Evidence From Children and Monkeys

ABSTRACT—In a study exploring the origins of cognitive dissonance, preschoolers and capuchins were given a choice between two equally preferred alternatives (two different stickers and two differently colored M&M’ss, respectively). On the basis of previous research with adults, this choice was thought to cause dissonance be-cause it conflicted with subjects ’ belief that the two options were equally valuable. We therefore expected subjects to change their attitude toward the unchosen alternative, deeming it less valuable. We then presented subjects with a choice between the unchosen option and an option that was originally as attractive as both options in the first choice. Both groups preferred the novel over the unchosen option in this experimental condition, but not in a control condi-tion in which they did not take part in the first decision. These results provide the first evidence of decision ratio-nalization in children and nonhuman primates. They sug-gest that the mechanisms underlying cognitive-dissonance reduction in human adults may have originated both de-velopmentally and evolutionarily earlier than previously thought. Cognitive dissonance is one of the most heavily studied phe-nomena in the history of psychology. The term cognitive dis-sonance describes a psychological state in which an individual’s cognitions—beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors—are at odds (Festinger, 1957). People experience cognitive dissonance as aversive (Elliot & Devine, 1994), and are motivated to resolve the inconsistency between their discrepant cognitions. Psy-chologists have long been interested in the nature of cognitive dissonance, as this phenomenon has implications for many areas of psychology, including attitudes and prejudice (e.g., Leippe & Eisenstadt, 1994), moral cognition (e.g., Tsang, 2002), decision making (e.g., Akerlof & Dickens, 1982), happiness (e.g., Lyu