yster

I was wondering if anyone could explain to me, or offer their opinions on, in what cases cognitive dissonance causes a person to change their opinion about something..
In a class I'm taking they cite numerous cases wherein the Participants in studies, after undergoing painful or annoying situations, eventually come to appreciate the end result more than people who had to undergo less strenuous situations to come to the same result.
Examples might be Hazing rituals used by fraternities, for example. They go through a lot of painful things in order to more closely identify with the group in the end. Supposedly, the inner thoughts are along the lines of "I went through a lot for this; therefore it must have been worth it". Supposedly, similarly, a person might enjoy a concert more if they waited in line a long time for tickets.
It seems to me, however, that if I waited in line a long time for movie tickets and the movie was less than satisfactory, I would be even *more* annoyed than if I had just gotten the tickets on my way in. This seemed to play out when I saw Episode One (Star Wars), for example. Is it because I was less tied to the end result? I could more easily put the blame on the owner, rather than faulting my own judgement for wasting my time in the first place? Does it come down to if one can plausibly foresee the end result? If I had forced others to wait with me in line, would I have been more likely to enjoy it, due to my own culpability in causing others to participate?
Any thoughts are welcome, I can post more detailed case studies if anyone cares.