Fix And Grapes: The Cognitive Dissonance Theory In Social Psychology

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FOX and GRAPES One day, a very hungry fox sneaks into a vineyard. A bunch of grapes hanging from a very high grapevine, the fox is tempted. The fox bounces several times to reach and eat the delicious sweet bunches of grapes... However, the grapes are too high, the fox cannot reach. The fox finally has to accept the defeat and murmurs after giving up. “What difference does it make? These are sour grapes anyway, they should be sour!” Is this a familiar story to you? So, do you react the same way or are you exposed to such reactions? Most likely, yes... The man is programmed to eliminate the conflict. We want our behaviors and our thoughts to be consistent. Frankly, if I consider that those grapes are great, I should eat them. If I cannot eat, well… Maybe they are not that delicious after all? The theory that includes the method of overcoming is called as the Cognitive Dissonance Theory in social psychology literature. Our values constitute the foundation for our behaviors and our thoughts. Thus, we would like to have our values that are consistent with our thoughts and beliefs. On the other hand, our behaviors accompany this harmony… Well, what do we do when there is a discrepancy? When there is no balance, a conflict exists and human beings cannot live …show more content…

Group 2 is told, “You must fill out this questionnaire to qualify for the team X (the same team). Group 3 is told, “I am including you to the team X.” Later on, the groups are interviewed about their experiences in the team. (Attention: all subjects are eventually included in the same team, only the selection criteria varied.) The test shows that those who worked more to participate in the team are more content about the team since the discrepancy is higher for them; as they think “We have struggled much to be a part of this

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