Dissonance and alcohol
Drinking your troubles away
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6202765 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Claude M Steele (Seattle University), Lillian L Southwick, Lillian Southwick, Barbara Critchlow |
| Year | 1981 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 831-846 |
| Publication date | 1981-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037//0022-3514.41.5.831 |
| PMID | 7299630 |
| OpenAlex | W2074638742 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 41 |
| References cited | 5 |
Based on recent evidence supporting the assumption that cognitive dissonance is experienced as an unpleasant emotional state, and further evidence pertaining to the effects of drinking alcohol, it was predicted that among social drinkers, dissonance arousal would increase the amount of drinking and that drinking, in turn, would reduce dissonance and subsequent attitude change. This hypothesis was tested in the first two experiments by having subjects taste rate different brands of an alcoholic beverage--ostensibly to test taste discrimination but in fact to measure the amount of drinking--immediately after dissonance was aroused by having them write a counterattitudinal essay. The effect of drinking on dissonance reduction was assessed by measuring subjects' postattitudes immediately after the drinking task. Both experiments found that although dissonance arousal had little effect on the amount of drinking, whatever drinking occurred was sufficient to eliminate dissonance-reducing attitude change. The second experiment further established that these results occurred for light as well as heavy social drinkers. Evidence that the dissonance-reducing effect of drinking resulted form some effect of drinking alcohol was provided by the finding, in the second and third experiments, that neither water or coffee drinking was sufficient to eliminate attitude change in this paradigm. Both the practical and theoretical implications are discussed. The practical implication is that some forms of alcohol abuse may evolve through the reinforcement of drinking as a means of reducing dissonance; the theoretical implication is that dissonance may be frequently reduced through behaviors that ameliorate the feelings of dissonance without involving cognitive change.
Arousal · Attitude change · Cognition · Cognitive dissonance · Developmental psychology · Feeling · Psychiatry · Self-justification · Self-perception theory · Homelessness and Social Issues · Humor Studies and Applications · Music History and Culture · Neuroscience and Music Perception · Psychology · Social Psychology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes · Youth Substance Use and School Attendance
The influence of misattributions on reactions to inequity
Self-defeating behavior patterns among normal individuals
An appraisal-disruption model of alcohol's effects on stress responses in social drinkers
The Psychology of Change
Employment Frustration and Alcohol Abuse/Dependence Among Labor Migrants in California
The Psychology of Self-Affirmation
The reinstatement of dissonance and psychological discomfort following failed affirmations
Social inequality and the reduction of ideological dissonance on behalf of the system
An experimental comparison of two Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) values exercises to increase values-oriented behavior
The Moderation Effect of Basic Need Satisfaction in the Relationship Between Drinking Motives and Drinking Outcomes
Experiences of Racism, Racial/Ethnic Attitudes, Motivated Fairness and Mental Health Outcomes Among Primary and Secondary School Students
Moderators of the Relationship between Religiosity and Alcohol Use in College Students
Is dissonance reduction a special case of fluid compensation? Evidence that dissonant cognitions cause compensatory affirmation and abstraction
Left frontal cortical activation and spreading of alternatives
Discrepancies between explicit and implicit self-concepts
Self-Referent Constructs and Medical Sociology
Longitudinal Associations among Discordant Sexual Orientation Dimensions and Hazardous Drinking in a Cohort of Sexual Minority Women
Toward an Integrative Model of Affect Regulation
Dissonance processes as self-affirmation
Examination of using alcohol to cope, depressive symptoms, and perceived social support in persons with HIV and Hepatitis C
The effects of a masturbation seminar on high school males' attitudes, false beliefs, guilt, and behavior
Overconfidence as Dissonance Reduction
Cognitive dissonance induced by writing a counterattitudinal essay facilitates performance on simple tasks but not on complex tasks that involve working memory
Cognitive dissonance may enhance sympathetic tonus, but attitudes are changed to reduce negative affect rather than arousal
When exemplification fails
Self-image resilience and dissonance
| Unique citing works | 26 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,95 |
| Citation span | 1983 - 2026 (44) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 38 |