This article highlights the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, and the woman who began it. It discusses the social welfare problems of 1908, and the problems of 2008. In 1908 immigrants were pouring into neighborhoods who needed help with the culture shock and poverty of their new lives. Their needed to be professionals who could study and gain insight into these problems, and administer to the people. Today the school has 10,540 alumni who serve in social justice type organizations all over the globe. Today, in 2008, not much has changed, there still people in need all over this country, especially in light of the economic crisis. Interviewed in the article was Lindsay Allen, a first year social work student who made the change from pharmeceutical sales to social work. Why such a large scale change? Cognitive dissonance. She calls this period in America today, a time of "cognitive dissonance." Clearly, she has picked up some key social psychology vocabulary.
What does she mean by this current period in America being a time of cognitive dissonance? "When we behave in ways that are inconsistent withour attitudes this creates a negative state of dissonance." (Festinger, 1957) For Allen, I consider her choice to be because of her state of cognitive dissonance. Working for pharmeceutical sales will certainly make you a pretty penny, but can you actually "go to bed feeling you've made a little difference in the world that day." The answer seems to me to be a resounding no. Pharmeceutical companies are known to rip off consumers and dramatically over price the drugs they make. Anyone with a mind full of the morals of social justice, would certianly feel dissonance selling drugs for these companies.
Festinger has 3 Postulates to his theory of Cognitive Dissonance:
1. When attitudes contradict other attitudes or behaviors, this results in dissonance.
(Allen likely had morals of helping others and social justice, which were simply inconsistent in selling overpriced drugs to consumers who could not afford them)
2. Dissonance is an aversive state.
(How could Allen sit with this decision every day and night? )
3. Individuals desire to reduce dissonance to eliminate the aversive state.
(She reduced this state by altering her life plan, enrolling in social work school to pursue a career helping others)
His way of reducing this dissonance?
1. Change behavior.
2. Change attitude.
She changed her behavior and put her efforts into helping others as her career path. Dissonance reduced! She took the more difficult of the two ways to reduce dissonance, and instead of changing her attitudes, she changed her behavior. Certainly a noble endeavor she should be proud of!
In conclusion, all the best to Allen in her new endeavors, and props to the women who bravely began this prestegious program to train people to help others at the University of Chicago.
What does she mean by this current period in America being a time of cognitive dissonance? "When we behave in ways that are inconsistent withour attitudes this creates a negative state of dissonance." (Festinger, 1957) For Allen, I consider her choice to be because of her state of cognitive dissonance. Working for pharmeceutical sales will certainly make you a pretty penny, but can you actually "go to bed feeling you've made a little difference in the world that day." The answer seems to me to be a resounding no. Pharmeceutical companies are known to rip off consumers and dramatically over price the drugs they make. Anyone with a mind full of the morals of social justice, would certianly feel dissonance selling drugs for these companies.
Festinger has 3 Postulates to his theory of Cognitive Dissonance:
1. When attitudes contradict other attitudes or behaviors, this results in dissonance.
(Allen likely had morals of helping others and social justice, which were simply inconsistent in selling overpriced drugs to consumers who could not afford them)
2. Dissonance is an aversive state.
(How could Allen sit with this decision every day and night? )
3. Individuals desire to reduce dissonance to eliminate the aversive state.
(She reduced this state by altering her life plan, enrolling in social work school to pursue a career helping others)
His way of reducing this dissonance?
1. Change behavior.
2. Change attitude.
She changed her behavior and put her efforts into helping others as her career path. Dissonance reduced! She took the more difficult of the two ways to reduce dissonance, and instead of changing her attitudes, she changed her behavior. Certainly a noble endeavor she should be proud of!
In conclusion, all the best to Allen in her new endeavors, and props to the women who bravely began this prestegious program to train people to help others at the University of Chicago.
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