When Prophecy Pales: The Fate of Dissonance Theory

This paper explored common objections to cognitive dissonance theory, propositions within the theory that have been neglected by critics, and issues within social psychology that have been sharpened by debate over dissonance theory. It is concluded that the theory elaborates one important class of quasi-logical constraints on thought processes, psychological implication, and that dissonance research is moving beyond demonstrations to more crucial issues such as exposure to information.