Cognitive dissonance
Subtitle: progress on a pivotal theory in social psychology
By: edited by Eddie Harmon-Jones & Judson Mills.
Contributors: Mills, Judson, 1931-; Harmon-Jones, Eddie.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: American Psychological Association
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Washington, DC
Language: eng
Number of pages: 411
Subjects: Cognitive dissonance -- Congresses
Description: "Tell any smoker that his habit is unhealthy, and he most likely will agree. What mental process does a person go through when he or she continues to do something unhealthy? When an honest person tells a "white lie," what happens to his or her sense of integrity?"--BOOK JACKET.

"In 1954 Dr. Leon Festinger drafted a version of a theory describing the psychological phenomenon that occurs in these situations. He called it cognitive dissonance: the feeling of psychological discomfort produced by the combined presence of two thoughts that do not follow from one another. Festinger proposed that the greater the discomfort, the greater the desire to reduce the dissonance of the two cognitive elements. The elegance of this theory has inspired psychologists over the past four decades.

Cognitive Dissonance: Perspectives on a Pivotal Theory in Social Psychology documents the ongoing research and debate provoked by this influential theory."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Papers presented at a two-day conference at the University of Texas at Arlington, winter of 1997.