dissonance is a conflicting mental state caused by discrepancy between two beliefs held by an individual. The more important the belief the stronger the dissonance. The strain caused by dissonance leads us to change our behavior or belief. Festinger says there are three different ways to reduce or avoid dissonance: selective exposure, postdecision dissonance, and minimal justification. Also, Festinger describes three different reasons for why one reduces dissonance. These reasons are self- consistency, personal responsibility for bad outcomes, and self- affirmation to dissipate dissonance.
Indecisiveness is an inner conflict that inhibits a person from choosing a decision and acting on it. This inner conflict is easily relatable; however, explaining the fuel that ignites the conflict is much more difficult. Every human being must make decisions every day. Moreover, some of these decisions are tougher to choose than others. Psychologically, a decision is not tough because the situation is difficult, but the way the mind perceives the situation is what makes the choice baffling. In other words, humans make decisions more arduous than they seem. Also, the mind of every individual is unique and processes information
“Humans are not a rational animal, but a rationalizing one” (“Class 20”). This was asserted by the much acclaimed, significant, and influential social psychologist Leon Festinger as referencing to his theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Social psychology is “a branch of psychology particularly concerned with understanding social behaviors such as” incentive and compliance (Sheehy). Festinger’s contributions to the social and cognitive branches of psychology as well psychology overall prove themselves worthy to today. This theory specifically challenged many common notions that were seemingly already accepted by behaviorists everywhere during his time (Tavris and Aronson). Its reality awakens its verifications. Consecutively, its “enormous motivational power” affects many on a daily basis (Tavris and Aronson). In the final analysis, the theory of Cognitive Dissonance by Leon Festinger is fundamental to behaviorism while directly changing the way human beings across the planet think and do.
If the reader pays no mind to his character, they will think that John is merely a staple of the ideal Victorian husband. Although this is true, John’s character is a representation of the practice of paternal benevolence in a marriage. In the first entry of the short story, the narrator brings up instances of John’s irritating reassurances over subtle yet eerie instincts the narrator seems to have. For example, when they first get to the house, the narrator tells John, “...there is something strange about the house — I can feel it” (Gilman 809). John simply tells her it must be a drought and he closes the window. In the next paragraph, the narrator admits that she does get angry at John sometimes and blames her own nervous system. It seems as though John has waxed over all of her situations and instead of blaming John, she blames herself in true Victorian fashion. In this era, women were to believe that there could be nothing wrong with their husbands. The man was superior and the woman was inferior. When John dismisses the narrator’s instincts and problems, he is belittling her like a parent belittles a child’s instincts and problems. This is further supported later on in the story when the narrator gets up to see the wallpaper move. John says, “What is it, little girl? Don’t go walking about like that -- you’ll get cold”(Gilman 814). Later on, when John tells the narrator that she is getting better and she disapproves, he sits
Even when narrator trying to questioning, John will stop her from having her own thoughts, so his wife’s fate was simply submissive under his