Deck 7: Social Influence

Question 1

Which statement best summarizes the findings of studies on people's judgments of the autokinetic effect?

A) Although people may conform outwardly in response to normative influence, such processes do not change their actual attitudes or beliefs.
B) Informational influence can lead to private acceptance even in matters of basic perception.
C) Reciprocity is the most effective compliance tactic.
D) People are surprisingly willing to obey authority figures.

Answer 1

Informational influence can lead to private acceptance even in matters of basic perception.

Question 2

_____ involves relying on others to determine what to do to be accepted, while _____ involves relying on others to find out what is true or appropriate.

A) Normative influence; informational influence
B) Compliance; conformity
C) Informational influence; normative influence
D) Conformity; compliance

Answer 2

Normative influence; informational influence

Question 3

In which classic study or studies did participants randomly assigned to different social roles adopt those roles in a surprisingly quick and extreme fashion?

A) the Sherif autokinetic effect experiments
B) the Asch conformity studies
C) the Milgram obedience studies
D) the Stanford prison experiment

Answer 3

the Stanford prison experiment

Question 4

Generally, _____ is defined as the effects of other people on an individual's beliefs, attitudes, values, or behavior.

A) obedience
B) minority influence
C) social influence
D) compliance

Question 5

Which of these requests is most likely to succeed in getting the person to agree?

A) "Could you spare me $1?"
B) "Could you spare me $1.17?"
C) "Could you spare me $5?"
D) "Could you spare any change?"

Question 6

According to social learning theory, if a child repeatedly watches his father hit his mother, and never sees his father punished for this behavior, what is likely to happen?

A) the child will be conditioned to fear his father
B) the child will eventually be abusive towards others
C) the child will never be abusive towards others
D) the child will blame his mother for her suffering

Question 7

Currently Tomas lives in a country that is going through an economic crisis. Although he used to feel confident and happy in his job, Tomas was recently fired and his self-esteem has suffered a blow. If Tomas is given a chance to vote for a candidate, whom among the following does research indicate he will likely vote for?

A) a charismatic candidate who believes that Tomas's country is the best in the world, and has a vision for bringing that country to greater power
B) a problem-solving candidate who has a lifetime of experience in working with detailed political issues
C) a relationship-focused candidate committed to building bridges between party members and different ethnic groups in the country
D) a candidate who focuses on fiscal issues of the present moment, and doesn't like to try to read the future

Question 8

Hansang is going to go to a nightclub later in the evening. Research suggests that the concept of _____ should be more cognitively accessible to him.

A) dancing
B) silence
C) compliance
D) sunshine

Question 9

In which of the following compliance techniques is a person presented with a larger request before being presented with the real desired request?

A) reciprocity
B) lowballing
C) door-in-the-face
D) foot-in-the-door

Question 10

What was a major ethical concern raised about the Milgram studies?

A) Participants were not aware that they were participating in a psychological study.
B) Participants were compensated very small amounts compared to the stress of the experiment.
C) Only participants belonging to a particular SES background were recruited for the study.
D) Participants learned that they were potentially capable of doing harm to another person simply because they ordered.

Question 11

Mehali is trying to convince the other scientists on her research team that they have overlooked an important variable in their research, even though the rest of the team does not agree with her. According to research, which of the following actions would NOT help Mehali convince her team?

A) having an inconsistent position on the matter
B) seeming willing to compromise
C) convincing her team that she's similar to all of them
D) convincing a team member to convert to her opinion

Question 12

The foot-in-the-door technique operates primarily on the basis of _____, whereas the lowballing tactic operates primarily on the basis of _____.

A) the norm for social commitment; self-perception processes
B) self-perception processes; the norm for social commitment
C) minority influence; obedience to authority
D) obedience to authority; minority influence

Question 13

Conversion theory suggests that _____ are sometimes influential because they are ____.

A) authority commands; presented slowly
B) authority commands; informational
C) minority opinions; distinctive
D) minority opinions; presented quickly

Question 14

The Asch studies on line judgments suggest:

A) people will often conform if everyone else in a group makes the same decision.
B) people are very reluctant to conform in most situations.
C) no matter how many people resist the group opinion, others are still very likely to conform.
D) compliance tactics are stronger determinants of behavior than authority commands.

