| Background |
| Paradigms |
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| Festinger Biography |
| Conclusions |
| References |
The Man Behind the Theory
The son of Russian immigrants, Leon Festinger was born on May 8, 1919, in Brooklyn, New York, to Alex Festinger and Sara Solomon Festinger. Choosing to stay in New York to further his education after attending Boys’ High School, Festinger went to the City College of New York where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1939. He then moved to the University of Iowa where he earned both a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in psychology under the influential social psychologist, Kurt Lewin. While studying, Festinger showed little interest in social psychology, choosing instead to hone his talents in mathematical statistics and nonparametric tests (Schachter 1994, 99, 100).
Upon completion of his education, Festinger went on to teach and research at some of the most influential institutions in the United States. These included, but were not limited to (Reyes, 1):
1. The University of Iowa
2. The Committee on Selection and Training of Aircraft Pilots at the University of Rochester
3. The Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT (1945)
4. The University of Michigan (1948)
5. The University of Minnesota (1951)
6. Stanford University (1955)
7. The New School for Social Research (1968)
While “directing a study of housing satisfaction in an MIT married-student housing project commissioned by the university’s Department of Architecture and City Planning,” Festinger found his interest in social psychology (Schachter 1994, 101). Through this study, Festinger began to understand the importance of social variables within scientific study and he formed his own perspective on the cognitions of the mind and how they affect social behavior. After this development, Festinger began his work on the idea of cognitive dissonance. Although this idea had been proposed by many “balance” theorists, no one had ever chosen to study this idea in as much depth as Festinger. He examined and tested “its implications for a breathtaking variety of phenomena. These included an experimental examination of the cognitive consequences of forced compliance [and] studies in both rats and humans of the effects of insufficient reward” (Schachter 1994, 104).
At the age of 60, Festinger left the field of psychology, stating that:Older people have too much perspective on the past and perhaps, too little patience for the future. ... I have been actively engaged in research in the field of psychology for more than 40 years. ... 40 years in my own life seems like a long time to me and while some things have been learned about human beings and human behavior during this time, progress has not been rapid enough; nor has the new knowledge been impressive enough (Festinger 1983 in Schachter 1994, 105).
Upon leaving psychology, Festinger chose to focus his efforts first in the field of archaeology and it’s impact on man and society, and secondly, on the history of the Roman church. Similarly to his work in psychology, Festinger had great insight into these two areas and allowed for new developments to be made within these different fields.
Festinger was first married to Mary Ballou, with whom he had three children: Catherine, Richard and Kent. He was later divorced and then married to Trudy Bradley. Throughout his lifetime, Festinger was honored with such distinctions as the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award and the Distinguished Senior Scientist Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. After complications with cancer, Festinger died in on February 11, 1989, completing 70 years of intellectual dedication and scientific discovery (Reyes, 2).
