The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the energizing effect of cognitive dissonance. The hypothesis tested, derived from the Hull-Spence drive theory, stated: On a simple task, performance of Ss in the dissonant situation will be superior to that of Ss in the consonant situation. On a complex task, on the other hand, the reverse will be the case. Ss used were 80 7th-graders. Dissonance was manipulated by exposing each S to discrepancy between his self-image and his image held by his friends. The predicted Dissonance × Task interaction effect was nearly significant. Considering the factor of Ss' self-esteem affecting the effect of dissonance manipulated, the results obtained tend to support the hypothesis.
