ABSTRACT
Until this point our comments on cognitive dissonance research have been based almost entirely on experimental investigations, but it should be obvious that the nature of the theory in no way implies only experimental tests. Preexperimental, more or less permanent differences between individuals provide an entire arena of research possibilities, and the purpose of this chapter is to explicate the role of individual differences in dissonance arousal and reduction processes. The material of this chapter could easily have been interspersed among discussions at various other points in this book, but we have found a number of special considerations in the area of individual differences that warrant a separate treatment. Some of these considerations will be mentioned now, at the outset, and they will become more manifest as the details of the relevant research are explored.
