Question 1

People are unlikely to change their attitudes after saying something they don't truly believe if there is ________ for the lie.

Accepted Answer

External justification refers to a reason or incentive for which someone might have said something they don't truly believe. Without external justification, people are more likely to experience cognitive dissonance, which can lead to attitude change. Therefore, if there is a clear external justification for the lie, people are less likely to feel discomfort or dissonance and will be less likely to change their attitudes.

Question 2

As mentioned in the text, a Yale researcher (Cohen, 1962) paid some students relatively little and others relatively more to write an essay that contradicted their true beliefs about the local police. Results of his experiment demonstrated that

Accepted Answer

The answer of As mentioned in the text, a Yale...

Question 3

Two weeks after making a public statement at odds with his previous positions, which politician is most likely to report to his close friends that he sticks by his most recent (contradictory) statement?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Two weeks after making a public statement...

Question 4

Recall that in experiments presented in your text (Leippe & Eisenstadt, 1994; 1998), why did white participants experience dissonance after writing essays in favor of doubling scholarship funds for minority students?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Recall that in experiments presented in your...

Question 5

Assume that you were a participant in the experiment conducted by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) in which participants were paid either a large or small sum of money to tell an innocent stranger that the boring, tedious task you had just completed was really enjoyable and very interesting. Further assume that you were paid a large amount of money to tell the stranger that lie. In this situation, you would be most likely to

Accepted Answer

According to Festinger and Carlsmith's cognitive dissonance theory, participants who were paid a large sum of money to lie about the task experienced less cognitive dissonance as they had a strong external justification for their behavior. However, this external justification did not necessarily change their actual beliefs about the task. Therefore, the participant would be most likely to maintain their original assessment of the task as dull and boring.

Question 6

Imagine that both Vera and Carol are against affirmative action. Vera is offered $50 to write an essay about the benefits of affirmative action, whereas Carol is offered only $1 to write a similar essay. After writing the essays and receiving their payments, both women are asked to report their attitudes toward affirmative action. Assuming that their attitudes were similarly negative at the outset, which of the following results would you expect?

Accepted Answer

Carol would experience more cognitive dissonance for writing the essay for only $1, leading her to adjust her attitudes more favorably towards affirmative action to justify her action.

Question 7

Recall that in experiments presented in your text (Leippe & Eisenstadt, 1994; 1998), white college students agreed to write essays in favor of doubling funds for minority student scholarships, even though that policy would reduce funds available for majority students. What happened? Participants

Accepted Answer

Participants in these experiments had to justify their behavior to themselves in order to maintain a positive self-image. They therefore convinced themselves that they supported the policy of expanding aid to minority students, even though it would reduce funds available for majority students.

Question 8

Recall that Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) paid participants either $1 or $20 to tell another person that a boring, tedious task was really fun and interesting. The results of their experiment demonstrated that

Accepted Answer

Festinger and Carlsmith's experiment showed that when participants were paid only $1 to lie about the boring task, they experienced cognitive dissonance (discomfort caused by holding two conflicting beliefs), which led them to change their attitude about the task to reduce the dissonance. The $1 payment was not enough external justification for the participants to justify their lie, so they needed to adjust their beliefs to match their behavior. This demonstrates that minimal external justification can lead to attitude change.

Question 9

According to the tenets of dissonance theory, when we cannot find sufficient external justification for acts such as saying something we don't truly believe, we will most likely

Accepted Answer

According to dissonance theory, when we cannot find sufficient external justification for acts such as saying something we don't truly believe, we will likely experience cognitive dissonance, which is an uncomfortable feeling arising from a contradiction between our beliefs and behaviors. To reduce this dissonance, we will seek internal justifications or reasons for our behavior. Examples of internal justifications include changing our beliefs, rationalizing our behavior, or convincing ourselves that our behavior was necessary. Therefore, choice B is the best answer.

Question 10

In experiments on counterattitudinal advocacy, people change their attitudes more the lower the external incentives. This finding is inconsistent with the ________ approach to psychology.

Accepted Answer

The behaviorist approach to psychology emphasizes the role of external rewards and punishments in shaping behavior. Therefore, according to behaviorism, the higher the external incentives, the more likely people are to change their attitudes. The finding that people change their attitudes more when there are lower external incentives is inconsistent with this approach.

Question 11

Recall that in experiments presented in your text (Leippe & Eisenstadt, 1994; 1998), when white participants experienced dissonance after writing essays in favor of doubling scholarship funds for minority students, how did many of them relieve the dissonance?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Recall that in experiments presented in your...

Question 12

Which of the following people is using an internal justification to reduce dissonance?

Accepted Answer

Terri is using internal justification to reduce dissonance by changing her attitude to align with her behavior, which is a key aspect of cognitive dissonance theory.

Question 13

Recall that Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) paid participants either $1 or $20 to tell someone else that a tedious, boring task was really interesting. Participants paid ________ modified their original attitudes because they had ________ for lying.

Accepted Answer

Participants paid $1 had little external justification for lying, as the payment was seen as minimal and not sufficient reason to change one's attitude. This lack of external justification led to cognitive dissonance, which was resolved by internal attitude change, thus modifying their original attitudes.

Question 14

Which of the following social psychology concepts is most closely related to the idea, "Saying is believing"?

Accepted Answer

"Saying is believing" refers to the concept of counterattitudinal advocacy, which is when individuals publicly state an opinion or behavior that goes against their personal beliefs or values. This can lead to cognitive dissonance, causing them to change their beliefs to align with their actions.

Question 15

Research presented in the text (McMillan, Stice, & Rohde, 2011) had high school and college women write essays against the "thin is beautiful" idea. By writing about the emotional and physical costs of pursuing this unhealthy body image, the women showed

Accepted Answer

The text states that "women showed significant increases in their satisfaction with their bodies" after writing essays against the "thin is beautiful" idea.

Question 16

When people state publicly an opinion that is at odds with their own private attitudes, they are engaging in

Accepted Answer

When people state publicly an opinion that is at odds with their own private attitudes, they are engaging in counterattitudinal advocacy, also known as cognitive dissonance. This behavior is an attempt to reduce the discomfort that arises from holding two conflicting beliefs. This discomfort is known as cognitive dissonance.

Question 17

________ is to dissonance-induced attitude change as ________ is to no attitude change.

Accepted Answer

The answer of ________ is to dissonance-induced attitude change as...

Question 18

As mentioned in the text, a Yale researcher (Cohen, 1962) conducted research at a time when the local police were very unpopular with the students. He paid some students relatively little and other students relatively more to write an essay that contradicted their true beliefs about the local police, with whom the student body had experienced unpleasant run-ins. Results of this experiment were noteworthy because they demonstrated that

Accepted Answer

The research conducted by Cohen demonstrated that counterattitudinal advocacy (having someone argue against their true beliefs) can impact beliefs about things that really matter, such as the local police. This challenged the previous belief that changing beliefs about important topics was difficult. The other answer choices are not supported by the information given in the text.

Question 19

In the aftermath of a dissonant behavior, people often change something about themselves as a means of reducing cognitive dissonance. This is known as

Accepted Answer

The change in behavior as a means of reducing cognitive dissonance is known as internal justification. This involves changing one's attitude or beliefs to align with their behavior in order to reduce the discomfort of the dissonance.

Question 20

Recall that participants in an experiment presented in the text were provided either large or small incentives to advocate the use and legalization of marijuana. Results of their experiment revealed that dissonance and attitude change occurred when

Accepted Answer

The text states that dissonance and attitude change occurred when participants were provided with small incentives to advocate for the use and legalization of marijuana.

Quiz 6: The Need to Justify Our Actions