Tues. Nov. 7, 2017: Chapter 10 & 11: Cognitive Dissonance Notes and Assignment

Today, we did a timed journal on Chapters 10 & 11 of the novel, Lord of the Flies. I then discussed how people try to justify actions that they normally would believe to be wrong. The notes below are on this. It is called "cognitive dissonance. I then instructed students to do the following:

What is something that you do that you know your superego thinks is wrong and yet you manage to justify it? Write a paragraph on this and then and hand it in.

Lord of the Flies and Festinger’s Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

What is Cognitive Dissonance?

·         The state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs or attitudes especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change.

·         Actions caused by inconsistencies in beliefs or a way of life.

The Theory

People have an inner need to ensure that their beliefs and behaviours are consistent. Inconsistent or conflicting beliefs leads to disharmony, which people strive to avoid.

Dissonance theory suggests that if individuals act in ways that contradict their beliefs, then they typically will change their beliefs to align with their actions (or vice-a-versa).

Example One.

Say you’re a student looking to choose between two different universities you’d like to attend. After being accepted to each, you’re asked to freely rate the universities after considering each college’s pros and cons. You make your decision and are asked to rate the two universities once again. People will usually rate the chosen university as better and the rejected option as worse after having made their decision.

So even if the university we didn’t choose was rated higher initially, our choice dictates that more often than not, we’ll rate it higher. Otherwise it wouldn’t make sense why we would choose the lower-rated school. This is cognitive dissonance at work.

Example Two:

Many people continue to smoke cigarettes even though research shows they are shortening their own lives. They answer this cognitive dissonance with thoughts like, “Well, I’ve tried to quit and it’s just too hard,” or “It’s not as bad as they say and besides, I really enjoy smoking.” Daily smokers justify their behaviors through rationalizations or denial, just as most people do when faced with cognitive dissonance.

Does this even connect to Lord of the Flies?

YES!

MURDER

·         Not okay in Britain

·         But is it okay on the island?

·         They start denying anyone died because of this; they’re avoiding admitting they are acting differently than what they believe.

FORGETTING

·         The boys force themselves to forget what has happened because it wasn’t what they were used to.

·         Ralph and Piggy convince themselves that they did not help kill Simon because that was inconsistent to what they were used to.

Further action to support both belief and independent action

Belief

Independent Action                                        Coping Method

Why are the boys reluctant to leave Ralph and follow Jack? Why do they then follow Jack with even more dedication than they gave Ralph?