PhD thesis
"How beliefs contrary to common sense used to be discarded", PhD dissertation: Sociology, Strasbourg, University of Strasbourg, 427 p.
Advisor: Gérald Bronner.
This PhD was defended on 17 november 2020 at Strasbourg University.
Abstract:
This thesis proposes addressing the dynamics of belief change using a mystery described by social psychologists Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter (1956) as a starting point. They followed a UFO cult movement whose prophecy had been contradicted by the facts. Two aspects of what we call the "Festinger mystery" will therefore be investigated. Firstly, that the factual denial of a belief is not sufficient for it to be abandoned and, secondly, that there is a threshold beyond which the belief buckles under the weight of evidence. This mystery has both a static and a dynamic dimension. The "Festinger mystery" will be explained by modelling the cognitive mechanisms at work within a particular population of convinced followers who harbour unconditional beliefs defying common sense and promoted by a cult movement. The logic behind these beliefs, often perceived as counter-intuitive, to such an extent that the believers are considered irrational, will prove to be most understandable and rational.
Keywords: belief change, revision, emotion, knowledge, value, social norms, rationality of action, confidence, cults, new religious movements, perception, sensory experience, argumentation, logic.
"How beliefs contrary to common sense used to be discarded", PhD dissertation: Sociology, Strasbourg, University of Strasbourg, 427 p.
Advisor: Gérald Bronner.
This PhD was defended on 17 november 2020 at Strasbourg University.
Abstract:
This thesis proposes addressing the dynamics of belief change using a mystery described by social psychologists Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter (1956) as a starting point. They followed a UFO cult movement whose prophecy had been contradicted by the facts. Two aspects of what we call the "Festinger mystery" will therefore be investigated. Firstly, that the factual denial of a belief is not sufficient for it to be abandoned and, secondly, that there is a threshold beyond which the belief buckles under the weight of evidence. This mystery has both a static and a dynamic dimension. The "Festinger mystery" will be explained by modelling the cognitive mechanisms at work within a particular population of convinced followers who harbour unconditional beliefs defying common sense and promoted by a cult movement. The logic behind these beliefs, often perceived as counter-intuitive, to such an extent that the believers are considered irrational, will prove to be most understandable and rational.
Keywords: belief change, revision, emotion, knowledge, value, social norms, rationality of action, confidence, cults, new religious movements, perception, sensory experience, argumentation, logic.
