Safe Speed Forums

Speeding fiasco response

I've spent a bit of time over at the Mondeo forum (if nothing else it's going to be a good measure of Jo(sephin)e Average's viewpoint) and I have encountered again and again a strange type of individual ie. the one who states that speeding is wrong and if you get caught it's a fair cop and you should stop moaning and pay up, yet admit to speeding themselves and offer mitigating circumstances for their actions.

For example, see if you can spot him here.

There are several more examples in here.

I call this type of individual a hypocrite. Anyway, it seems to be a prevailing attitude amongst many groups, so I posed the above question to guage the response. I'll be keeping a close watch.

It seems I may have got one more person thinking about the issues.


Hopefully he will register over here!

R11co, this is a perfect example of the phenomenon known as Cognitive Dissonance, first postulated by one Leon Festinger in 1952. It is not deliberate hypocrisy, it is a condition whereby an individual acts in a manner that they know opposes a belief or certain knowledge they also hold. The tale of the fox and the grapes he finds hanging high on a branch is a good example, it is the source of the expression 'Sour Grapes'.
The pro-camera lobby loves to cite this belief vs behaviour dichotomy as a perfect example of why cameras are needed - how can soemone complain about other motorists speeding through their neighbourhood, they argue, and then go out and do the same thing themselves? Tut tut tut etc.

Is there a place within 'cognitive dissonance' for the 'philosophy' of "Don't do what I do, do what I say" or 'Condescension' ie "I know how to deal with the problem, so it's not relevant to me. The law is there for your good, not mine."

I have said before that I don't speed, and I do this for a couple of reasons.

• I don't like the idea of reporting someone for something I'm happy to do myself.
• I believe if I drive well within my capabilities at legal speeds, I am keeping me and my family at the highest level of safety.
• 70mph is cheaper per mile than 85mph.
• I do less than 5,000 miles per year in my own car, 1500 of which are abroad, so it doesn't ever become a 'time' issue for me.

_________________
Fixed ideas are like cramp, for instance in the foot, yet the best remedy is to step on them.

Ian

Ian,

Perhaps I was too dismissive of R11co's first assertion relating to hypocrisy which is a form of cognitive dissonance.
When an individual meets a situation where their beliefs are at odds with their actions, CD theory suggests that they will change one or the other. A good example is buying a new car, where you have the choice between a well appointed vehicle and an equally priced one which tests suggest handles better. The buyer really wanted the handling characteristics of the second vehicle but is enticed by the goodies on offer in the first and buys that instead. He/she then convinces themself that handling isn't that important, its the luxuries that count more.
Where an individual knows that tension exits between their actions and their beliefs, but still carries on regardless, then we can call that individual a hypocrite.


I suppose this depends on the degree to which the individual holds this belief. If they are just saying this as a way of addresing an accusation then hypocrisy is probably a good description. If however they honestly believe that this is true, then perhaps arrogance would be a better term. How they arrived at such a belief may have initially been as a result of CD however.


Is it? Or have you arrived at this conclusion as a means of resolving the tension between your belief that you shouldn't be reporting someone for an offence that you may otherwise commit yourself were you not a police officer. If the (honest) answer is yes, then this is a perfect example of cognitive dissonance.

Sorry if thats all clear as mud, social psychology wasn't my field when i studied CD, education was. I was exploring a way of initiating behaviour change through confronting aircraft engineering students with a situation which induced CD and hence attitude change.

Fascinating stuff Rigpig, and thanks for the insight. I'm sure (at least I was ) that my Scottish instincts are the sole reason for the economic consideration for 70 rather than 85, but thinking deeper it may be a method of providing an acceptable reason to the forum for compliance, other than the one which, if truth be outed, is probably a genuine reason, which is that it is the law. So to extrapolate, your assessment may in fact be spot on.
Within my own driving capabilities, "it is the law" is a fairly asinine reason for compliance, and is probably why it does not appear on my list of reasons.
However, I quite enjoy complying, but then I can exceed the limit with impunity much of the time so the satisfaction gained is probably peculiar to me.

_________________
Fixed ideas are like cramp, for instance in the foot, yet the best remedy is to step on them.

Ian