it’s a busy storm season and hurricane Zeta is bearing down on the Texas coastli
ID: 3462180 • Letter: I
Question
it’s a busy storm season and hurricane Zeta is bearing down on the Texas coastline. Currently the hurricane is 4 days away from making landfall but it is too early to tell exactly where along the Texas coast the hurricane will hit. Ned lives in Beaumont and is worried the hurricane might hit near Beaumont and damage his house. He considers boarding up his windows to protect his home but doesn’t like the idea of spending $800 on plywood if the hurricane doesn’t hit Beaumont. Unfortunately if he waits longer to see where the hurricane will go, the local stores will run out of plywood before he gets any. After debating what to do Ned buys the plywood to board up his home. A few days later, of course, the hurricane changes course and completely missing Beaumont. Suppose you are Ned’s neighbor and you privately ask Ned if he feels bad spending all that money when the hurricane didn’t hit Beaumont. To encourage honesty you swear to Ned you won’t tell anybody if he really does regret buying the plywood and you won't think negatively of him at all. To your surprise Ned reports he is very glad he spent the $800 to board up his house. Identify which social psychological theory BEST EXPLAINS this situation Give a thorough explanation of how the theory explains why Ned feels so glad he boarded up his house. If Ned’s wife had demanded he buy the plywood or she would invite her mother to visit with them for several months, would Ned still have told you he was glad he boarded up his house? (By the way, Ned hates his wife’s mother) Explain why or why not using the same theory you identified in the first part of your answer. (1 point)
Explanation / Answer
Ned’s feeling of satisfaction or happiness with his decision despite the financial loss that he incurred exemplifies the Self Perception Theory according to which Ned can be said to develop a positive attitude about his decision based on his observation of his own purchasing behaviour and concluding what attitudes must have caused it. According to the propagation of the Self perception theory, Daryl Bem, novel situations in which there is no previous attitude due to a lack of experience, and those which involve ambiguous emotional experiences, individuals evaluate their attitude about themselves and the situation by observing their own behavior and concluding what attitudes must have caused it. Thus, It is likely that Ned too developed a positive attitude about purchasing the wooden boards after reflecting on his preventive strategy to deal with the hurricane. The self perception theory is complementary to the theory of cognitive dissonance according to which people try to change their attitudes in the direction which creates a balance between their thoughts, emotions and actions and avoid situations which can create dissonance or imbalance between their attitudes and actions. According to Festinger (1957), Situations when people do something that violates their view of themselves, can cause an uncomfortable feeling or dissonance and this motivates them to change either their attitudes or behaviour.
Thus, Ned can be said to be motivated towards reducing cognitive dissonance caused by the contradiction between his own actions and the outcome ( the hurricane never came to his town thereby making his purchase a futile attempt) . Thus, when he was asked by his neighbour to report about his own feelings, he interpreted his attitude in a positive light based on his purchase of the wooden boards. In other words, his self- perception about his behaviour led to a reduction in the experience of cognitive dissonance.
In the situation where Ned’s wife had compelled him to buy the plywood, then he would have more likely reported having a negative attitude towards his buying behaviour as there would have been an external reason for attributing his behaviour and thus, he could avoid experiencing dissonance by blaming his wife for the financial loss.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.