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Leon Festinger was born in New York City in 1919. Being interested in psychology, he started college at the City College of New York and after, getting his bachelor's degree, went to the State University of Iowa, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1942. He taught at a number of universities before going to Stanford University in 1955. In 1968 he went to the New School for Social Research in New York City, where he remained until his death in 1990.
Although Festinger contributed a large number of concepts and theories to the field of social psychology, probably none has had greater impact than the ideas in his 1957 book, Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Festinger viewed people as thinking individuals who need to have balance in their thoughts as well as their actions. This idea of balance is key to his theory of cognitive dissonance. Much research is still being conducted today in social psychology to answer some of the questions that cognitive dissonance has raised. |
To find out more about Leon Festinger and his work,
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