Question 15

In which variation of the Milgram research were participants MOST likely to obey the experimenter's commands?

A) when the learner was in another room and the experimenter was in the room with the participant
B) when two other participants refused to comply with the commands
C) when the learner was in the same room as the participant
D) when the experimenter wasn't in the room but gave instructions by phone

Question 16

The _____ of the "learner" relative to the participant, and the apparent _____ of the experiment as a whole, were two factors that played a major role in the amount of obedience displayed in Milgram's studies.

A) compensation; novelty
B) compensation; familiarity
C) distance; legitimacy
D) status; legitimacy

Question 17

Ravi works for a small business owner who has ordered him to tell his coworker Jeffrey that Jeffrey is going to be taking a significant pay cut. Based on research, when is Ravi MOST likely to obey this order?

A) when Ravi's boss has called Ravi to give him the order
B) if Ravi and Jeffrey are going to be working closely together on a project for the rest of the year
C) when Jeffrey is about to start a project in a different office, so Ravi won't see him very often after the order is given
D) when Ravi doesn't believe that the business is very legitimate

Question 18

Samuel belongs to an organization that is trying to protect an endangered species in a wildlife preserve. He knows that most people would probably agree that it is morally wrong to harm members of the species. However, he also knows that most people who visit the preserve engage in behaviors (like littering) which are harmful for the species. If Samuel launches a campaign to achieve his goal, what should the campaign focus on?

A) keeping the situation the same
B) the injunctive norm in the situation
C) the descriptive norm in the situation
D) the descriptive and injunctive norms in the situation

Question 19

Eun Sun is trying to buy a new couch. Achim-a sales representative-has offered her an attractive couch at a reasonable price, and Eun Sun agrees to purchase it. Achim walks away for a few moments to retrieve some paperwork. When he returns, he tells Eun Sun that a recent storewide deal just expired, so the price of the couch is actually somewhat higher. What does research on compliance techniques suggest Eun Sun will do?

A) Eun Sun will pay the new, higher price but will later be dissatisfied with the couch.
B) Eun Sun will pay the higher price only if her self-perception has not changed.
C) Eun Sun will likely refuse to pay the new price and walk away.
D) Eun Sun will pay the new, higher price for the couch.

Question 20

According to research, people conform to the attitudes and behavior of others because they are afraid of _____ and _____.

A) missing opportunities; being themselves
B) making mistakes; missing opportunities
C) social rejection; making mistakes
D) being themselves; social rejection

Question 21

Briefly describe the methodology of Asch's studies on conformity and what they demonstrated about this aspect of social influence.

Question 22

Discuss two reasons given by Milgram for why individuals are willing to commit even harmful actions as a result of obedience to authority.

Question 23

Describe some of the primary ways in which minority influence and minority opinions differ from those of the majority.

Question 24

Identify one similarity and one difference between the foot-in-the-door technique and the lowballing technique.

Question 25

Briefly describe the methodology of the autokinetic effect studies and what they demonstrated about conformity processes.

Question 26

Discuss at least two different reasons that have been given for why perceived scarcity leads to increased sales of a product.

Question 27

Describe some of the major findings from research related to social learning theory.

Question 28

What are two personality or situational variables that influence the likelihood individuals will demonstrate conformity?

Question 29

Describe a way in which television and Internet advertising often uses social proof as a compliance technique.

Question 30

Identify and compare the two kinds of norms discussed in Cialdini's focus theory of normative conduct.

Question 31

Describe at least two variations to the basic procedure that were tested over the course of Milgram's studies on obedience.

Question 32

Give an example of someone using the door-in-the-face technique to elicit compliance from someone else.

Question 33

Discuss one example from research of people being more likely to comply with a request due to mindlessness.

Question 34

Under what kinds of historical circumstances are people most likely to be influenced by charismatic leaders?

Question 35

Describe the basic procedure and purpose of Milgram's classic study on obedience.

Question 36

Briefly describe the Stanford prison experiment, and the primary lesson it taught about human social behavior.

Question 37

Discuss at least three ways that people representing a minority opinion can increase their chances of influencing the majority.

Question 38

What were some of the ethical concerns that were raised about Milgram's studies on obedience?

Question 39

What are the distinguishing characteristics of a charismatic leader?

