Deck 3: The Social Self

Question 1

According to many researchers, self-recognition among great apes and human infants

A) is the first clear expression of the concept "me."
B) can be tested only with the help of the mirror test.
C) diminishes with age.
D) is the result of negative life events.

Answer 1

is the first clear expression of the concept "me."

Question 2

The cocktail party effect refers to the tendency for people to

A) become more self-conscious in large groups.
B) get nervous in social settings and forget the names of strangers.
C) pick out a personally relevant stimulus even in a complex environment.
D) become more focused on self-presentational concerns in group settings.

Answer 2

pick out a personally relevant stimulus even in a complex environment.

Question 3

Which of the "ABCs of the self" is reflected in how people regulate their own actions and present themselves to others according to interpersonal demands?

A) Affect
B) Culture
C) Behavior
D) Cognition

Answer 3

Behavior

Question 4

Yulia stands in front of a mirror. She notices a red spot on the forehead of the image she sees in the mirror. She then brings her hand up to her own forehead and touches the red spot, trying to brush it off. Yulia is demonstrating

A) self-verification.
B) the looking-glass self.
C) self-recognition.
D) self-monitoring.

Question 5

According to Timothy Wilson (2002), introspection

A) helps people lead a successful life.
B) does not make people overestimate the positives.
C) helps people accurately explain their own behavior.
D) does not provide a direct pipeline to self-knowledge.

Question 6

The self-concept is made up of cognitive molecules called

A) self-schemas.
B) flashbulb memories.
C) self-awareness cues.
D) autobiographical memories.

Question 7

While talking to a friend at a noisy party, Julianna stops in the middle of a sentence and turns her head. According to the cocktail party effect, what did she probably hear?

A) A funny joke
B) Uninhibited behavior
C) Her name
D) Laughter

Question 8

Which statement concerning introspection is true ?

A) People tend to underestimate the duration of their emotional reactions.
B) Contrary to popular perceptions, introspection can sometimes impair self-knowledge.
C) Introspection is the best way to attain self-knowledge.
D) Analyzing the reasons why we like something typically leads to accurate self-insight.

Question 9

Kirk, a college student, does not consider his body weight an important part of his life. Despite seeing his friends maintaining healthy diets and sweating it out at the gym, Kirk remains unaffected by these influences. In the context of the self, Kirk is _____ about his weight.

A) dialectic
B) aschematic
C) egotistic
D) schematic

Question 10

When a person is asked to meditate, the advice is to derive self-knowledge from

A) autobiographical memory.
B) introspection.
C) self-monitoring.
D) self-verification.

Question 11

According to David Dunning (2005), the problem concerning self-assessment is that people tend to

A) pay too little attention to past successes in evaluating future prospects.
B) overestimate their own skills, prospects for success, and opinion accuracy.
C) underestimate their own skills, prospects for success, and opinion accuracy.
D) dwell too much on past failures in assessing present competencies.

Question 12

Research using new technologies has determined that

A) different areas of the brain are activated when American participants are shown photos of themselves as opposed to photos of others, but such differentiation does not occur among Korean participants.
B) brain activity does not vary depending on whether or not a stimulus is self-relevant.
C) PET scans are not particularly informative for investigations of the self-concept, but fMRI is.
D) different areas of the brain are activated when people are shown photos of themselves as opposed to photos of others.

Question 13

The term self-concept refers to

A) the evaluation of one's own abilities and attitudes through comparison to similar others.
B) the general disposition to focus on either the inner feelings or outer image of the self.
C) the sum total of a person's beliefs concerning his or her own personal attributes.
D) whether a person's self-evaluation is positive or negative.

Question 14

According to research by Nisbett and Wilson (1977), introspection is not always valid because

A) people are often unable to give accurate explanations for the causes of their own behavior.
B) people compare themselves with similar others for self-verification.
C) people have immense control over their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
D) people change their self-concept based on the changes they go through in their physical appearance.

Question 15

Which of the "ABCs of the self" is most relevant to the idea of the self-concept?

A) Behavior
B) Affect
C) Cognition
D) Autobiography

Question 16

Gallup's research revealed that when apes were raised in isolation, they were unable to recognize themselves in the mirror. This research provides support for the

A) concept of the looking-glass self.
B) self-perception theory.
C) nonsocial origins of the self-concept.
D) idea that humans are the only animals capable of self-recognition.

Question 17

The "ABCs of the self" refer to affect, behavior, and cognition. Which of these three concepts is most relevant to the idea of self-esteem?

A) Cognition
B) Affect
C) Behavior
D) The three concepts are equally relevant to self-esteem.

