托福口语 Task 3

Cognitive dissonance refers to the mental discomfort experienced when a person holds two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. This discomfort often arises when an individual's behavior contradicts their personal beliefs. To reduce this unpleasant state, people typically engage in one of two strategies: changing their behavior to align with their beliefs, or changing their beliefs to justify their behavior. The theory, originally proposed by Leon Festinger, suggests that humans strive for internal consistency and will actively avoid situations that increase dissonance.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a study I once read about. A group of students was asked to spend an hour performing a very boring task—turning pegs on a pegboard. Afterward, they were asked to tell the next participant that the task was actually interesting and fun. Half of the students were paid one dollar for this lie, and the other half were paid twenty dollars. Now, which group do you think actually changed their attitude and started to believe the task was enjoyable? Surprisingly, it was the one-dollar group. The twenty-dollar group knew they lied for a clear reason—the money. So they felt no dissonance. But the one-dollar group had insufficient justification. They thought, 'I lied for just one dollar—that can't be the reason. So maybe the task really was fun.' They changed their belief to match their behavior.