TOEFL Speaking Task 3

In psychology, the concept of 'cognitive dissonance' refers to the mental discomfort experienced when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes. This discomfort often motivates individuals to reduce the inconsistency by changing their beliefs, adding new cognitions, or rationalizing their behavior. For example, if someone values health but smokes cigarettes, they may feel dissonance. To resolve it, they might quit smoking, downplay the health risks, or convince themselves that they only smoke occasionally. Cognitive dissonance is a powerful driver of attitude change and self-justification.

Professor: Let me give you a real example from a study. Participants were asked to perform a very boring task—turning pegs on a board for an hour. Afterward, they were asked to tell the next participant that the task was interesting and enjoyable. Half were paid $1 for this lie, and the other half were paid $20. Later, when asked how much they actually liked the task, the $1 group rated it as much more enjoyable than the $20 group. Why? Because the $1 group had strong dissonance—they lied without sufficient justification. To reduce the discomfort, they changed their attitude, convincing themselves the task was genuinely fun. The $20 group, however, had ample external justification for lying, so they felt no dissonance and kept their true negative opinion.