Question 18

Amy is frustrated with her teenage son's recent behavior. "Why did you do that?" she asks him, with exasperation. According to research by Nisbett and Wilson (1977), Amy's son will

A) be unable to accurately identify why he acted as he did.
B) become penitent in the face of his mother's anger.
C) be able to answer his mother's question honestly and accurately.
D) become aggressive toward his mother's confrontation.

Question 19

When Gallup (1977) placed different species of animals in front of a mirror, it was only the great apes who

A) used their reflection in the mirror to groom themselves.
B) attempted to attack their reflection.
C) greeted their reflection with vocalizations.
D) exhibited social responses to their reflection in the mirror.

Question 20

According to the looking-glass model of self-concept development, the self-concept develops

A) quickly, but is quite fragile and subject to change.
B) from the way one is viewed by others.
C) slowly, reaching its complete form only in old age.
D) from one's physical appearance.

Question 21

Goldstein and Cialdini's 2007 study on vicarious self-perception demonstrated that

A) people pay attention to their self-perception only when in the presence of those who they perceive as similar to them.
B) people lose their sense of self when observing the behavior of someone with whom they identify.
C) people's self-perceptions are not affected by others' actions.
D) people sometimes infer something about themselves by observing the behavior of those who they believe to be biologically similar to them.

Question 22

When people engage in an activity for their own interest, it is the result of

A) need-driven motivation.
B) extrinsic motivation.
C) self-verification motivation.
D) intrinsic motivation.

Question 23

Research regarding affective forecasting indicates that people

A) are remarkably good at estimating how future events will impact the happiness of others.
B) tend to underestimate the impact of future events on their own happiness.
C) are remarkably good at estimating how future events will impact their own happiness.
D) tend to overestimate the strength and duration of their future responses to emotional events.

Question 24

Zajonc (1993) argued that smiling leads to an increase in positive emotions through

A) stimulating electrical impulses that activate the pleasure pathways in the brain.
B) increasing the release of pleasure-enhancing endorphins between neurons.
C) stimulating sympathetic nervous arousal that increases one's pulse.
D) increasing the flow of air-cooled blood to the brain.

Question 25

Newman is having a very bad day-he overslept for his final exam, spilled coffee on himself at work, and got a speeding ticket on the way home. According to the facial feedback hypothesis, what will happen if he increases tension in the facial muscles normally active during frowning?

A) It will intensify his negative emotional experience.
B) Because he is already in a bad mood, it will have no impact on his emotional experience.
C) It will create a competing positive emotion.
D) It will reduce the intensity of his negative emotional experience.

Question 26

Michael's boss asks him to be at the office every day at 8.00 a.m. sharp without fail. If he fails to show up on time, he loses half a day's salary. Here, Michael's boss is trying to motivate him to come early through _____ motivation.

A) idiosyncratic
B) intrinsic
C) extrinsic
D) egoistic

Question 27

According to theories regarding self-perception of emotions, what would be the likely effect of sitting at your desk slumped over in the chair with a bowed head?

A) You would make other people frown in response.
B) You would feel proud.
C) You would buffer your self-esteem against potential future threats.
D) You would feel dejected.

Question 28

When a person's facial expression affects his or her subjective experience of emotion, it is known as the facial _____ hypothesis.

A) feedback
B) loop
C) information
D) backtrack

Question 29

Which question is most relevant to the concept of affective forecasting?

A) Who are you going to ask?
B) How do you think you will feel?
C) When is it going to happen?
D) What are you going to do?

Question 30

Marcia is unsure about whether Jan is her best friend. She thinks about how many times she has listened to Jan complain about her boyfriend, helped Jan study for difficult exams, and brought soup to Jan when she was sick. Marcia realizes that she, herself, calls or visits Jan almost every night. After thinking about all this, Marcia concludes that Jan must be her best friend. This conclusion is based on a process described by ____ theory.

A) self-awareness
B) social comparison
C) self-discrepancy
D) self-perception

Question 31

According to the SOKA model, we should know ourselves better than others on traits that are

A) internal.
B) evaluative.
C) subjective.
D) easy to observe.

Question 32

The impact bias in affective forecasting refers to the phenomenon in which

A) people tend to overestimate the strength and duration of their emotional reactions to events.
B) people are generally accurate predictors of how they will feel about future events.
C) people tend to underestimate how happy they will be several months after winning the lottery.
D) voters predicted that they would be much happier one month after an election if the candidate for whom they voted won.

Question 33

The process of predicting how one will feel in response to future emotional events is called

A) anticipation.
B) affective forecasting.
C) terror management.
D) dialecticism.

