Abstract
According to distraction-conflict theory, the observer (distracter) can elevate the performer's drive by provoking attentional conflict. It is predicted that the observer who brings the dissonant information is more distractive for the performer than that of the consonant information. Self-esteem scale was administered to 179 undergraduates and 80 high-scored students were selected as subjects. The 2×2 factorial design (dissonant and consonant conditions by observed and unobserved situations) was used. Dissonance was manipulated by asking subject's defects, and putting him/her-self to write them down. The main effects of dissonance factor were found in correct response for both simple and comolex tasks. These results only confirmed the energizing effect of cognitive dissonance. On the contrary, the main effect of the observer was found in error response for complex task. This result slightly suggested the validity of distraction-conflict theory.
