Roles of Commitment and Foreseeability in Understanding Student Attitude Changes toward the Certification Examination in Taiwan

Taiwanese vocational schools are actively promoting opportunities for students to obtain specialized certificates during their formal education. However, because segments of the student population do not intend to achieve certification, questions about how to increase the motivation of students to pursue this goal have arisen. Two experiments based on the theory of cognitive dissonance were conducted to examine whether personal making an irrevocable commitment and foreseeing the consequences of decision and actions could contribute to changing students' attitudes toward certification examinations. Experiment 1 found that university students who perceived certifications as an irrevocable commitment were more likely to change their attitudes. Experiment 2 showed that attitude change was more prevalent when the negative consequences of decisions and actions were foreseen. As expected, the results were consistent with cognitive dissonance theory. In summary, cognitive dissonance theory can contribute to understanding the process by which university students' attitudes change toward certification examinations.