Question 34

"Turn that frown upside down," Jarvis' mother told him when he looked sad. "If you smile you'll start to cheer up." Is she right?

A) Not likely. Downward social referencing suggests that if Jarvis begins to smile he will start thinking about the thing she should not be happy about.
B) Definitely, although it only works with very young children and not adults.
C) Probably. The facial feedback hypothesis says that emotions can change based on different facial expressions.
D) No. The self-perception theory says that our internal state is unrelated to our outward expressions.

Question 35

Which of the following is a reason for the impact bias?

A) People focus on all the life experiences rather than on the single event in question.
B) People overestimate their resilience.
C) People focus on a single event in question without considering other life experiences.
D) People think that others will cope better than they will.

Question 36

Josephine bought her six-year-old nephew, Joseph, a new set of paints for his birthday. Hoping to encourage the little artist, Josephine promised Joseph one dollar for every painting. Joseph thinks that is quite a lot of money. According to research by Lepper and colleagues (1973) on overjustification effects, which of the following is most likely to occur?

A) Joseph will come to see painting pictures as a way to make money, not as something enjoyable in itself.
B) Joseph will develop a love for painting and will want to be an artist when he grows up.
C) Joseph will continue to paint even if his aunt eventually stops rewarding him with money.
D) The paintings for which Joseph receives money will be judged as better quality than the paintings for which he does not receive any money.

Question 37

When asked to clean his room, Miguel does so, but only after being assured by his parents that he will receive an allowance in exchange for cleaning up. Miguel's behavior is most likely motivated by

A) social comparison.
B) self-monitoring.
C) egocentric biases.
D) extrinsic motivation.

Question 38

SOKA stands for

A) Self-Observation Karma Abates.
B) Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry.
C) Send Our Kids Away.
D) Self-Operational Knowledge Accuracy.

Question 39

The tendency for extrinsic rewards to undermine intrinsic motivation is called

A) self-discrepancy theory.
B) implicit egotism.
C) the durability bias.
D) the overjustification effect.

Question 40

When people overestimate the strength and duration of their emotional reactions, it is due to

A) the overjustification effect.
B) implicit egotism.
C) the impact bias.
D) basking in reflected glory.

Question 41

On his first day of class, Professor Saccamano thinks he is nervous because his blood pressure is up and his hands are shaking. He continues to feel this way, however, before every class meeting of the semester, and eventually realizes that his arousal is due to the five flights of stairs he must climb up to the classroom. Which theory best explains his misattribution?

A) Downward comparison theory
B) Self-handicapping theory
C) Self-perception theory
D) Two-factor theory of emotion

Question 42

Rebecca fills out a survey in which she asserts complete agreement with the statement, "I enjoy being unique and different from others." In the context of cultural orientation, she is most likely to identify with

A) individualism.
B) collectivism.
C) multiculturalism.
D) cooperativism.

Question 43

Schachter (1959) found that participants expecting to receive painful electric shocks preferred the company of others who were in the same situation. These results suggest that

A) social comparison processes are used to evaluate emotions.
B) emotions have a strong physiological component.
C) self-handicapping is more about self-presentation than self-enhancement.
D) people are relatively inaccurate at affective forecasting.

Question 44

According to the two-factor theory of emotion, emotional experience

A) is independent of social comparison processes.
B) requires a combination of positive and negative physiological arousal.
C) is independent of physiological arousal.
D) is based on physiological arousal and a cognitive label for that arousal.

Question 45

A husband and wife are asked to estimate how much each of them contributes to the household chores. Based on the research concerning autobiographical memory, which pattern of results is most probable?

A) Husband 50%, wife 50%
B) Husband 50%, wife 70%
C) Husband 70%, wife 50%
D) Husband 70%, wife 70%

Question 46

Marion is a sprinter on her high school track team. According to social comparison theory, Marion is most likely to look to which of the following groups to assess how fast a sprinter she is?

A) Other female high school track athletes
B) Other female students at her school who are not on the track team
C) Male members of her track team
D) U.S. Olympic track team members

Question 47

What did Demiray and Janssen (2015) find when they asked adults between 18 and 80 years of age to report the most important events from their lives and to rate those memories in a number of different ways?

A) Respondents felt psychologically closer to memories that were positive rather than negative.
B) Respondents did not remember the details of negative events that had occurred more than 5 or 10 years before they were asked.
C) Respondents felt psychologically closer to memories that were negative rather than positive.
D) Respondents did not remember the details of positive events that had occurred more than 5 or 10 years before they were asked.

