One of the reasons why the theory of cognitive dissonance has attracted so much interest is its ability to explain and predict phenomena that are not readily explainable in common sense terms. Dissonance theory has been applied to account for a great many phenomena, ranging from how rumors are spread to major changes in important attitudes and behaviors, from practicing safer sex to the reduction of racial prejudice. Beyond its power to help us understand and predict a variety of phenomena, a theory is of particular value if it can be practically applied in ways that benefit people.
For example, an experiment by Danny Axsom and Joel Cooper provides a particularly compelling example of how dissonance theory can be used to help solve a difficult personal problem—obesity. The researchers hypothesized that expending a great deal of effort to reach an objective would increase a person's commitment to that goal. They induced a number of overweight women to volunteer for a weight-control program and engaged them in intellectual activities requiring either a large or a small amount of effort—that was unrelated to losing weight. Over the 4 weeks of the program, only slight weight losses were observed in either group. But 6 months and 12 months later, when the experimenters contacted the women again, they discovered major differences: The women who had expended a great amount of effort had lost an average of 8 pounds, while those who had performed tasks requiring little effort in the program had not lost any weight.
Dissonance-reducing behavior may take different forms in different cultures. For example, in a communal culture like Japan, observers tend to bring their evaluation in line with a lie their friend has told. Therefore, it is important to understand cultural differences in dissonance reduction.
Finally, Chapter 5 of Aronson's "The Social Animal" stresses why it is important to recognize the benefits of admitting mistakes for personal growth and learning. If individuals concentrate their time and effort on protecting their egos, they will never grow. To grow, we must learn from our mistakes. We can increase the probability of this kind of reaction by developing enough ego strength to tolerate errors in ourselves, increasing our ability to recognize the benefits of admitting our errors, and practicing authenticity and nondefensive communication in our relationships with other people.
