Prospective avenues in travel behavior research supported by the cognitive dissonance theory: A scoping review

Abstract

Recent findings on the relationship between travel choices and attitudes toward different modes of transport have highlighted the importance of Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT). Evidence suggests a bidirectional influence between travel behavior and attitudes, making CDT especially relevant. However, little attention has been paid to exploring CDT itself in the transportation domain. We present a scoping review that discusses the concepts defined by the seminal work of Festinger (1957) on CDT and recent considerations from psychology. We also discuss the gaps found in the transportation literature and suggest avenues for future research to enhance CDT’s applicability. A conceptual model is presented to provide a rationale of the theory and four main questions are considered to drive the discussions throughout the paper: (i) How have cognitive dissonance definitions been interpreted and applied in the literature?; (ii) How has the magnitude of inconsistency been measured?; (iii) To which constructs has the cognitive dissonance state been related?; (iv) To what extent have resistances to behavior and attitude changes been considered? Addressing these questions contributed to present clearer definitions about the constructs of CDT, particularly to the term ‘dissonance’, the magnitude of inconsistency function and both resistance to behavioral change and resistance to attitude change. As a result, this paper provides a logical decision-making process regarding travel mode choice, allowing a balance between the assessment of soft and hard policy interventions toward sustainable mobility.