Question 48

April was born and raised in an Eastern culture. She is more likely than people raised in Western cultures to

A) compare herself to others.
B) view her personal goals as more important than allegiances.
C) view her role in groups as an important part of her self-concept.
D) experience anxiety in group settings.

Question 49

In terms of autobiographical memory, to what does the phrase "reminiscence bump" refer?

A) The more negative the memory, the more likely it is to be remembered.
B) Older adults tend to retrieve a larger number of memories from adolescence and early adulthood than other periods of life.
C) Once people turn a certain age, they start to forget many of the events that happened to them in earlier stages of life.
D) People tend to remember a wide range of "firsts" in recounting their personal experiences.

Question 50

A person's spontaneous self-description can often be changed by an alteration of that person's

A) self-reference.
B) social surroundings.
C) social desirability.
D) feelings of uncertainty.

Question 51

Herman remembers exactly what he was doing and where he was when he first heard about the September 11th terrorist attacks. Brown and Kulik (1977) would refer to this vivid image as

A) the hindsight bias.
B) a memory heuristic.
C) memory inflation.
D) a flashbulb memory.

Question 52

Seven-year-old Eli loves to draw and is quite talented. When his grandfather comes over for dinner, Eli draws a beautiful picture and presents it as a gift to Grandpa. "Well isn't that beautiful? How about if I give you a quarter for this wonderful drawing?", Grandpa asks. Eli's parents don't interfere, but they frown at the idea that Eli is getting a reward for doing something that he loves to do. Which social psychology concept is at the heart of the parents' discomfort?

A) Upward social comparison
B) The facial feedback hypothesis
C) Downward social comparison
D) The overjustification effect

Question 53

Schachter (1959) examined the preferences of participants who were expecting to receive a series of painful electric shocks. He found that these participants preferred to wait in a room

A) by themselves.
B) with participants who were not expecting shocks.
C) with participants who were also expecting shocks.
D) with participants who had already received shocks.

Question 54

According to Festinger, social comparison is less likely to occur

A) under conditions of uncertainty.
B) when a person's self-esteem is threatened.
C) when objective criteria are available.
D) with similar others.

Question 55

Jason fills out an application for college with the grades he remembered getting throughout high school. While reviewing the application with a guidance counselor, the counselor points out that Jason seems to have inflated a few of his lower grades. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for Jason's behavior?

A) Jason is displaying the reminiscence peak characteristic of autobiographical memories.
B) Jason fell prey to the tendency to revise personal histories to suit his current self-image.
C) Jason relied on introspection and consequently impaired his self-knowledge of his grades.
D) Jason was affected by the impact bias, which skewed his memory of his grades.

Question 56

Which theory argues that people evaluate themselves by comparison with similar others when they are uncertain of their abilities or opinions?

A) Self-discrepancy theory
B) Facial feedback theory
C) Self-perception theory
D) Social comparison theory

Question 57

D'Brickashaw is the only man and the only African American enrolled in a women's studies seminar. McGuire's work on spontaneous self-descriptions suggests that compared to other contexts, in this specific situation, D'Brickashaw will be more likely to mention his ____ in his self-description.

A) race, but not gender
B) gender, but not race
C) race as well as gender
D) distinctive name

Question 58

People's recollection of a sequence of events that directly touched their lives is called

A) private self-consciousness.
B) the hindsight bias.
C) the distinctiveness effect.
D) autobiographical memory.

Question 59

According to the two-factor theory of emotion, the emotional state of people is

A) influenced by deep introspection when they are uncertain about how they feel.
B) always determined by themselves.
C) sometimes determined by others when they are uncertain about how they feel.
D) influenced by their age and gender.

Question 60

The reliance on distinguishing features in self-description indicates that

A) people like to be rewarded for something they already like to do.
B) social surroundings have little impact on the self.
C) the self is relative and a social construct.
D) the self is influenced by age and gender.

Question 61

Dialecticism, a concept grounded in Eastern traditions, can best be defined as

A) a system of thought characterized by the acceptance of contradictions.
B) the notion that if one option is right, the other must be wrong.
C) the idea that one's "true self" is stable in all situations.
D) a characteristic of individualist cultures.

Question 62

Following a mass shooting event, most people are confronted with the reality that their safety cannot be guaranteed, and that their own death at any moment is quite possible. According to terror management theory, which individual below will feel the least anxious in response to this sort of confrontation?

