Sociocultural Approach

Cognitive dissonance

Section A Model Answer

Question

Explain cognitive dissonance with reference to one example of human behaviour. [4]

Model Answer

Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger) is the motivational state of psychological discomfort felt when a person's behaviors and beliefs are inconsistent. Because this tension is aversive, individuals are highly motivated to achieve "consonance" by changing their behavior, changing their attitude, or using rationalization to justify the contradiction. A classic example is a person who continues to smoke despite knowing it causes cancer. To resolve the dissonance, the smoker may rationalize their behavior by saying, "It helps me stay thin," or "The evidence isn't 100% certain." This demonstrates how the discomfort of holding contradictory cognitions motivates attitude change and rationalization, illustrating the cognitive component of sociocultural influence.

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Section B Model Answer

Scenario

The Master Scenario: "The Workspace Study" A university department designs a new "collaborative innovation hub" to improve student performance. The room features open seating, bright lighting, and digital whiteboards. Researchers observe that when students work in this specific environment, their problem-solving speed increases by 20%. However, they also notice that students from different cultural backgrounds use the space differently, and those who feel "out of place" in the high-tech setting often perform worse than they did in traditional libraries.

Question

Explain how cognitive dissonance might be experienced by the students who feel "out of place." [6]

Model Answer

Cognitive dissonance is the psychological discomfort felt when beliefs and behaviors contradict, acting as an aversive motivational state. A student may believe "I am a high-achiever," but their experience in the hub is "I am failing." To restore cognitive consistency (reduce psychological discomfort), the student may rationalize ("the whiteboards are a gimmick") as this requires less effort than changing the environment. This demonstrates cognitive dissonance because the performance decrease is a maladaptive reaction to the aversive tension created when the student's self-concept is contradicted by their experience in the hub.

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Overview

Section A vs Section B: Key Differences

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Section A

How to Write the Perfect Section A Response (4 marks)

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Section B

How to Write the Perfect Section B Response (6 marks)

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