In 1959, Leon Festinger and James Carlsmith conducted a landmark experiment on cognitive dissonance — the mental discomfort of holding contradictory beliefs.

The Setup

Participants spent an hour doing an extremely boring, repetitive task. They were then paid either $1 or $20 to tell the next waiting participant the task was fun and interesting. Afterward, they rated how much they actually enjoyed the task.

The Counterintuitive Result

• Participants paid $1 rated the task as significantly more enjoyable
• Participants paid $20 rated it as boring — as it actually was

Why Less Money Caused More Attitude Change

The $20 group had sufficient external justification for lying — the money explained their behavior. The $1 group had no good external reason, so their brain resolved the dissonance internally: "I said it was fun, and I wouldn't lie for $1, so it must have actually been somewhat fun."

Implication

Small incentives for compliance change attitudes more than large ones. This is why cult indoctrination works through small, incremental commitments rather than dramatic demands.

Reference:

Wikipedia: Cognitive Dissonance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance