This volume provides an overview of recent research on the nature, causes, and consequences of cognitive consistency. In 22 chapters, leading scholars address the pivotal role of consistency principles at various levels of social information processing, ranging from microlevel to macro-level processes. The book's scope encompasses mental representation, processing fluency and motivational fit, implicit social cognition, thinking and reasoning, decision making and choice, and interpersonal processes. Key findings, emerging themes, and current directions in the field are explored, and important questions for future research identified.
1. Cognitive Consistency as a Basic Principle of Social Information Processing, Bertram Gawronski and Fritz Strack I. Mental Representation2. Cognitive Conflict and Consciousness, Ezequiel Morsella, Pareezad Zarolia, and Adam Gazzaley 3. A Neuroscientific Perspective on Dissonance, Guided by the Action-Based Model, Eddie Harmon-Jones, Cindy Harmon-Jones, and David M. Amodio 4. Parallel Constraint Satisfaction as a Mechanism for Cognitive Consistency, Stephen J. Read and Dan Simon II. Fluency and Fit 5. Fluency of Consistency: When Thoughts Fit Nicely and Flow Smoothly, Piotr Winkielman, David E. Huber, Liam Kavanagh, and Norbert Schwarz 6. Nonpropositional Consistency, Sascha Topolinski 7. Motivational Fit, E. Tory Higgins III. Implicit Social Cognition 8. Balanced Identity Theory:Review of Evidence for Implicit Consistency in Social Cognition, Dario Cvencek, Anthony G. Greenwald, and Andrew N. Meltzoff 9. Implicit Ambivalence, Richard E. Petty, Pablo Brinol, and India Johnson 10. Discrepancies between Implicit and Explicit Attitudes, Prejudices, and Self-Esteem: A Model of Simultaneous Accessibility, Christian H. Jordan, Christine Logel, Steven J. Spencer, and Mark P. Zanna IV. Thinking and Reasoning 11. Mental Models and Consistency, Philip N. Johnson-Laird 12. Cognitive Consistency as Means to an End: How Subjective Logic Affords Knowledge, Arie W. Kruglanski and Garriy Shteynberg V. Decision Making and Choice 13. The Dynamics of Ambivalence: Evaluative Conflict in Attitudes and Decision Making, Frenk van Harreveld, Iris K. Schneider, Hannah Nohlen, and Joop van der Pligt 14. Self-Produced Decisional Conflict Due to Incorrect Metacognitions, Lottie Bullens, Jens Foerster, Frenk van Harreveld, and Nira Liberman 15. Regret, Consistency, and Choice: An Opportunity x Mitigation Framework, Keith D. Markman and Denise R. Beike 16. Consistency as a Basis for Behavioral Interventions: Using Hypocrisy and Cognitive Dissonance to Motivate Behavior Change, Jeff Stone VI. Interpersonal Processes 17. Balance Principles in Attitude Formation and Change: The Desire to Maintain Consistent Cognitions about People, Eva Walther and Rebecca Weil 18. Cognitive Consistency in Prejudice-Related Belief Systems: Integrating Old-Fashioned, Modern, Aversive, and Implicit Forms of Prejudice, Bertram Gawronski, Paula M. Brochu, Rajees Sritharan, and Fritz Strack 19. Stereotype Confirmation and Disconfirmation, Jeffrey W. Sherman, Thomas J. Allen, and Dario L. M. Sacchi 20. Adhering to Consistency Principles in an Unjust World: Implications for Sense-Making, Victim Blaming, and Justice Judgments, Kees van den Bos and Marjolein Maas 21. Interpersonal Cognitive Consistency and the Sharing of Cognition in Groups, Ernest S. Park, R. Scott Tindale, and Verlin B. Hinsz
