Page 268 - The Social Animal

250 The Social Animal

experiment by Festinger and Carlsmith discussed earlier in this
chapter. When asked to tell a lie for either $1 or $20, would Japan-
ese students behave the same way that American students behave? In
a striking set of experiments, Japanese social psychologist Haruki
84
Sakai replicated the Festinger-Carlsmith experiment—and then
some! First, Sakai found that, in Japan, those people who told an-
other person that a boring task was interesting for minimal reward,
actually came to believe the task was interesting. In addition, Sakai
found that, if a person merely observes someone he knows and likes
saying that a boring task is interesting, that causes the observer to ex-
perience dissonance. Consequently, in that situation, the observers
come to believe that the task is interesting. In short, in a communal
culture like Japan, the observers tend to bring their evaluation in line
with a lie their friend has told!

“Man” Cannot Live by Consonance
Alone

Near the beginning of this chapter, I made the point that people are
capable of rational, adaptive behavior, as well as dissonance-reducing
behavior. Let’s return to that issue. If individuals concentrate their
time and effort on protecting their egos, they will never grow. To
grow, we must learn from our mistakes. But if we are intent on re-
ducing dissonance, we will not admit to our mistakes. Instead, we
will sweep them under the rug or, worse still, we will turn them into
virtues.The memoirs of former presidents are full of the kind of self-
serving, self-justifying statements that are best summarized in the
words of former President Lyndon Johnson: “If I had it all to do over
again, I would not change a thing.” 85
On the other hand, people do frequently grow and learn from
their mistakes. How? Under what conditions? Ideally, when I make
a mistake, it would be useful for me to look at that mistake in a non-
defensive manner and, in effect, say to myself, “Okay, I blew it. What
can I learn from the experience so that I will not end up in this po-
sition again?” I can increase the probability of this kind of reaction
in the following ways:

Through a greater understanding of my own defensiveness and
dissonance-reducing tendencies.