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PSYCHOLOGIST

Leon Festinger

1919 - 1989

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Icon of person Leon Festinger

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 614,509 page views. His biography is available in 40 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 39 in 2019). Leon Festinger is the 58th most popular psychologist (down from 51st in 2019), the 890th most popular biography from United States (down from 734th 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

  • 610k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 63.00

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 40

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.92

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.92

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Leon Festingers by language


Among PSYCHOLOGISTS

Among psychologists, Leon Festinger ranks 58 out of 183Before him are Raymond Cattell, Sabina Spielrein, Alexander Luria, Wolfgang Köhler, Martin Seligman, and Sándor Ferenczi. After him are Roger Wolcott Sperry, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Edward C. Tolman, Pierre Janet, Margaret Mahler, and Timothy Leary.

Most Popular Psychologists in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1919, Leon Festinger ranks 27Before him are Walter Scheel, Hans-Joachim Marseille, Boris Shcherbina, Dino De Laurentiis, Jack Palance, and Lex Barker. After him are James M. Buchanan, Jennifer Jones, Andreas Papandreou, Moïse Tshombe, Siad Barre, and Matilde Camus. Among people deceased in 1989, Leon Festinger ranks 38Before him are John Cassavetes, Ferdinand Marcos, George Beadle, Emilio Segrè, Kōnosuke Matsushita, and Jerzy Kukuczka. After him are Joris Ivens, Guy Williams, Bruce Chatwin, Sugar Ray Robinson, Michel Aflaq, and Princess Deokhye.

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 890 out of 18,182Before him are Halle Berry (1966), Little Richard (1932), Edward Norton Lorenz (1917), Al Jarreau (1940), Meg Ryan (1961), and Dalton Trumbo (1905). After him are Stephen Covey (1932), Steve Martin (1945), W. Eugene Smith (1918), Suzi Quatro (1950), Francis Peyton Rous (1879), and Frederick Reines (1918).

Among PSYCHOLOGISTS In United States

Among psychologists born in United States, Leon Festinger ranks 21Before him are Albert Ellis (1913), Aaron T. Beck (1921), Alfred Kinsey (1894), Philip Zimbardo (1933), Stanley Milgram (1933), and Martin Seligman (1942). After him are Roger Wolcott Sperry (1913), Edward C. Tolman (1886), Timothy Leary (1920), Frederick Herzberg (1923), G. Stanley Hall (1846), and Mary Ainsworth (1913).