The Energizing Effects of Postdecision Dissonance upon Performance of an Irrelevant Task

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Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to determine if cognitive dissonance produced by making a decision has the energizing effects upon the performance of an irrelevant task that are ascribed to D in Hull-Spence theory. Forty female undergraduates, recruited from the introductory psychology class, ranked 12 consumer objects for their desirability. The 20 Ss in the Dissonance condition were then allowed to choose between objects they ranked 4th and 5th. The 20 Ss in the no dissonance ownership control group were given the object they ranked 4th without making a decision. Then a second E in an unrelated experiment administered a task that placed verbal habits of unequal strengths in competition with each other. Finally, the first E obtained from the Ss a second desirability ranking of the 12 objects. Relative to the no dissonance control condition, the post-decision dissonance condition (a) enhanced the emission of dominant responses on the irrelevant task (.05), (b) produced dissonance-reduction via increasing the desirability of the chosen alternative and decreasing the desirability of the rejected alternative (.005). These and prior findings were discussed with regard to (a) the status of cognitive dissonance as a motivational variable, (b) Bem's nonmotivational, self-perception interpretation of dissonance effects.