Motivational Basis of Dissonance: Aversive Consequences or Inconsistency

Abstract

To test Cooper and Fazio's dissonance model, subjects in two experiments telephoned a confederate and made arguments that were either consistent or inconsistent with their attitudes. Feed-back provided either aversive or nonaversive consequences, regardless of whether subjects' behaviors were pro-or counter attitudinal. The traditional attitude-change effect occurred only when behaviors both were inconsistent and resulted in aversive consequences. In contrast, an earlier experiment by Scher and Cooper had found the traditional attitude-change effect with proattitudinal behaviors leading to aversive consequences. The results of the two present studies suggest that cognitive inconsistency may indeed be necessary for the generation of dissonance arousal. The implications of these findings for Cooper and Fazio's model are discussed.