Leon Festinger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Leon Festinger
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| Born | May 8, 1919 |
| Died | February 11, 1989 (aged 69) New York City, New York
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Psychology |
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| Thesis | Experimental test of a theory of decision (1942) |
| Doctoral advisor | Kurt Lewin |
| Doctoral students | Bertram Raven |
| Influenced | Stanley Schachter Elliot Aronson |
Leon Festinger (born May 8, 1919 – died February 11, 1989) was an American social psychologist. He created important ideas like the theory of cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. His work helped change how people thought about human behavior. Before him, many believed behavior was just about rewards and punishments. Festinger showed that our thoughts and feelings are also very important.
He also helped make laboratory experimentation popular in social psychology. But he always said it was important to study real-life situations too. For example, he once joined a doomsday cult to understand them better! Festinger is also known for the proximity effect. This idea explains why we often become friends with people who live or work near us.
Festinger studied psychology with Kurt Lewin, a key figure in social psychology. This was at the University of Iowa. He didn't become interested in social psychology until later. This was when he joined Lewin's research center in 1945. Even though he was famous in social psychology, Festinger later studied other things. He looked into visual perception, then archaeology and human evolution. He was one of the most cited psychologists of the 20th century.
Contents
Life Story of Leon Festinger
Early Life and Education
Leon Festinger was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 8, 1919. His parents were immigrants from Russia. His father was an embroidery maker. Festinger went to Boys' High School in Brooklyn. He earned his first degree in psychology from the City College of New York in 1939.
He then studied with Kurt Lewin at the University of Iowa. Festinger earned his master's degree in 1940 and his PhD in 1942. His studies focused on child behavior. He wasn't interested in social psychology at first. He liked Lewin's earlier work on "tension systems." But Lewin's focus had changed to social psychology. Festinger still studied his original interests. He looked at how people set goals and made decisions. He even studied rats in the lab! He once said that social psychology seemed "unappealing" to him. This was because its methods felt less strict. Festinger considered himself a free thinker and an atheist.
After graduating, Festinger worked as a researcher at Iowa. This was from 1941 to 1943. Then he worked as a statistician during World War II. In 1943, Festinger married Mary Oliver Ballou. They had three children together. Later, Festinger and Ballou divorced. He then married Trudy Bradley in 1968.
His Career in Psychology
In 1945, Festinger joined Lewin's new research center. It was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Festinger said this is where he "became, by fiat, a social psychologist." He started studying how people communicate in groups. He also looked at how groups put pressure on their members. This was a big change in his research. His student, Stanley Schachter, said working with Festinger then was a "high point" of his scientific life.
This research started almost by accident. Festinger was studying how building design affected student happiness. He noticed that friends often had similar opinions. This led him to ask new questions. How do people communicate in groups? How do groups create shared attitudes and behaviors? His important 1950 paper on social communication used findings from this housing study.
After Lewin passed away in 1947, Festinger moved. The research center moved to the University of Michigan in 1948. He then went to the University of Minnesota in 1951. Finally, he moved to Stanford University in 1955. During this time, he published his famous social comparison theory. This theory explained how people compare themselves to others.
Then, in 1957, he published his theory of cognitive dissonance. This is probably his most famous idea. It explains how people deal with uncomfortable thoughts. Festinger received many awards for his work. He was named one of America's most promising scientists. This was by Fortune magazine.
Despite his success, Festinger left social psychology in 1964. He felt he was "in a rut" and needed new ideas. He started studying how the human eye sees things. This included eye movement and color. In 1968, Festinger moved back to New York City. He continued his research at The New School. In 1979, he closed his lab. He felt he was working on problems that were too small.
Later Life and New Interests
In 1983, Festinger felt a bit disappointed. He thought that psychology hadn't made enough progress. He also felt they weren't working on the most important problems.
So, Festinger started exploring ancient archaeological data. He visited old sites to learn about early toolmaking. This led to his book, The Human Legacy. It looked at how humans evolved. He saw this new research as a return to basic psychology questions. He wanted to understand "the nature... of this species we call human."
His last project was to understand why ideas are accepted or rejected. He wanted to study why new technology spread quickly in the West. But it didn't spread as fast in the Eastern Byzantine Empire. However, he was diagnosed with cancer before he could finish this work. He chose not to get treatment. Leon Festinger died on February 11, 1989.
Festinger's Important Ideas
The Proximity Effect
Festinger and his team studied how college students became friends. They looked at students living in married student housing at MIT. They found that friendships often formed based on physical closeness. This is called propinquity or the proximity effect. It wasn't just about having similar interests. People tended to become friends with their neighbors.
They also found that functional distance mattered. For example, people living near a stairway were more likely to befriend people on other floors. This was more likely than befriending people on their own floor who lived further from the stairs. Festinger believed that friendships often start from small, everyday meetings. These meetings happen more often when people are physically close.
