Question 1

Research suggests that an attitudinal shift as a result of cognitive dissonance is much more likely to occur when the counter-attitudinal behaviour is conducted in front of others. This finding supports which of the following statements?

Accepted Answer

The research suggests that people are more concerned with appearing consistent in their attitudes in the eyes of others than they are with actually being consistent, as they are more likely to experience cognitive dissonance and a resulting attitude shift when their counter-attitudinal behavior is observed by others.

Question 2

If we experience some form of reinforcement for a behaviour, our attitude should become more positive toward that behaviour.

Accepted Answer

This is the basic principle of operant conditioning. When a behaviour is reinforced, it is more likely to be repeated, and our attitude toward that behaviour becomes more positive.

Question 3

Valins (1966) exposed male students to "centrefolds" and mislead participants to believe they experienced a greater response to a particular photograph. When given the option, most men chose to take home the "centerfold" that they thought got their heart rates up. What does this study demonstrate?

Accepted Answer

The study demonstrates that emotions often follow behaviors, as the participants' belief about their physiological response influenced their emotional preference for the photographs.

Question 4

Which of the following is a limitation of Cooper & Fazio's (1984) four-step model of attitude change?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following is a limitation...

Question 5

Jill is trying to decide between a red prom dress that she really likes and a black prom dress that she also really likes. Even though she likes both dresses about the same, she decides to choose the red dress. Now she feels the red dress was actually a better choice and that it looks much better on her than the black dress. Which of the following ideas best accounts for her change in opinion?

Accepted Answer

Post-decisional dissonance refers to the uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty or doubt that arises after making a decision between two or more options. In order to reduce this discomfort, individuals will often reassess their decision and convince themselves that their choice was the better one. In this case, Jill may have initially felt uncertain about her decision between the two dresses, but after choosing the red dress, she may have convinced herself that it was the better choice and that it looks better on her.

Question 6

Clark, Wegener, and Fabrigar (2008) found that persuasive messages in line with participant's pre-existing attitudes about a topic ________ the accessibility of the attitude, and ________ the persuasiveness of the message.

Accepted Answer

Persuasive messages that align with pre-existing attitudes tend to reinforce those attitudes, making them more accessible and also increasing the persuasiveness of the message.

Question 7

Affect is one main component of an attitude.

Accepted Answer

Affect refers to the emotional aspect of an attitude and is one of the three main components along with cognition (belief) and behavior.

Question 8

Cooper and Fazio (1984) postulate that four steps must occur for people to experience and attempt to reduce cognitive dissonance. Which of the following was NOT mentioned as one of those steps?

Accepted Answer

The four steps proposed by Cooper and Fazio (1984) are:
- People have to perceive personal responsibility for the action.
- People have to perceive that there are negative consequences to their attitude-discrepant action.
- People have to experience physiological arousal (dissonance) as a result of the action.
- People have to attribute their arousal to the action in question. 
Feeling little guilt about the action was not mentioned as one of the steps.

Question 9

Attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioural control comprise components of self-affirmation theory.

Accepted Answer

These components are part of the Theory of Planned Behavior, not self-affirmation theory.

Question 10

The Implicit Associations Test is a measure used to assess explicit attitudes.

Accepted Answer

The Implicit Associations Test is actually a measure used to assess implicit attitudes, not explicit attitudes.

Question 11

According to your text, we are less likely to donate to charities for causes with which we have direct experience.

Accepted Answer

According to the text, people are more likely to donate to charities related to causes with which they have direct experience.

Question 12

If we paid people a great deal of money to perform a behaviour inconsistent with their attitude, research suggests people would experience cognitive dissonance, and therefore change their attitude to match their behaviour.

Accepted Answer

The answer of If we paid people a great deal...

Question 13

Anna will likely experience post-decisional dissonance after she chooses between two equally attractive universities.

Accepted Answer

Post-decisional dissonance is the feeling of discomfort or uncertainty that comes after making a difficult decision, especially when there were strong arguments for each option. Given that Anna must choose between two equally attractive universities, it is likely that she will experience post-decisional dissonance.

Question 14

Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) asked participants to perform a boring task and then paid them either $20 or $1 to lie to the next participant, telling them that the task was enjoyable. Afterwards they asked participants to rate how much they liked the task. Participants who received $1 rated the task as more enjoyable than participants who received $20. What has been proposed as a likely reason for this result?

Accepted Answer

This finding can be explained by cognitive dissonance theory. Participants who received only $1 had insufficient justification for telling a lie, so they experienced dissonance between their behavior (lying) and their attitude towards the task (it was boring). To reduce this discomfort, they changed their attitude towards the task to become more positive. In contrast, participants who received $20 had sufficient justification for lying (i.e., the large monetary compensation), so they did not experience dissonance and did not need to change their attitude towards the task.

Question 15

Which of the following is true about the relationship between cognitive dissonance and culture?

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that Japanese participants engage in dissonance-reduction only after being asked to consider the preferences of a self-relevant other person, which suggests that the relationship between cognitive dissonance and culture is not universal and may vary across cultural contexts. Option A is incorrect because dissonance reduction techniques may differ across individualist and collectivist cultures. Option C is incorrect because there is no evidence to suggest that Canadian participants engage in dissonance-reduction only after being asked to consider the preferences of a self-relevant other person. Option D is also incorrect because there is no evidence to suggest that dissonance-reduction techniques are utilized more in collectivist cultures than in individualistic cultures.

Question 16

The statement that taking vitamins is good for your health represents the cognitive component of an attitude.

Accepted Answer

The statement represents a belief or thought about taking vitamins, which is part of the cognitive component of an attitude.

Question 17

Positive punishment involves adding an undesirable stimulus in order to increase a behaviour.

Accepted Answer

Positive punishment involves adding an undesirable stimulus in order to decrease a behavior.

Question 18

Glen spent four years in university, working very hard towards his degree in journalism. After graduating, he has been unable to find a job in his field, and instead works as a waiter. He often states that university was worthwhile because he met a lot of new people and made some friends. Which of the following concepts is Glen demonstrating?

Accepted Answer

Glen is demonstrating effort justification, as he worked very hard towards his degree and may feel the need to justify that effort despite not finding a job in his field. He focuses on the positive aspects of his university experience, such as meeting new people and making friends, in order to feel like the effort he put in was worthwhile.

Question 19

Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) asked participants to perform a boring task and then paid them either $20 or $1 to lie to the next participant by telling them that the study was enjoyable. Afterwards they asked participants to rate how much they liked the task. The 'surprising' finding from Festinger and Carlsmith's study was:

Accepted Answer

Participants paid $1 reported liking the task more than those paid $20 due to cognitive dissonance; they had to justify the lie with internal beliefs since the external reward was insufficient.

Question 20

Culture moderates the extent to which individuals experience dissonance.

Accepted Answer

Culture influences beliefs, values, and attitudes, which in turn can impact how individuals experience dissonance. For example, individuals from collectivist cultures may experience less dissonance when making decisions that benefit the group over the individual, whereas individuals from individualistic cultures may experience more dissonance in such situations. Therefore, culture can moderate the extent to which individuals experience dissonance.

Quiz 6: Attitudes