Question

In 1997, a few members of Heaven's Gate, a religious cult, bought a telescope to view a comet. They returned the telescope a few days later and said that it was faulty because there was no spaceship behind the comet. This action:

Answer 1

Answer:

This action appears to be consistent with the theory of cognitive dissonance because there is an expression of bias for the belief that the telescope should have showed a spaceship.

Explanation:

As this is also conflicting with the original intent behind the purchase of the telescope which was to simply view a comet, it expresses a contradiction in belief of the purchasers which signals this action to be consistent with the theory of cognitive dissonance.