Question

Suppose that both Oscar and Sam went through hazing rituals for the same fraternity. Oscar went through a very long and involved hazing process while Sam went through relatively mild rituals. After they both got into the fraternity, they realized that there were a lot of negative things associated with membership that they hadn't expected. According to cognitive dissonance, which of the following would you expect to happen?

a. Oscar would love the fraternity more than Sam because he went through more to get into it.
b. Sam would want to stay in the fraternity more than Oscar because Sam realizes that he accepted the membership even though he didn’t like it.
c. Both Oscar and Sam would like the fraternity equally.
d. Sam and Oscar would dislike the fraternity equally because of all the negatives associated with it.

Answer 1

a. Oscar would love the fraternity more than Sam because he went through more to get into it.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to cognitive dissonance, we would expect that Oscar would love the fraternity more than Sam because he went through more to get into it. Cognitive dissonance comes from conflicting beliefs and behaviors which produce mental discomfort. Cognitive is related to mental activities, and the greater the dissonance the more the individual will try to reduce it. The option that Oscar took to reduce the cognitive dissonance is to underestimate the negative aspects associated with the fraternity.