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decision
You like the things you choose more than you did.
A 1956 study found that after being asked to rate several household appliances, participants rated the one they chose to keep as significantly more attractive than the one they rejected.
This is cognitive dissonance reduction. When we make a choice, we feel internal discomfort if we realize our choice was not perfect. To resolve this, we retroactively inflate the value of our choice and devalue the rejected alternative.
You do not just choose what you like; you like what you choose.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Brehm (1956), Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology
- What the check found
- Jack Brehm's 1956 study (Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology) is a foundational, well-documented experiment in cognitive dissonance theory.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.