Question 40

What are at least three of the major varieties of social influence?

Question 41

The finding that if a person becomes obese, the likelihood that a friend of his or hers will become obese significantly increases is an example of what phenomenon?

A) social contagion
B) injunctive norms
C) informational influence
D) the reference group effect

Question 42

Which of the following experiments was never actually completed?

A) the Asch conformity study
B) the Sherif autokinetic effect study
C) the Milgram study on obedience
D) the Stanford prison study

Question 43

Which of these is NOT an example of social learning?

A) An octopus opens a jar more quickly after watching another octopus opens a jar.
B) A baby learns the alphabet.
C) A dog learns how to behave faster in the presence of other trained dogs.
D) An early human accidentally discovers how to light a fire.

Question 44

Which of the following could be considered an example of social contagion?

A) One person pretends to believe what everyone else in the room is saying.
B) Humans contract an illness from a chimpanzee.
C) One person in a building begins to experience imaginary physical symptoms, and soon everyone is experiencing them.
D) A person refuses to leave his or her house because he or she is afraid that contact with others will give them a virus.

Question 45

Shi does not really like William, and does not want to be talking with him. William is wearing a shirt suggesting that he is a fan of Star Trek. Research suggests that after they finish their conversation, if Shi turns on the TV and starts flipping through the channels, what will she likely do?

A) be more likely to watch Star Trek if it's on
B) not be any more likely to watch Star Trek if it's on
C) be especially aggressive if Star Trek is on
D) take a long time to decide what to watch

Question 46

Social learning theory was developed by Albert Bandura based primarily on which seminal study?

A) the Stanford prison experiment
B) the Bobo doll study
C) the Good Samaritan study
D) the "cloth mother" study

Question 47

Which of these is NOT a form of social influence?

A) creative thinking
B) compliance techniques
C) conformity to norms
D) commands from authorities

Question 48

When a person mentally simulates picking up a baseball while watching someone else pick up a baseball, _____ are involved.

A) the empathetic neurons
B) mirror neurons
C) rehearsal cells
D) the social reflexes

Question 49

What is the term for the phenomenon where feelings, ideas, and behaviors spread rapidly through a group of people?

A) hysteria
B) social contagion
C) deindividuation
D) crowdsourcing

Question 50

According to the research by sociologist David Phillips, an increase in media coverage of suicides in a particular region is associated with:

A) more petty crime in that region.
B) hotter average temperatures in that region.
C) fewer suicide attempts in that region.
D) more suicide attempts in that region.

Question 51

The definition of social influence is:

A) the influence of society on culture.
B) the effects of other people on an individual's level of sociality.
C) the effects of other people on an individual's beliefs, attitudes, values, or behavior.
D) the influence of public settings on an individual's perception.

Question 52

A marketing researcher hypothesizes that injunctive norms are more likely to convince people to buy organic food than descriptive norms. How might the researcher BEST test this hypothesis?

A) by presenting participants facts about the number of people who buy organic foods in five different countries, and then assessing participants' interest in learning more about organic foods
B) by randomly assigning participants to remember a time either when they did something moral or when they did something immoral, and then measuring their willingness to buy organic foods
C) by measuring the extent to which participants' tend to make decisions based on the behavior of others, and then measuring how often participants buy organic foods
D) by randomly assigning participants to read a pamphlet claiming either that organic foods are more environmentally sustainable or that they are eaten by the majority of consumers, and then measuring participants' willingness to buy organic foods

Question 53

Which of the following cases is the BEST example of an instance of social contagion?

A) A teacher in a school smells gasoline and begins to feel nauseous; soon most of the school's population is also feeling nauseous. Later, it is discovered that there was never a gas leak.
B) A politician gives a very moving speech in which he argues that the nation is superior to all other nations. The crowd cheers very loudly.
C) A person is suffering from a severe injury on the side of the road. However, people driving by fail to stop to help even though they notice the injured person.
D) A shopper notices a sign in the electronics store saying that supplies of a certain tablet are limited. The shopper decides to buy the tablet based on this information.

Question 54

What would be one way to effectively test the ideas of social learning theory?

