When Prophecy Fails: A Study of Cognitive Dissonance and Belief Under Disconfirmation

When Prophecy Fails is a landmark study in social psychology examining what occurs when deeply held beliefs collide with disconfirming reality.

Originally published in 1956, this influential work by Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter documents the internal dynamics of a millenarian movement whose prophecy of imminent catastrophe failed to materialise. Rather than dissolve under the weight of contradiction, many adherents intensified their commitment. From this field stud...