Vicarious Dissonance and the Role of the Speaker

Abstract

The vicarious dissonance hypothesis states that individuals change their attitudes when witnessing members of their in-group engage in hypocritical behavior. This study investigates the role of the hypocritical in-group member and how that role affects the “prototypicality” of the in-group member. The role of the speaker highlights divisions within the in-group and therefore places the speaker in an alternate subgroup. These subgroups impact how the observer interprets the speaker’s actions and ultimately causes attitude change in the observer. “Prototypicality” of the speaker is fluid and is dependent upon how the observer interprets the speaker’s actions. Consistent with vicarious dissonance research, this study also offers support for various factors known to moderate vicarious dissonance.