A) Prime participants with pictures of faces or with numbers before they are asked to complete a math test.
B) Create a novel task for participants to learn, then have them learn the task either with the assistance of experienced others or on their own.
C) Ask a group of inventors and scientists how they came up with their most groundbreaking ideas.
D) Randomly assign participants to complete a task in which they either learn about famous people or learn about famous places, and assess how well they perform on each type of task.

Question 55

What is a primary reason why social psychologists are interested in the topic of social influence?

A) People with different personality types show varying susceptibility to social influence.
B) Social influence has different effects across the lifespan.
C) Social influence is one of the primary ways in which people's thoughts and attitudes about others influence their own attitudes and behavior.
D) Social influence is more prominent in some cultures than others.

Question 56

A hotel manager is trying to convince guests to reuse their bathroom towels. She places signs in all the bathrooms which read, "Discarding your towel to be cleaned after only one use wastes water, and should not be done. Many guests discard their towel after just one use, leading to a massive drain on our local water resources." What has the manager done, and what will likely happen?

A) She has activated an injunctive norm only, which should lead to less of the desired behavior.
B) She has activated an injunctive norm only, which should lead to more of the desired behavior.
C) She has activated a descriptive norm only, which should lead to less of the desired behavior.
D) She has activated both a descriptive and an injunctive norm, which will not be very effective at increasing the desired behavior.

Question 57

The fact that watching someone behave aggressively increases the accessibility of aggression-related concepts is BEST considered an example of:

A) social priming.
B) hysterical contagion.
C) deindividuation.
D) conformity to norms.

Question 58

According to research on cultural definitions of social situations, if Michael is expecting to go to a hospital soon, then:

A) concepts of loudness will be more accessible to him.
B) concepts of cleanliness will be more accessible to him.
C) he will be more likely to experience social contagion.
D) he will be especially persuaded by reciprocity tactics.

Question 59

In the Bobo doll studies, children were more likely to imitate the behavior they observed if:

A) parents were present in the room.
B) the model showed remorse after his/her behavior.
C) the model was rewarded for his/her behavior.
D) the environment encouraged exploration.

Question 60

According to the focus theory of normative conduct, _____ are beliefs about what the majority of people typically do, while _____ are beliefs about what is considered right and wrong in the culture.

A) majority focus; moral focus
B) moral focus; majority focus
C) descriptive norms; injunctive norms
D) injunctive norms; descriptive norms

Question 61

What was one of the primary implications of the Stanford prison experiment?

A) Cultural expectations about how to behave in social roles can have a major influence on behavior.
B) Injunctive norms are particularly strong guides to behavior in strange situations.
C) Personality is a stronger determinant of behavior than situational factors.
D) Only disturbed individuals are likely to abuse power when they are granted it.

Question 62

What is the meaning of private acceptance?

A) conforming only outwardly without changing one's inner beliefs
B) privately believing in something that the rest of one's group does not believe in
C) conforming by altering personal beliefs as well as outward behavior
D) accepting the norm for social commitment

Question 63

Neuroscience research suggests some possible reasons why people are motivated to conform, including:

A) fear of social rejection.
B) the desire not to make mistakes in judgment.
C) the desire not to make mistakes in judgment and to impress others.
D) fear of social rejection and the desire not to make mistakes in judgment.

Question 64

In a study building on the original autokinetic effect research, psychologists found that one year after participating in group judgments about the distance a light moves, participants when asked to judge the distance on their own still followed the group norm. This study BEST demonstrated:

A) public compliance.
B) the foot-in-the-door effect.
C) private acceptance.
D) the power of reference groups.

Question 65

Based on the foundational studies of Sherif and Asch, which form of social influence is MOST likely to lead to private acceptance in most situations?

A) normative influence
B) informational influence
C) commands from an authority
D) compliance tactics

Question 66

People with high self-awareness and self-esteem are:

A) less likely to conform
B) more likely to conform
C) less likely to conform if their self-esteem is based on what others value
D) more likely to conform in public situations

Question 67

Emanuel's reference group is his family. What does this mean?

A) Emanuel sees his personal identity as largely separate from his family.
B) Emanuel's main goal in life is to support his family.
C) Emanuel will follow his work colleagues in their behavior, even if it conflicts with his family's standards.
D) Emanuel looks to his family for normative and informational influence.

Question 68

What does neuroscience research tell us about the nature of judgments made to conform with a group?

