title: Cognitive dissonance and attitudes toward unpleasant medical screenings.
abstract: Two studies suggest that cognitive dissonance can lead people to adopt negative attitudes toward beneficial-yet unpleasant-medical screenings. People who thought that they were candidates for an unpleasant medical screening reported less favorable attitudes toward the screening than people who thought that they were ineligible (Study 1). The unpleasantness of a medical screening affected candidates' attitudes toward the screening to a greater extent than non-candidate's attitudes (Study 2). Limitations, including ambiguity regarding the extent to which participants' attitudes were affected specifically by dissonance, are discussed. This preliminary research suggests people attempt to reduce dissonance associated with their anticipated behavior.
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, USA ent@psy.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ent
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, USA.
authors.forename: Mary A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gerend
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003073:Cognitive Dissonance; D003469:Culture; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cognitive dissonance; medical decision-making; medical screening