Cognitive Consistency Theory

2. Originator and Professional Background: Leon Festinger was born in 1919 in New York, New York. He attended the College of the City of New York and received a B.S. in 1939. He attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, receiving his Master's Degree in 1940 and his Ph.D. in 1942. He began his career at the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, as an instructor from 1943-45. He was Associate Professor of Psychology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge from 1945-48. He was Associate Professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor from 1948-51. He became a full Professor at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis in 1951-55. In 1955, he moved to Stanford University in Stanford, California as a Professor of Psychology. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science (fellow). He was awarded the Distinguished Scientist Award of the American Psychological Association in 1959.