International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

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In social psychology, consistency theories constitute a body of four theories: →  Leon Festinger's →  cognitive dissonance theory (1957), Fritz Heider's balance theory (1946, 1958) , Charles Osgood and Percy Tannenbaum's consistency theory (1955), and Rosenberg's model of affective–cognitive consistency (1956). Consistency theories are characterized by the assumption that humans strive for a balanced state of →  cognitions and behaviors. If a set of cognitions or of cognitions and behaviors are contradictory in some manner to the person experiencing them, a state of imbalance, i.e., “dissonance,” occurs. The affected person perceives this state as unpleasant and is therefore motivated to reduce dissonance. Both behavior and cognitive activity are suitable for reducing dissonance. The most influential of these four theories is Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory. Initiated by this contribution, consistency became one of the most studied topics in social psychology from 1960 to 1970. The theory implies that people fall into an unpleasant state of affairs if the different cognitions (thoughts, →  attitudes , beliefs, states of behavior awareness) and the behaviors they produce are inconsistent. According to Festinger (1957 , 13), “two elements are in dissonant relationship if, considering these two alone, the obverse of one element would follow from the other.” Consequently, ... log in or subscribe to read full text