Question 1

The halo effect leads a rater to consistently evaluate other people or objects in an extremely positive fashion.

Accepted Answer

Halo is a perceptual error where a rater forms an overall impression about an object and then uses that impression to bias ratings about the object. Leniency leads a rater to consistently evaluate other people or objects in an extremely positive fashion.

Question 2

Low managerial expectations will lead to enhanced employee performance.

Accepted Answer

Largely owing to the Pygmalion effect, managerial expectations powerfully influence employee behavior and performance. Consequently, managers need to harness the Pygmalion effect by building a hierarchical framework that reinforces positive performance expectations throughout the organization.

Question 3

The recency effect is the tendency to remember old contacts, and then evaluate them by comparing them with characteristics of recently observed people or objects.

Accepted Answer

The recency effect is the tendency to remember recent information. If the recent information is negative, the person or object is evaluated negatively.

Question 4

Causal attributions are known causes of behaviors.

Accepted Answer

Causal attributions are suspected or inferred causes of behavior. Even though our causal attributions tend to be self-serving and are often invalid, it is important to understand how people formulate attributions because they profoundly affect organizational behavior.

Question 5

According to Kelley, people make causal attributions after gathering information about three dimensions of behavior: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency.

Accepted Answer

Kelley hypothesized that people make causal attributions after gathering information about three dimensions of behavior: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. These dimensions vary independently, thus forming various combinations and leading to differing attributions.

Question 6

The key managerial challenge while addressing the issue of stereotyping in organizations is to reduce the extent to which stereotypes influence decision making and interpersonal processes throughout the organization.

Accepted Answer

The key managerial challenge is to reduce the extent to which stereotypes influence decision making and interpersonal processes throughout the organization. An organization first needs to inform its workforce about the problem of stereotyping through employee education and training.

Question 7

A stereotype is a set of beliefs about the characteristics or attributes of a group.

Accepted Answer

It is important to remember that stereotypes are a fundamental component of the perception process and we use them to help process the large amount of information that bombards us daily.

Question 8

Stereotypes are useful because they help us process the large amount of information that we receive daily.

Accepted Answer

It is important to remember that stereotypes are a fundamental component of the perception process and we use them to help process the large amount of information that bombards us daily. As such, it is not immoral or bad to possess stereotypes.

Question 9

Contrast effect refers to the tendency to remember recent information. If the recent information is negative, the person or object is evaluated negatively.

Accepted Answer

Contrast effect refers to the tendency to evaluate people or objects by comparing them with characteristics of recently observed people or objects.

Question 10

The essence of the Pygmalion effect is that people's past experiences determine their behavior and performance.

Accepted Answer

The essence of the self-fulfilling prophecy, or Pygmalion effect, is that someone's high expectations for another person result in high performance for that person.

Question 11

People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed than others.

Accepted Answer

People with disabilities not only face negative stereotypes that affect their employability, but they also can be stigmatized by the general population. These trends create a host of problems for people with disabilities.

Question 12

"Quality" interpersonal contact among mixed groups often leads to reinforced gender, racial, and age stereotypes.

Accepted Answer

Social scientists believe that "quality" interpersonal contact among mixed groups is the best way to reduce stereotypes because it provides people with more accurate data about the characteristics of other groups of people. As such, organizations should create opportunities for diverse employees to meet and work together in cooperative groups of equal status.

Question 13

A sex-role stereotype is the belief that traits and abilities make men and women particularly well suited for different roles.

Accepted Answer

A sex-role stereotype is the belief that differing traits and abilities make men and women particularly well suited to different roles. These stereotypes have been found to influence our perceptions of women as leaders.

Question 14

The Golem effect is a loss in performance resulting from low leader expectations.

Accepted Answer

Researchers coined the term "Golem effect" to represent the negative side of the performance-enhancing process. The Golem effect is a loss in performance resulting from low leader expectations.

Question 15

Age stereotypes are mostly based on fact.

Accepted Answer

Age stereotypes reinforce age discrimination because of their negative orientation. As with sex-role stereotypes, these age stereotypes are based more on fiction than fact.

Question 16

Men typically receive higher performance ratings than women for the same level of task performance, confirming the pro-male bias in performance ratings.

Accepted Answer

A meta-analysis involving 24 experimental studies revealed that men and women received similar performance ratings for the same level of task performance. Stated differently, there was no pro-male bias.

Question 17

Racial and ethnic stereotypes are automatically triggered and lead to micro aggressions.

Accepted Answer

Racial and ethnic stereotypes are automatically triggered and lead to micro aggressions. Micro aggressions represent "biased thoughts, attitudes, and feelings" that exist at an unconscious level.

Question 18

Older workers are more accident prone than younger workers.

Accepted Answer

OB researcher Susan Rhodes has discovered that as age increases so does employees' job satisfaction, job involvement, internal work motivation, and organizational commitment. Moreover, older workers were not more accident prone than younger ones.

Question 19

Galatea effect occurs when an individual's high self-expectations lead to high performance.

Accepted Answer

The Galatea effect occurs when an individual's high self-expectations for him- or herself lead to high performance.

Question 20

Sex-role stereotypes are related to gender-based expectations that people use without any conscious awareness.

Accepted Answer

Sex-role stereotype is the belief that differing traits and abilities make men and women particularly well suited to different roles. Researchers believe that sex-role stereotypes are related to gender-based expectations that people use without any conscious awareness.

Quiz 7: Social Perception and Attributions