In the 5th Chapter of Opening Skinner’s Box, Lauren Slater explores Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory. She defines the theory as an explanation of the compulsion to “… bring your beliefs back into alignment with your actions, so as to reduce the dissonance between your self-concept and your questionable behavior” (Slater). She focuses on a classical version of the theory, and consequently becomes fixated on a woman named Linda Santo and her daughter, who she feels perfectly embody Festinger’s theory. In her quest to understand how cognitive dissonance is applied in their lives, she treats Santo with disrespect for her faith and actively tries to show her the flaws in a harmless belief that she has built her life around. Her blatant disregard …show more content…
Slater effectively challenges Santo’s faith before she even meets her in person, and an adverse reaction is noticeable even over the phone. When she is asked questions that discredit her beliefs, Santo’s tone becomes sharp and mood drops noticeably, stating “…I doubt whether suffering has meaning…” (Slater). Her anger was obvious, and the reaction suggests the beginnings a deep moral dilemma that could lead to the definition Gaulden provides for stress: “feelings of being overwhelmed or unable to handle or deal effectively with people or events in one’s life” (Gaulden). For a woman who has suffered so much, this type of questioning isn’t helpful if she has an effective method of coping. Slater is creating a “conflict narrative” between what she believes to be true and the religious methods Santo used to eliminate her own cognitive dissonance. If Gaulden’s results hold true, this could have led to stress and hopelessness, which aren’t helpful, especially in her situation. It was selfish, disrespectful, and reckless for Slater to put Santo’s mental health on the line for her the sake of her own curiosity, and though she says initially that what she was doing felt cruel, she makes no effort to soften her blows to Santo’s