Browsing by Subject "Cognitive dissonance"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item The effects of racial dissonance on the academic achievement and self-esteem of Hispanic middle school students(2003-08) Castillo, Ivette Laura, 1974-; Carlson, Cindy I., 1949-The goal of this study was to assess the relevance of Rosenberg’s theory of racial dissonance with Hispanic middle school students. Dissonance theory proposes that the racial composition of schools can negatively impact the academic performance and self-esteem of ethnic minority students (Rosenberg, 1975). The sample included 1037 Hispanic and 683 non-Hispanic White middle school students, ages 10-15, from four middle schools in an urban Southwestern area. Of the four middle schools, one was classified as racially dissonant for Hispanics (a non-Hispanic White majority school), two were racially balanced (with differing racial mixes) and one was racially consonant for Hispanics (a majority Hispanic school). The White students were included in the study to control for differences across the schools that were not related to racial dissonance. The academic achievement, self-esteem and perceived discrimination of Hispanic students and non-Hispanic White students were contrasted between the four middle schools. Socioeconomic status, as measured by parental education, was controlled for all data analyses. Results indicated that Rosenberg’s dissonance theory was not supported with regard to academic performance and self-esteem. Both Hispanic and non-Hispanic White students in the predominantly non-Hispanic White school reported that they received higher grades, spent more time on homework, and were absent fewer days than the students at the other three middle schools. There were no school, ethnic or grade level differences in self-esteem. The results did support Rosenberg’s notion of a dissonant communications environment (1977, 1979). Regardless of ethnicity, majority status in a school context was associated with lowered levels of perceived discrimination. In general this study did not provide support for Rosenberg’s theory of racial dissonance, but the findings do support the notion that the phenomenon of resegregation contributes to the persistence of inequality of education for Hispanic students (Bankston & Caldas, 1997; Orfield, 2001; Orfield & Yun, 1999). The findings also highlight the importance of controlling for socioeconomic factors when examining the academic performance and self-esteem of Hispanic students. Future research of school racial composition should examine family factors, teacher experience, busing patterns, and grade level with ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples.Item Social evaluation theory: an explanation for both antecedent and consequent findings in forced compliance research.(Texas Tech University, 1974-05) Berren, Michael RobertNot availableItem Social forces and hedonic adaptation(2013-05) Chugani, Sunaina Kumar; Irwin, Julie R.Consumers acquire products to enhance their lives, but the happiness from these acquisitions generally decreases with the passage of time. This process of hedonic adaptation plays an integral role in post-acquisition consumer satisfaction, product disposal and replacement behavior, and the "hedonic treadmill" that partially drives the relationship between consumption and happiness. Humans are social animals, however, and we know little about the relationship between the social environment and hedonic adaptation. My dissertation addresses this gap by exploring the moderating role of social presence (Essay 1) and self-concepts (Essay 2) on hedonic adaptation to products. Essay 1 explores how social presence affects hedonic adaptation to products. Research on general happiness has shown that significantly positive life events tend to maintain their positivity for longer periods of time when they involve active social interactions. I examine a more common situation in the domain of product consumption, i.e., the presence of others during consumption, and test whether hedonic adaptation to products is moderated by public contexts. By tracking happiness with products over time, I show that a "social audience" (i.e., the presence of others and the perception that those others notice the consumer) moderates hedonic adaptation through a consumer's inference of the social audience perspective. Inferring that the social audience is admiring one's product slows down adaptation, and inferring that the social audience is negatively viewing one's product accelerates adaptation. Essay 2 explores the role the identity-relevance of a product plays in hedonic adaptation. Extant research illustrates that consumers avoid consuming identity-inconsistent products in order to avoid dissonance arising from product choices conflicting with important self-concepts. I show that dissonance can also arise from consuming identity-consistent products because of the force of hedonic adaptation. I provide evidence that consumers feel uncomfortable experiencing declining happiness with identity-consistent products and thus resist hedonic adaptation to such products in order to resolve the dissonance.Item The Effects of dissonance reduction by social support on attraction, information seeking, and desire to communicate(Texas Tech University, 1976-12) Dean, Dona DaleNot availableItem The influence of team and athlete identification on sport consumer behavior and fan response to negative information(2016-12) Cunningham, Nicole Renee; Eastin, Matthew S.; Ciccirillo, Vincent J; Dudo, Anthony; Sparvero, Emily; Wilcox, GaryRelatively few studies, compared with team identification, examine athlete identification. Furthermore, studies that include athlete identification define it as an extension of team identification and treat it as simply another point of attachment for fans. However, with the increase of media coverage focusing on athletes’ personal lives off-the-field as much as their performance on the field, as well as athletes curating and maintaining their personal social media accounts, it is possible for sport consumers to be a fan of an athlete without sharing the same psychological connection for the athlete’s team. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of fan identification as it applies to not only sport teams, but also athletes. First, Study 1 provided evidence that while team and athlete identification can supplement each other, they can are discrete constructs. This study was a necessary first step in exploring how team and athlete identification differ in terms of predicting the attitudes and behaviors of sport consumers. Second, Study 2 tested how various levels of team and athlete identification influence how sport consumers respond to negative information about the team or athlete. Prior research in sport management and marketing literature largely overlook the influence of athlete identification. Moreover, there also remains limited empirical research examining the direct impact of negative information and sport scandals on the team- and athlete-related consumer behavior of sport consumers. Findings from Study 1 provide evidence that team and athlete identification predict different attitudes and behaviors and support the need to incorporate athlete identification, in addition to team identification, in future research. Findings from Study 2 contribute to research on the impact of negative information and scandals with evidenced-based support that sport consumers with various levels of team and athlete identification respond differently to negative information involving the team or athlete.