A) Emanuel, who just found out that he scored very well on his ACT
B) Olivia, who just found out that she scored very poorly on her ACT
C) Jashon, who just got dumped by his girlfriend
D) Amina, whose brother just got married

Question 63

Cross-cultural research indicates that North Americans are more likely than Asians to

A) overestimate their contributions to a team effort.
B) assume blame for failures.
C) strive for community belonging.
D) see themselves as others tend to see them.

Question 64

According to terror management theory, people react to the thought of their own death with

A) a stable disposition.
B) high self-esteem and positiveness.
C) acceptance and coping.
D) intense defensiveness and anxiety.

Question 65

When he attends a rush event at the local fraternity, Carmine feels that the fraternity brothers do not like him much. He does not think that he should come back to this fraternity and feels sure that he will not be asked to join. According to ____ theory, Carmine's self-esteem will drop after the party because he will feel that his behaviors at the event were not acceptable to others.

A) external reference
B) social comparison
C) terror management
D) sociometer

Question 66

American and Japanese citizens who are bilingual in Japanese and English are asked to describe themselves. Which of the following groups is least likely to focus on group affiliations?

A) U.S. citizens asked to respond in English
B) Japanese citizens asked to respond in English
C) U.S. citizens, regardless of language
D) Japanese citizens, regardless of language

Question 67

William Swann and others (2007) found that people with specific domains of self-esteem benefit in what ways?

A) They are likely to feel good about themselves.
B) They are likely to do well in school.
C) They are likely to outperform others in the specific situations for which they have high self-esteem.
D) They are likely to enjoy trying new things that are unrelated to the situations for which they have high self-esteem.

Question 68

English and Chen's (2007) study of college students of European and Asian descent found that

A) even within a particular context, Asian students see their identity as relatively fluid and variable.
B) European students tended to see the self in more stable terms across situations.
C) European students had smaller discrepancies between their ideal and actual selves.
D) Asian students were uninterested in information that contradicted their self-concepts.

Question 69

Twenge and colleagues (2012) found that American culture is

A) more individualistic now than it was a half a century ago.
B) less individualistic now than it was a half a century ago.
C) equally individualistic now as it was a half a century ago.
D) more collectivist now than it was a half a century ago.

Question 70

When Maria, a Latin American student, is asked to describe herself in one word during her college interview, she wants to truly express her Latina culture. Which characteristic is she most likely to emphasize?

A) Intelligence
B) Graciousness
C) Drive
D) Strength

Question 71

Low self-esteem is not associated with

A) the expectation of failure.
B) the ability to effectively resist peer pressure.
C) a sense of pessimism about the future.
D) a tendency to "tune out" on important challenges.

Question 72

According to the _____ view of the self, the self is part of a larger network that includes others whom one is socially connected.

A) individualistic
B) independent
C) interdependent
D) international

Question 73

What is not a potential cost of the pursuit of self-esteem, as identified by Crocker and Park (2004)?

A) An increase in stress-related health problems
B) An increase in anxiety
C) Unwanted social attention
D) Avoidance of activities that risk failure

Question 74

According to _____ theory, humans cope with the fear of their own death by constructing worldviews that help to preserve their self-esteem.

A) self-awareness
B) terror management
C) self-perception
D) affective forecasting

Question 75

According to Markus and Kitayama (1991), people from collectivist cultures are more likely than those from individualist cultures to

A) derive satisfaction from personal achievement.
B) see themselves as less similar to others.
C) take personal credit for their successes.
D) underestimate their contributions to a team effort.

Question 76

Males tend to have ____ self-esteem than females, and this difference is quite ____, especially among adults.

A) higher; small
B) lower; small
C) higher; large
D) lower; large

Question 77

In sociometer theory, the sociometer is a

A) specific part of our brain that detects how social others are feeling at any given time.
B) tool that measures one's level of social skill and uses that to predict social success in the workplace.
C) mechanism that helps us detect acceptance versus rejection and translate that perception into high- versus low self-esteem.
D) measure of self-esteem that is traditionally used in most research.

Question 78

Consuela has high self-esteem. She is likely to do all of the following except

A) persist longer at difficult tasks.
B) expect to succeed.
C) blame herself if she fails.
D) sleep better at night.

Question 79

Higgins's (1989) self-discrepancy theory suggests that we each have an "actual self," an "ought self," and an "ideal self." According to Higgins, discrepancies between the ____ self and the actual self often lead to low self-esteem and feelings of ____.

A) ought; frustration
B) ought; shame
C) ideal; superiority
D) ideal; hostility

Question 80

Self-esteem is all of the following except

A) an emotionally charged component of the self-concept.
B) responsive to success and failure.
C) a state of mind that can change depending on the situation.
D) a single, stable disposition.