Test of a new case of double submission: the case of neutral behaviors.

Summary This thesis concerns the experimental exploration of a new case of double submission, the case of neutral behaviors: the two behaviors C1 and C2 are both neutral to each other, and contrary to the subjects' attitudes. We hypothesized that subjects would be in a higher state of tension after performing the two dissonance-inducing behaviors than after performing one. This state of tension would lead to more pronounced dissonance reduction procedures in the double submission situation. We experimented with three rationalization paths: the cognitive path, the behavioral path and the trivialization path. The results obtained follow directly from the radical theory of cognitive dissonance and show that whatever the dissonance reduction pathway solicited, in double submission, the dissonance reduction work is more marked than a simple submission.