The "Disappearance" of Dissonance in an Age of Relativism

Berkowitz and Devine (this issue) cite Lord, Ross, and Lepper's study of attitude polarization as evidence that current researchers are reinventing dissonance results without realizing it. They also cite Cooper and Fazio's review as evidence that current researchers have excessively narrowed the scope of dissonance theory. They regard these tendencies to overlook and narrow dissonance theory as symptomatic of a pervasive analytic, rather than synthetic, approach to studying human social behavior. In reviewing the evidence cited by Berkowitz and Devine, other interpretations are possible.