TOEFL Speaking Task 3

In psychology, the term 'cognitive dissonance' refers to the mental discomfort experienced when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes, or when their behavior conflicts with their beliefs. This discomfort often motivates individuals to reduce the inconsistency by changing their beliefs, adding new ones, or rationalizing their behavior. According to Festinger's theory, people strive for internal consistency, and when dissonance arises, they are driven to restore harmony, often through self-justification or altering their perceptions.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a classic study. Students 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 fun and interesting. Half were paid one dollar, the other half were paid twenty dollars. Later, when asked how they really felt about the task, the one-dollar group said they actually enjoyed it, while the twenty-dollar group admitted it was dull. Why the difference? The one-dollar group had no strong external reason for lying, so they experienced cognitive dissonance—they told a lie but had little justification. To reduce the discomfort, they convinced themselves the task wasn't so bad. The twenty-dollar group had a clear external justification (the money), so they felt no dissonance and kept their true opinion.