One way to reduce cognitive dissonance is to engage in self-affirmation. In what case of cognitive dissonance might we be more likely to use this indirect method for dissonance reduction?
If you did something that induced some dissonance, and you used self-affirmation to reduce your dissonance, how would you personally go about it?
Answer:
People are more likely to use the indirect method in cases where it is more difficult to trivialize, i.e., when the dissonance involves serious attitude/behavior conflicts. (Obviously, what follows is idiosyncratic.) Were I to be impatient with someone, I'm most likely to remind myself that I am generally not an impatient person, and I know I get that way when I'm under stress. I resolve to address directly the things that are causing me stress, that I'm not naturally a stressed-out hurried person--this resolution helps a lot to reduce the dissonance.
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Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
Your friend Olga is a new, first-time mother. Her six-week-old infant has shown a recent increase in crying. She doesn't know whether this is because she is picking the child up every time it cries. She is asking you for advice
What would you say to her? A) She should take her child to the doctor to see if she has colic. B) It is normal for crying to increase over the first six weeks of life, and picking her child up will not reinforce the crying. C) Increased crying in the first six weeks of life is normal, but Olga should not pick up the infant every time it cries. D) Olga should not worry; the crying usually decreases by the second week of life.