Question 1

An attitude has four major components.

Accepted Answer

An attitude typically has three major components: cognitive (thoughts, beliefs), affective (feelings, emotions), and behavioral (actions, tendencies).

Question 2

Social categorization occurs without conscious awareness.

Accepted Answer

Social categorization is a natural and automatic process that occurs without conscious awareness. We tend to categorize people into groups based on certain characteristics like age, gender, race, and ethnicity, which helps us to simplify our social world and make sense of the information around us. However, this categorization can also lead to stereotypes and prejudice if we rely too heavily on our preconceptions.

Question 3

The Robber's Cave experiment showed that playing athletic games, such as football and baseball, reduces us-them hostility.

Accepted Answer

The Robber's Cave experiment initially showed that competitive activities like athletic games increased intergroup hostility, and it was cooperative tasks towards common goals that reduced the us-them hostility.

Question 4

Social loafing occurs when a member of a team slows down, letting others work harder.

Accepted Answer

Social loafing is a phenomenon where one or more members of a team reduce their effort while working in a group, letting others do the work. It can lead to decreased productivity and effectiveness of the team.

Question 5

Stereotypes assume that members of the same group must have distinct differences between them.

Accepted Answer

Stereotypes assume that all members of a group are the same or have a set of characteristics that are believed to be true for the entire group.

Question 6

The purpose of Milgram's study on obedience was to find out how many people would obey an authority figure when directly ordered to violate their own ethical standards.

Accepted Answer

This is the exact purpose of Milgram's study on obedience as stated in various sources and his book "Obedience to Authority".

Question 7

Invulnerability, rationalization, and insularity are three characteristics of groupthink.

Accepted Answer

These are indeed three characteristics of groupthink. Invulnerability refers to the group's belief that they are invincible and cannot fail, rationalization is the way the group justifies their decisions and actions even if they are flawed, and insularity involves the group isolating themselves and rejecting external feedback or criticism.

Question 8

One technique that people may use to reduce cognitive dissonance is changing their conflicting behaviors to match their attitudes.

Accepted Answer

This technique is known as "behavioral self-justification" and is a common way individuals reduce or eliminate cognitive dissonance by aligning their behaviors with their attitudes.

Question 9

The basis of the realistic conflict theory is that arguments that occur over genuine problems lead to more violence than arguments that occur over petty or irrelevant issues.

Accepted Answer

The basis of the realistic conflict theory is that intergroup conflicts and negative prejudices/stereotypes arise from competition between groups for resources or status, not necessarily the nature (genuine vs. petty) of the issues.

Question 10

The participants in Milgram's obedience study played the role of "learner" in the experiment.

Accepted Answer

The participants played the role of "teacher" in Milgram's obedience study, not "learner."

Question 11

Diego is standing in line at the grocery store waiting to pay for his purchases. A man cuts in front of the line and drops his items on the counter. Diego says, "That man is incredibly rude." Diego just made a situational attribution.

Accepted Answer

Diego made a dispositional attribution by attributing the man's behavior to his character or personality (being rude), rather than to the situation or external factors.

Question 12

Following their classic study, Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) reported that those who got $1 for doing a boring task said it was more interesting than those who got $20 for doing the same task.

Accepted Answer

This is known as the "sufficient justification" effect, and it occurs because the individuals who were paid $1 had to justify to themselves why they would say such positive things about a boring task, whereas those who were paid $20 did not have the same need for justification.

Question 13

People from collectivistic cultures are more likely to make attributions based on external dispositional factors than are people in more individualistic cultures.

Accepted Answer

People from collectivistic cultures are more likely to make situational attributions based on social norms and expectations, while people in individualistic cultures are more likely to make dispositional attributions based on individual characteristics and traits.

Question 14

A common strategy for gaining compliance used by car salespeople is the door-in-the-face technique.

Accepted Answer

The door-in-the-face technique involves making a large request (which is likely to be refused) before making a smaller request (the actual goal) in order to increase compliance. This technique is not commonly used by car salespeople, who instead often use other techniques such as foot-in-the-door or low-ball.

Question 15

Because of the way that they invariably lead to discrimination, stereotypes are always negative.

Accepted Answer

While stereotypes can often lead to negative outcomes such as discrimination, they are not always inherently negative. Some stereotypes may be positive or neutral, but it is important to recognize that relying solely on stereotypes to make judgments about individuals or groups is problematic.

Question 16

Research suggests that we are more easily influenced by an attractive speaker than by an unattractive speaker.

Accepted Answer

Several studies have shown that people tend to be more persuaded by attractive communicators compared to unattractive ones. This is known as the "attractiveness bias" and it can influence our perceptions of a speaker's credibility, expertise, trustworthiness, and overall message. However, it is important to note that attractiveness is only one of many factors that can influence persuasion and that different individuals may respond differently based on their own beliefs, motivations, and attitudes.

Question 17

The greater the level of fear in a message, the more effective it will be in changing attitudes.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that while fear can attract attention and motivate behavior change, overly high levels of fear can lead to denial, avoidance, and resistance, making the message less effective in changing attitudes. Effective communication often involves a balance, providing enough fear to motivate without overwhelming the audience.

Question 18

Upon review of their participation in Milgram's obedience study, 84 percent of the participants reported that they regretted having been involved. In addition, they felt their discovery that they were, in fact, cruel people had caused lasting damage to their self-esteem.

Accepted Answer

This statement is not accurate. Milgram did conduct follow-up interviews with the participants, but the reported regret and damage to self-esteem is not a widely accepted finding. Furthermore, Milgram's study did not necessarily reveal participants to be "cruel people." The interpretation and implications of the study remain a topic of debate in the field of psychology.

Question 19

You receive a call at home from a telemarketer who wants you to listen to a pitch for aluminum siding. If you agree to listen, you are more likely to buy siding-a phenomenon known as the foot-in-the-door technique.

Accepted Answer

The foot-in-the-door technique is a persuasion strategy where a small request is made first before a larger request. In this scenario, the small request is to listen to the pitch for aluminum siding, and studies have shown that agreeing to this small request increases the likelihood of a person buying the siding.

Question 20

Research has found a substantial difference in the tendency of men and women to show conformity, with women being far more likely to demonstrate conformity in all situations.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that while there can be differences in conformity between men and women, these differences are not consistent across all situations and can vary depending on factors such as the type of task, social context, and cultural background.

Quiz 12: Social Psychology