Tested the relative predictive merits of dissonance theory and self-perception theory, which offer radically different explanations of the observed phenomena in the "forced-compliance" situation. 90 female undergraduates served as Ss. Using a typical dissonance paradigm, the extremity of the initial attitude and justification for commitment to a discrepant act were manipulated. Results strongly support the dissonance explanation that increasing the extremity of the initial attitude would enhance subsequent attitude change. Other dissonance predictions were supported as well, while the self-perception predictions received little support. It is concluded that the dissonance analysis is more appropriate for explaining the effects of incentive and attitude-discrepancy manipulations in the forced-compliance paradigm. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)