Race and cognitive dissonance: The role of choice in the experience of dissonance

Research in cognitive dissonance has not systematically studied the influence of race on reactions to inconsistency. Based partly W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of double-consciousness, we sought to investigate the relationship between race and cognitive dissonance. In Study 1, we conducted an induced compliance experiment and participants wrote a counterattitudinal essay under a high or low choice condition. The results yielded an interaction such that whites showed more attitude change in the high choice condition than the low choice condition, while blacks showed more attitude change in low choice condition than the high choice condition. Order of measurement of attitudes and affect also made a difference for black participants. Blacks showed the greatest amount of attitude change when they were asked about their affect prior to being asked about their attitude.;In Study 2 we replicated Study 1 and added a condition in which the essay instructions were loaded with affective triggers to investigate the role affect plays in perceived choice. It was found that blacks in the loaded instruction condition had a pattern of results similar to those in the high-choice affect-attitude condition, suggesting that affect determines how blacks perceive choice.;In Study 3, we conducted an induced compliance paradigm with black and white participants in which they were primed with either high or low power, and then wrote a counterattitudinal essay under conditions of high or low choice. While we did not find the predicted attitude change overall, we did replicate a finding for low choice in which we predicted that blacks would shift their attitude in the low power low choice condition. While Studies 1, 2, and 3 suggest a link between affect and choice for black participants, it does not address whether or not blacks have a higher tolerance for inconsistency.;In Study 4 we examined race within a free choice paradigm. We found a main effect for condition with respect to difficult and easy choices in which participants, both black and white, derogated the unchosen alternative between two highly desired items. We concluded that blacks do experience cognitive dissonance and do not tolerate inconsistency.