PSYCHOLOGIST

Leon Festinger

1919 - 1989

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Leon Festinger (8 May 1919 – 11 February 1989) was an American social psychologist who originated the theory of cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. The rejection of the previously dominant behaviorist view of social psychology by demonstrating the inadequacy of stimulus-response conditioning accounts of human behavior is largely attributed to his theories and research. Festinger is also credited with advancing the use of laboratory experimentation in social psychology, although he simultaneously stressed the importance of studying real-life situations, a principle he practiced when personally infiltrating a doomsday cult. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Leon Festinger has received more than 659,949 page views. His biography is available in 42 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 40 in 2019). Leon Festinger is the 64th most popular psychologist (down from 58th in 2019), the 1,032nd most popular biography from United States (down from 890th in 2019) and the 21st most popular American Psychologist.

Leon Festinger is most famous for his cognitive dissonance theory. He proposed that when people are confronted with information that conflicts with their beliefs, they will change their beliefs to match the new information.

Memorability Metrics

  • 660k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 62.43

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 42

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.57

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.13

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PSYCHOLOGISTS

Among psychologists, Leon Festinger ranks 64 out of 235. Before him are Pierre Janet, Solomon Asch, Roger Wolcott Sperry, Geert Hofstede, Karl Abraham, and Stanislav Grof. After him are Alice Miller, Philip Zimbardo, Margaret Mahler, Ernst Kretschmer, Otto Rank, and Mary Ainsworth.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1919, Leon Festinger ranks 32. Before him are Lex Barker, Oleg Penkovsky, Boris Shcherbina, Iris Murdoch, Andreas Papandreou, and Moïse Tshombe. After him are Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, César Manrique, James M. Buchanan, James Lovelock, Mordechai Anielewicz, and Jennifer Jones. Among people deceased in 1989, Leon Festinger ranks 43. Before him are Michel Aflaq, Kōnosuke Matsushita, Danilo Kiš, William Shockley, John Cassavetes, and Bruce Chatwin. After him are Cornel Wilde, Jerzy Kukuczka, Irving Berlin, Antonia Brico, John Payne, and Gaetano Scirea.

Others Born in 1919

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Others Deceased in 1989

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Leon Festinger ranks 1,032 out of 20,380. Before him are Michael Jai White (1967), Edward Tatum (1909), Thomas Wolfe (1900), Clifford D. Simak (1904), Mary Jackson (1921), and Forest Whitaker (1961). After him are Philip Warren Anderson (1923), Randy Couture (1963), David Hasselhoff (1952), Jerry Goldsmith (1929), Al Jarreau (1940), and Paul Flory (1910).

Others born in United States

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Among PSYCHOLOGISTS In United States

Among psychologists born in United States, Leon Festinger ranks 21. Before him are Alfred Kinsey (1894), Albert Ellis (1913), Martin Seligman (1942), Aaron T. Beck (1921), Stanley Milgram (1933), and Roger Wolcott Sperry (1913). After him are Philip Zimbardo (1933), Mary Ainsworth (1913), George Armitage Miller (1920), Edward C. Tolman (1886), Timothy Leary (1920), and Jean Tatlock (1914).

American born Psychologists

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