A) Neuroscience results in this area are mixed and have not yielded a cohesive picture.
B) Since the appropriate areas of the brain are not active when making conformity-based judgments, there is no private acceptance of the judgment.
C) Brain activation suggests that our actual perception of objects is influenced by the opinions of other people.
D) Brain activation suggests that our actual perception of objects is influenced by opinions given by computers as well as by other people.

Question 69

When an individual alters his or her beliefs, attitudes, or behavior to bring him or her in line with others, this is called:

A) conversion theory.
B) reciprocity.
C) conformity.
D) obedience to authority.

Question 70

What does the Asch studies on line-judgments in group settings tell us?

A) Social roles are one of the most important sources of situational influence.
B) People can become very aggressive when they are asked to conform.
C) People are very unlikely to publically comply with normative influence.
D) People will often conform to a group opinion, even if it goes against their own perception.

Question 71

Conformity research conducted by Milgram demonstrated that people are likely to look up to the sky if they see someone else doing so. Furthermore, this research demonstrated that:

A) people will follow the other person's gaze if they already know what the person is looking at.
B) the greater the number of people looking up, the less likely it is that the participant will look up.
C) the likelihood of the participant looking up increases dramatically if five people are looking up instead of one.
D) the likelihood of the participant looking up increases dramatically if 15 people are looking up instead of five.

Question 72

When we rely on others to find out what is true or appropriate, this is _____; when we rely on others to determine what to do to be accepted, this is _____.

A) public compliance; private acceptance
B) private acceptance; public compliance
C) informational influence; normative influence
D) normative influence; informational influence

Question 73

Kimin's English class is having a discussion about whether they should spend more time focusing on writing exercises instead of analyzing texts. Kimin does not believe they should focus more on writing exercises, but everyone else in the class is saying that they support this option. If Kimin is now asked to write down his preference and hand it to the instructor, what will he likely do?

A) Kimin will stick to his original opinion and express support for analyzing texts.
B) Even though he doesn't really agree, Kimin will conform to the group and express support for more writing exercises.
C) Kimin will express support for the group opinion (to focus more on writing exercises) and will actually have convinced himself that this is what he wants.
D) Research cannot tell us anything about what Kimin will do.

Question 74

The fact that people from collectivist cultures are more likely to conform to social pressure suggests that:

A) conformity almost never occurs in individualist cultures.
B) conformity is often a sign of a timid personality.
C) people only conform with great reluctance.
D) people sometimes conform in order to promote group cohesion.

Question 75

Research indicates that men are more likely to conform to group opinion regarding _____, whereas women are more likely to conform to group opinion regarding _____.

A) masculine topics; feminine topics
B) feminine topics; masculine topics
C) moral ambiguity; informational ambiguity
D) informational ambiguity; moral ambiguity

Question 76

What is a reference group?

A) a group with which an individual strongly identifies
B) a group of people who has known the individual since birth
C) a set of pieces of information about a particular topic
D) the sum total of other people who have a normative influence on the person's life

Question 77

The process through which dissenters produce attitude change in a group is called:

A) proselytization.
B) public compliance.
C) minority influence.
D) the foot-in-the-door tactic.

Question 78

Classic research on the autokinetic effect showed that judgments of the distance a point of light moves can be affected by others' suggestions. This research demonstrates that:

A) only explicit attitudes can be modified through social influence.
B) even perception can be influenced by processes of conformity.
C) commands from authority figures are a key source of influence.
D) informational influence is not as important as normative influence.

Question 79

Whereas studies on the autokinetic effect primarily speak to the power of informational influence, Asch's studies on line-judgments speak to the power of:

A) social roles.
B) normative influence.
C) injunctive norms.
D) compliance tactics.

Question 80

Luka is with a group of six friends who all want to stay out dancing instead of studying for their test the next day. Luka actually thinks she should study for the test, but doesn't want to be rejected by the group. One of her friends, Jennifer, says that she thinks they should study for the test. Based on research, what is likely to happen?

A) Luka will stay out with the rest of her friends and dance.
B) Luka will decide to go home and study.
C) Luka will join with the rest of her friends and try to convince Jennifer to go dancing.
D) Luka will be unable to decide what to do and will end up choosing neither option.