This essay provides an overview of psychologist Leon Festinger's work on the flexibility of the boundaries of
attitude and
action and how these limits are affected by changing outside stimuli and influence. The paper describes one of Festinger's experiments and explains his notion of cognitive dissonance, the condition that results when the balance between
attitude and
action is contradicted. The paper also shows Festinger's contribution to methods of psychological study, and how his theories have subsequently been expanded.