A determinant of preference among modes of dissonance reduction.

It was hypothesized that in selecting a dissonance-reduction technique people will search for a solution which is a stable one. Given a choice among modes of dissonance reduction, the individual will search both for a mode which is not challenged by present events and information, and for a mode which is unlikely to come under reality attack in the future. To test this hypothesis, nursery-school children made a decision between 2 toys. One could reduce postdecision dissonance by increasing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative, or decreasing the attractiveness of the rejected alternative, or both. In the experiment, some children expected to hear, in subsequent wks., objective information about whichever toy they chose; others expected to hear objective information about the rejected toy. It was expected that children would reduce their postdecision dissonance by distorting their liking for whichever alternative (the chosen toy or the rejected toy) could not be contradicted by future objective information, rather than by distorting both alternatives. This hypothesis was strongly confirmed.