American History X - IMDb link - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120586/
While Leon Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory has its roots in social psychology, it is also included as a theory in the academic study of communication, especially where interpersonal influence is considered. My goal here is to present Cognitive Dissonance Theory and, through reference to a popular film, illustrate it in detail so it may be better understood. The film I have chosen to exemplify this theory is American History X. The film focuses on the life and choices of Derek Vinyard, a troubled youth who finds an outlet for his anger by teaming with his mentor, Cameron Alexander, to start a white supremacist, skinhead gang in the Venice Beach neighborhood of Los Angeles. I will provide a brief outline of the story and follow with various elements of Cognitive Dissonance Theory, providing examples from the film to illuminate these elements.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory was introduced by Leon Festinger, a social psychologist at Stanford University. Festinger referred to Cognitive Dissonance as “the distressing mental state brought on by inconsistency between a person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action”. He further posits that we are driven by consistency and strive to avoid the discomfort brought on by inconsistency. This principle is best illustrated in the film when Sweeney visits Derek in the prison infirmary. Sweeney shows concern about Danny following in his brothers footsteps, to which Derek offers denial. Sweeney tells Derek that he needs to ask the right questions such as, “has anything you’ve done made your life better”? The discomfort Derek goes through when considering the answer shows the distressing mental state brought on by cognitive dissonance.
Festinger includes three Hypotheses in his theory, referred to by researchers as selective exposure, postdecision dissonance and minimal justification. Selective exposure is “the tendency people have to avoid information that would create cognitive dissonance because it’s incompatible with their current beliefs”. In the film’s debate scene between Derek and Murray, we see this hypothesis played out. Murray and members of Derek’s family try to explain minorities rioting in their own neighborhoods and the Rodney King beating in terms of social inequality. Derek denies any possibility this explanation is feasible and argues that their liberal views only serve to worsen the situation in America.
Postdecision dissonance refers to the idea that “strong doubts experienced after making an important, close-call decision that is difficult to reverse” serves as a cause of cognitive dissonance. In the film, we see an example of this when Derek makes the decision to leave the prison skinhead gang. He suffers a sexual assault for his indifference to their group. He knows, as his fellow laundry attendant inmate informs him, that without their protection he may face assault or death at the hands of the prison’s black gangs. Despite this information, Derek refuses to be a part of a group who says one thing and then acts in a contradictory manner. He begins to realize that the cause he so strongly believed in suddenly makes no sense and the only friend he has at the moment is a black man that he should consider an enemy.
Minimal justification suggests “the best way to stimulate an attitude change in others is to offer just enough incentive to elicit counterattitudinal behavior”. Maybe a slight stretch, we can see an example of this in the film. Derek’s and Danny’s mother wants the best for her son(s). In particular, she is concerned about the direction of Danny’s life. Although outward appearance is only one part of the skinhead activities he engages in, she believes that any change, even as small as allowing his hair to grow out is an identity change in the right direction. She asks Danny when he’s going to let his hair grow back and he jokingly tells her when she quits smoking. She responds, “deal”. It seems trivial and a small price to pay to see positive change in her sons identity. He asks for nothing large, simply that she quit smoking. According to Festinger, this small request is more likely to produce a change that will also affect his attitudes and beliefs than a larger reward.
The final idea I will present from Cognitive Dissonance Theory is compliance. Compliance is “public conformity to another’s expectation without necessarily having a private conviction that matches the behavior”. This can best be shown by the behavior Danny engaged in immediately after his brother’s incarceration. Danny never took part in the skinhead activities while his brother was free. However, after Derek’s arrest Danny was met with new friendships and a higher place in the skinhead community; almost taking his brothers place. In the beginning of the film we see Danny has written a paper arguing for Hitler as a civil rights leader. Sweeney makes him write a new paper about the events leading up to Derek’s arrest and how they shaped his view in contemporary America. In the first line of the paper, Danny writes, “people look at me and see my brother”. Ironically, he ends the paper with a quote from Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address; driving home the point by replacing a paper entitled My Mein Kampf with a quote from the man who emancipated the slaves.
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