Extraversion as a moderator of the cognitive dissonance associated with disagreement

A common finding in research on cognitive dissonance is that people vary in their reactions to dissonance arousing situations. To evaluate whether individual differences in extraversion explain this variation, the authors examined data from a study demonstrating that disagreement within a group creates cognitive dissonance. Participants believed that other members of their group either agreed or disagreed with their own position on an issue of interest to the group. Although those exposed to disagreeing others generally experienced more dissonance discomfort than those exposed to agreeing others, introverts experienced more discomfort than extraverts. As a likely consequence of the dissonance discomfort, introverts also showed more attitude change in the direction of the majority than did extraverts. This study not only demonstrates that extraversion can moderate feelings of cognitive dissonance, it also offers an explanation for this moderation in terms of vulnerability to arousing experiences.