Festinger ya halarci Boys 'High School a Brooklyn, kuma ya sami digiri na BS a fannin ilimin halayyar dan adam daga Kwalejin Birnin New York a 1939. Ya ci gaba da karatu a karkashin Kurt Lewin a Jami'ar Iowa, inda Festinger ya sami digirin digirgir a 1940 da PhD a 1942 a fannin halayyar yara. Ta hanyar shigar da kansa, ba shi da sha'awar ilimin zamantakewar al'umma lokacin da ya isa Iowa, kuma bai dauki koyaswar zamantakewa ba a duk lokacin da yake can; a maimakon haka, yana sha'awar aikin Lewin na farko a kan tsarin tsarin, amma Lewin ya mayar da hankali ga zamantakewar zamantakewar al'umma a lokacin da ya isa Rasha.
Trudy Bradley (mai suna)