Knowra Leon Festinger Leon Festinger Leon Festinger (1919–1989) was an American social psychologist who developed cognitive dissonance theory and helped establish social comparison theory through research on belief, groups, and behavior.
Cognitive dissonance : Psychological discomfort arising from inconsistency among beliefs, attitudes, or actions, often prompting efforts to reduce the inconsistency. Festinger’s best-known theory explains how people respond when their beliefs and actions conflict.
Festinger–Carlsmith experiment : A 1959 experiment in which participants who performed a dull task were paid either $1 or $20 to describe it as enjoyable. The experiment tested whether insufficient external justification leads people to change their private attitudes.
When Prophecy Fails : A 1956 study by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter of a group whose predicted catastrophe did not occur. The study examined how committed believers responded when a central prediction was disconfirmed.
Henry Riecken : An American social psychologist who coauthored the study of a millennialist group described in When Prophecy Fails. Riecken collaborated with Festinger on the group study and its interpretation.
Social comparison theory : The theory that people evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparing themselves with others, especially when objective standards are unavailable. Festinger proposed this theory to explain how people assess their opinions and abilities.
A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance : Leon Festinger’s 1957 book presenting a theory of psychological tension caused by inconsistent cognitions. This book gives the original account of dissonance and the ways people reduce it.
Westgate study : A field study of friendship formation among residents of Westgate, a married-student housing complex at MIT. Festinger and colleagues used it to show how physical proximity shaped friendships.
Stanley Schachter : An American social psychologist whose research included emotion, affiliation, and the study of a millennialist group with Festinger. Schachter coauthored When Prophecy Fails and helped document the group’s response to disconfirmation.
Informal social communication : Unofficial communication among people that can shape shared beliefs, judgments, and behavior. Festinger linked disagreement within groups to pressure for communication and opinion change.
Cognitive consistency : The tendency for beliefs, attitudes, and actions to fit together without contradiction. Festinger’s dissonance theory explains responses to threats to this consistency.
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