Cognitive Dissonance vs. Symbolic Interactionism

Since the beginning of mankind, there have always been different ways of communicating. Just as there have been different ways, there have also been different theories. Each of these theories can be separated into a different category: objective or interpretive. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast objective and interpretive theories using two theories in communication. The theory of Cognitive Dissonance (objective) and the theory of Symbolic Interactionism (interpretive) show a clear picture of the relationship between objective theories and interpretive theories.
According to Griffin (2003), there are five standards for a strong objective theory: an explanation of data, a prediction for the future, a relatively simple concept, an easily tested hypothesis, and practical utility (p.39). The theory of Cognitive Dissonance embodies all of these aspects. All experiments done on Cognitive Dissonance have given clear explanations of the data. Murray and Hernstei...