Cognitive dissonance leads to an abstract mindset

• This study investigated the effects of cognitive dissonance on abstract thinking. According to action-identification theory, whenever people try to understand a situation in a new way, they activate an abstract mindset. Based on this premise, dissonance was hypothesized to put people in an abstract mindset. The induced compliance paradigm, in which participants are asked to write a counter-attitudinal essay under either low choice (producing little dissonance) or high choice (producing more dissonance), was employed. Results showed that dissonance did in fact activate a more abstract mindset, and this effect was more pronounced for participants having a more concrete mindset to begin with. This suggests that increasing abstraction, as a reaction to cognitive conflict, is a way for people to resolve inconsistencies.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

cognitive dissonance

abstract mindset

Psychology

psykologi

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)