Predict human behaviour Essay Example for Free

Predict homosexual behaviour EssayDissonance theory accepts that we have these inconsistencies and basically says as humans we strive to cool out any inconsistencies. This theory is outdo explained with an example Jenny works e very(prenominal)day but straight off her sister is going shopping and has asked Jenny if she would like to survey. Jenny should go to work and does. Jennys knowledge that she is lacking out on the shopping trip is known as a dissonant apprehension, whereas the knowledge that she has come to work and is earning some funds is a consonant cognition. Her dissonance go away increase even more than if the trip is to an out-of-town shopping complex as opposed to the small local centre.Individuals do not want to have dissonant cognition therefore try to reduce it. Jenny can do this in a number of ways firstly, she can keep carnal knowledge herself about the extra silver she is earning and perhaps convince herself that she had a pleasurable day at work . She could also reduce the dissonant cognition by telling herself she would have only spent money on things she cannot afford and doesnt really need. sympathetic cognitions justify a persons chosen action and the greater the benefit of something, the greater the justification and the lower the distinguish of dissonance.If however the benefit of the consonant cognition is only small then the dissonance will increase. Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) well-tried this theory by getting subjects to perform really dull tasks for an hour then asked them to tell the following(a) subjects that the tasks were rather interesting. Subjects were offered either $20 or $1 for lying. Festinger and Carlsmith were interested in how the subjects felt after telling the lie. According to dissonance theory their feelings should depend on the amount of money they were paid. Subjects receiving $20 should feel short dissonance because the larger amount of money justifies lying.The subjects who received $ 1 should feel greater dissonance because the money didnt justify lying and these subjects would try and convince themselves the task was in fact quite enjoyable, in gear up to reduce dissonance. Festinger and Carlsmith found subjects in the $1 condition reported a more favourable locating towards the task, which is consistent with the original harbingerions. Bem (1967) adverted that a persons behaviour is what shapes their attitude, for example (to quote Bem) since I eat brown pillage then I must like brown bread.This logic could be linked with Festinger and Carlsmiths study because if the atomic number 42 lot of subjects were told the tasks were interesting then they would take this opinion on board and actually find the tasks interesting. Assimilation-Contrast opening (Sherif and Hovland, 1961), this suggests we people favour their own attitudes and if a person comes across another person with an attitude comparatively close to their own then they perceive it to resemble th eir own attitude more than it actually does (this is the culture dissever of the theory) and they will evaluate it in a more positive way by eyesight it as fair.Basically this suggests people are biased when it comes to their attitudes because people will accept anything that resembles a identical attitude to their own. Attitudes which had less in common with their attitudes would be rejected and seen as unfair (this is the contrast part of the theory). This is master(prenominal)ly because assimilating attitudes is much easier than trying to accommodate new attitudes.The theory of reasoned behaviour (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) suggests that indwelling norms (which are beliefs about what is appropriate behaviour in a situation) and attitude towards the behaviour (based on expectancies and values) suggest a behavioural intention which then predicts behaviour. The definition of attitude and intention in this context is very similar and doesnt define in strong enough terms exactly what the intentions derived are. All this evidence shows alter approaches towards the attitude-behaviour link, some in support of attitude predicting behaviour and some against it.To say that attitude has three main parts which are highly correlated draws up too many contradictions to conclude it as the best theory, the single model provides more scope to address these contradictions but dissonance theory which suggest we will have inconsistencies and will just strive to balance them is a much more realistic project of how attitude links with and predicts behaviour. The evidence shows that there is a link between attitude and how it can predict behaviour but it is not to the extent that you can say it predicts a persons behaviour every clipping in all situations.References* McDougall, W. (1960) an introduction to favorable psychology 23rd ed. London New York. Methuen, Barnes Noble.* Mills, J. (1969) experimental social psychology. New York London. MacMillan, Collier-Macmillan* Ajzen, I. (1980) http//socialpsychology.org/Does understanding a persons attitude help us to predict their behaviour?