Strengths
and Weaknesses of the Dissonance Theory
This theory has stimulated a great deal of
discussion: It has implications for a variety of situations.
It makes predictions about whether people will seek
information (selective exposure). It makes predictions about
human thought and behavior after making a decision
(post-decisional dissonance). It has implications for
persuasion as well as the specific form of persuasion called
induced compliance. Cognitive Dissonance Theory is a very
wide-ranging theory.
Second, Dissonance theory has generated literally hundreds of
studies. Although it is not always supported (for example,
curiosity might interfere with the selective exposure effect),
there is no question that this theory has strong research
support.
One important limitation is that dissonance theory makes no
predictions about how dissonance will be reduced. It lists
several options for reducing cognitive dissonance (add
consonant cognitions, change dissonant cognitions, alter the
importance of cognitions), but surely persuaders want
dissonance to be resolved in a way that furthers their goals.
If I try to induce dissonance in my girlfriend to get her to
go to a movie with me, I don’t want her to change her
attitude toward me (like me less) to reduce that dissonance!
The fact that it does not make specific predictions,
like
Social Judgment
Theory, means that we should qualify the
statement on experimental support for this theory. A theory
that makes specific predictions can be subjected to stronger
tests than vague theories. If the research on Dissonance
Theory had been able to test specific predictions, the
empirical support for this theory might be stronger than it
is.
It seems likely that some people can tolerate dissonance more
than others. Some individuals may be more mentally “tidy,”
while others may be willing to put up with some inconsistency
in their thoughts. Dissonance theory does not take into
account such possible individual differences (actually, this
limitation applies to all consistency theories).
Another limitation common to all consistency theories is that
Dissonance Theory does not consider the nature of the
persuasive message. Surely some messages (those with evidence,
for example, or with arguments that are more relevant to the
audience) are capable of creating more dissonance; other,
weaker messages probably evoke less dissonance. However,
Dissonance theory ignores the effects of message variables on
cognitive dissonance and persuasion.
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