Afterward, the researchers paid some students $20 to lie to the next participant and say the task was "fun." They paid another group only $1 to tell the same lie. The results were counterintuitive: Cognitive Dissonance Theory: A Crash Course
Then came the pivot. At 4:45 a.m., Martin claimed to receive a new message: the group had spread so much light that God had decided to save the world from the flood. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
From this observation, Festinger formalized his . He argued that we have an inner drive to keep our attitudes and beliefs in harmony. When we hold two "inconsistent" thoughts—like "I am a rational person" and "I just waited all night for a spaceship that didn't come"—we experience a state of psychological distress called dissonance . Afterward, the researchers paid some students $20 to