How We Communicate in Groups
In 1950, Festinger wrote about why people communicate in groups. He said a big reason is the need for uniformity. This means people want to agree with others in their group. This need comes from two things:
- Social reality: People use others' opinions to decide if their own ideas are correct. If your friends believe something, you might think it's true.
- Group goals: Groups need to agree to work together.
Festinger said that people communicate to reduce differences in opinions. He called this "instrumental communication." It's a way to make everyone in the group think more alike. This is different from "consummatory communication," which is just sharing feelings.
Social Comparison Theory
Festinger's social comparison theory (1954) is another key idea. It builds on his work about social reality. He said that humans naturally want to know if their opinions and abilities are good. So, people compare themselves to others.
We usually compare ourselves to people who are similar to us. A beginner chess player doesn't compare himself to a chess master. A college student doesn't compare her intelligence to a toddler's. This is because it's hard to make fair comparisons with people who are too different.
People will also try to reduce differences in opinions. They might try to change others' minds. Or they might change their own ideas to fit in. For abilities, there's a natural desire to get better. Festinger suggested that social influence and competition come from the same basic need. This is the need to evaluate ourselves by comparing with others. He also thought that this leads to groups forming. These groups are made of people who are quite similar in their ideas and skills.
When Prophecy Fails: A Doomsday Cult Study
Festinger and his colleagues studied a small group in 1956. This group believed the world would end in a flood on December 21, 1954. The leader, Dorothy Martin, claimed to get messages from aliens. Many group members quit their jobs and gave away their things. Festinger and his team joined the group to observe them.
When the predicted doomsday came and went, nothing happened. Instead of giving up their beliefs, the group members became even stronger in their faith. Martin claimed the world was saved because of the group's "good and light." The members then started trying to convince others even more.
Festinger and his co-authors found that certain things make people stick to their beliefs. Even if those beliefs are proven wrong:
- The belief must be very strong.
- The person must have taken actions that are hard to undo because of the belief.
- The belief must be specific enough to be clearly proven wrong.
- The person must know about the evidence that proves it wrong.
- The person must have support from other believers.
This study showed how people deal with uncomfortable facts. It was an early example of belief perseverance.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Festinger's most famous work is his 1957 theory of cognitive dissonance. This theory explains what happens when we have conflicting thoughts or beliefs. It started from a study of rumors after an earthquake in India in 1934. People who felt the earthquake but weren't hurt spread rumors about worse disasters coming. Festinger thought these rumors were "fear-justifying." They gave people a reason to feel afraid, which matched their existing fear.
Festinger's main ideas about cognitive dissonance are:
- When we have conflicting thoughts (dissonance), it feels uncomfortable. This feeling makes us want to reduce the discomfort. We want to find consistency.
- When we feel dissonance, we will try to avoid things that would make it worse.
We can reduce dissonance in a few ways. We can change our actions. We can change our thoughts. Or we can find new information that supports our beliefs. For example, a smoker knows smoking is bad. They might quit smoking. Or they might tell themselves smoking isn't that bad. Or they might find information saying smoking has good effects.
In a famous 1959 experiment, Festinger and James Carlsmith showed this. Students did a very boring task. Then, some were asked to tell the next person the task was fun. Some were paid $1 for this lie, others $20. Those paid $1 said the task was more enjoyable than those paid $20. Why? The $1 group had to reduce their dissonance. They lied for very little money, so they changed their opinion to believe the task was actually fun. The $20 group had a good reason (money) for lying, so they felt less dissonance.
Festinger's Lasting Impact
Festinger's theories of social comparison and cognitive dissonance are very important. Many psychologists call them "the two most fruitful theories in social psychology." Cognitive dissonance is often called "social psychology's most notable achievement." It led to many years of research. This research covered areas like decision-making and how children learn.
Festinger also helped make laboratory experiments central to social psychology. He turned experiments into a powerful scientific tool. One obituary said it was "doubtful that experimental psychology would exist at all" without him. However, Festinger also warned against too much focus on small details in research. He said that research could get stuck on minor issues. He also stressed that lab experiments need to be connected to real-life situations.
One of Festinger's biggest impacts was showing that people are thinking beings. We constantly try to make sense of our world. Before him, many psychologists thought humans were just creatures of habit. They believed we were only shaped by rewards and punishments. Festinger's theories, like cognitive dissonance, couldn't be explained this way. His work showed that our thoughts and feelings are crucial. It broke the strong hold that older theories had on social psychology.
See also
- Belief perseverance
- Cognitive dissonance
- Elliot Aronson
- Kurt Lewin
- Propinquity
- Social comparison theory
- Social psychology
- Stanley Schachter
- The Great Disappointment
- When Prophecy Fails
