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Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

The purpose of this content analysis research was to develop a biblical-theological model of Cognitive Dissonance Theory applicable to pedagogy. Evidence of cognitive dissonance found in Scripture was used to infer a purpose for the innate drive toward consonance. This inferred purpose was incorporated into a model that improves the descriptive fidelity of previous research observations and extends the prescriptive facility of Cognitive Dissonance Theory. The qualitative research design consisted of five phases. In the first phase, individual cases were identified by examining every verb in the New American Standard Bible for potential evidence of cognitive dissonance. In the second phase, the primary researcher examined every case isolated in Phase One for the elements of cognitive dissonance using criteria from the cognitive dissonance research literature. In the third phase, outside coders repeated coding of a stratified, random sample of cases, and intercoder reliability was established. In the fourth phase, the results were analyzed and evaluated. In the final phase, a biblical-theological model was proposed. There was an apparent progression in the type of cognitive tension experienced by people in Scripture. In the Old Testament, most cases of cognitive tension included a commitment to a decision consistent with Leon Festinger's description of cognitive dissonance. In the New Testament, particularly after Pentecost, the cognitive tension seems to have changed so that Christ-followers no longer demonstrated a commitment to a decision before experiencing cognitive tension. This change revealed cognitive tension consistent with both Piaget and Hegel. Alternatives were offered to explain the apparent progression in cognitive tension and a model was proposed that described Cognitive Dissonance Theory as a metatheory of cognitive tension that allows for subtypes of tension recognized by other researchers. Cognitive tension in Scripture seemed to be related to a sapiential drive manifested as learning aimed at orthodoxy--rightly aligned propositional wisdom, orthopathy--rightly aligned dispositional wisdom, and orthopraxy--rightly aligned enacted wisdom. The implications and applications of these conclusions were discussed.

Der vorliegende Aufsatz unternimmt den Versuch, die einst für die Kommunikationswissenschaft höchst relevante „Theorie der kognitiven Dissonanz“ des Sozialpsychologen Leon Festinger erneut ins wissenschaftliche Bewusstsein zu rücken. Während der Dissonanzforschung innerhalb der Psychologie auch heute noch Erkenntnispotentiale zugesprochen werden, ist sie in der Kommunikationswissenschaft kaum mehr von Bedeutung. Betrachtet man aber aktuelle Forschungsfragen, mit denen sich Kommunikationswissenschaftler beschäftigen, fällt auf, dass gerade die Dissonanzforschung alternative Erklärungen für gegenwärtige Probleme in Mediengesellschaften bieten kann. Diese Annahme wird am Beispiel der Politikverdrossenheit und unter Rückgriff auf das Konzept der „Dis-Identification“ einer explorativen Prüfung unterzogen. / This paper attempts to reconsider the value of Festinger’s „Theory of Cognitive Dissonance“ on mass media topics. Investigations in cognitive dissonance still represent an important field of research in social psychology. Yet, despite having once been one of the most important psychological theories on selective exposure, the concept is barely seen as relevant to current communication studies. Indeed, Festinger’s assertions have lost scientific importance in media studies. However, if one examines the present research topics in communication science, several objects of investigation can be identified that seem to call for psychological explanations in general and for Dissonance Theory predictions in particular. Thus, a reintegration seems to be worthwhile. The author exemplifies this intention by connecting political malaise with the concept of “Dis-identification”.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The present dissertation aims to introduce students to high school useful math concepts connectivity problems using graph theory. After the explanation of basic concepts, we introduce the notion of connectedness, Mengers theorem and we present the theorem of Festinger, which is a useful tool for path counts. We also present an application of these concepts in the analysis of electrical sub-distribution network in the state of Sergipe. Finally we conclude this work by suggesting some didactic sequences for high school students addressing the Euler's theorem for graphs, the themes of connectedness, connectivity, Menger's theorem and the theorem Festinger. / A presente disserta c~ao tem como objetivo apresentar aos alunos do ensino m edio conceitos matem aticos uteis na an alise e resolu c~ao de problemas de conectividade, utilizando teoria dos grafos. Ap os a explana c~ao de conceitos b asicos, introduzimos a no c~ao de conexidade, demonstrando o teorema de Menger e apresentamos o teorema de Festinger, que e uma ferramenta util para contagem de caminhos. Apresentamos tamb em uma aplica c~ao destes conceitos na an alise da rede de subdistribui c~ao el etrica do estado de Sergipe. Ao nal, concluimos o presente trabalho, propondo algumas sequ^encias did aticas para alunos do ensino m edio abordando o teorema de Euler para grafos, os temas sobre conexidade, conectividade, o teorema de Menger e o teorema de Festinger.

Der vorliegende Aufsatz unternimmt den Versuch, die einst für die Kommunikationswissenschaft höchst relevante „Theorie der kognitiven Dissonanz“ des Sozialpsychologen Leon Festinger erneut ins wissenschaftliche Bewusstsein zu rücken. Während der Dissonanzforschung innerhalb der Psychologie auch heute noch Erkenntnispotentiale zugesprochen werden, ist sie in der Kommunikationswissenschaft kaum mehr von Bedeutung. Betrachtet man aber aktuelle Forschungsfragen, mit denen sich Kommunikationswissenschaftler beschäftigen, fällt auf, dass gerade die Dissonanzforschung alternative Erklärungen für gegenwärtige Probleme in Mediengesellschaften bieten kann. Diese Annahme wird am Beispiel der Politikverdrossenheit und unter Rückgriff auf das Konzept der „Dis-Identification“ einer explorativen Prüfung unterzogen. / This paper attempts to reconsider the value of Festinger’s „Theory of Cognitive Dissonance“ on mass media topics. Investigations in cognitive dissonance still represent an important field of research in social psychology. Yet, despite having once been one of the most important psychological theories on selective exposure, the concept is barely seen as relevant to current communication studies. Indeed, Festinger’s assertions have lost scientific importance in media studies. However, if one examines the present research topics in communication science, several objects of investigation can be identified that seem to call for psychological explanations in general and for Dissonance Theory predictions in particular. Thus, a reintegration seems to be worthwhile. The author exemplifies this intention by connecting political malaise with the concept of “Dis-identification”.

Bringing together current research strands stemming from the Festinger tradition of failed prophecy, and by observing a recent case of a prophetic group dealing with disconfirming events under a period of 210 days, I theorize on what roles cognitive dissonance, rituals and continuous prophetic adaptation play in the management of prophetic groups’ alternative world views. The traditional conception of dissonance management is reinterpreted as a process of maximizing mental desirability, which is contingent on the level of cognitive dissonance as well as cognitive activity. Through the use of rituals, prophetic groups maintain a certain mental network of categories (world) that invalidates the judgement standards of the mainstream society in favor of the prophet. Finally, prophecy itself is considered to be a device that regulates the collective level of cognitive dissonance and activity in order to maintain an ideal state of collective mental desirability; it is a tool to organize the present, rather than a prediction to be judged based on its accuracy. This sociological study is an assessment of the research on prophecy stemming from Festinger and makes the contribution of synthesizing it under the single logic of world management through the study of an empirical case.