61 + Mcqs in Social Psychology 1 Page 1 McqOptions

1.	What has, according to an eminent social psychologist, been treated like a rude bastard relative at a family gathering ?
A.	downward comparison
B.	impression management
C.	civility
D.	stereotyping
Answer» C. civility

Discussion

2.	Why is it generally felt that members of some societies might develop a stronger preference for dispositional explanations?
A.	many western societies are characterized by a culture of individualism, and this makes people lean more towards understanding the actor than the situation
B.	many western societies are characterized by a culture of collectivism, and this makes people lean more towards understanding the situation than the actor
C.	many non-western societies are characterized by a culture of individualism, and this makes people lean more towards understanding the actor than the situation
D.	many non-western societies are characterized by a culture of collectivism, and this makes people lean more towards understanding the situation than the actor
Answer» B. many western societies are characterized by a culture of collectivism, and this makes people lean more towards understanding the situation than the actor

Discussion

3.	In Heider s (1948) balance theory, which of the following would represent an unbalanced triad?
A.	agreeing with someone you like
B.	agreeing with someone you dislike
C.	disagreeing with someone you dislike
D.	agreeing with a friend of a friend
Answer» C. disagreeing with someone you dislike

Discussion

4.	You decide to train for a marathon, and for a month you force yourself to get up at 6am every day to go running. At the end of the month, you notice that you have also been more successful recently at resisting the temptation to eat junk food. How would the strength model explain this:
A.	succeeding at a goal has increased your self-efficacy
B.	practicing self-control has increased your self-control resources
C.	forming a goal has increased your motivation to overcome obstacles
D.	similar goals facilitate each other
Answer» C. forming a goal has increased your motivation to overcome obstacles

Discussion

5.	According to Ajzen and Fishbein (1977), measures of attitude and behavior need to correspond in four key ways. But which of the following is NOT one of these?
A.	action
B.	content
C.	target
D.	time
Answer» C. target

Discussion

6.	Below are three strongly-held views over which source condition (minority or majority) elicits the highest cognitive scrutiny of a message. But which one have studies shown to be correct?
A.	"superior message processing is associated with a minority."
B.	"superior message processing is associated with a majority."
C.	"both a majority and minority can lead to superior message processing under different conditions."
D.	none of these
Answer» D. none of these

Discussion

7.	According to Moscovici (1976, 1980), what process of influence do minorities induce?
A.	validation
B.	conversion
C.	compliance
D.	comparison
Answer» B. conversion

Discussion

8.	Which of the following would suggest that a person has low implicit self-esteem?
A.	they associate positive words more quickly than negative words with the self
B.	they associate negative words more quickly with the self than with others
C.	they show a greater than average liking for letters that are in their name
D.	they show a cautious style of self-presentation
Answer» C. they show a greater than average liking for letters that are in their name

Discussion

9.	According to social identity theory, which of the following strategies is LEAST likely to improve relations between social groups in an intergroup contact situation?
A.	providing information about similarities between groups
B.	providing information about differences between groups
C.	acknowledging particpants group memberships
D.	recategorising participants into a common group
Answer» B. providing information about differences between groups

Discussion

10.	In Gottman and Levenson s study of married couples social interactions, what was the strongest predictor of divorce?
A.	criticism
B.	contempt
C.	anger
D.	infidelity
Answer» C. anger

Discussion

11.	Self-categorisation theory suggests that social category salience is a function of:
A.	fit x perceiver readiness
B.	perceiver readiness x accessibility
C.	identification x normative fit
D.	identification x comparative fit
Answer» B. perceiver readiness x accessibility

Discussion

12.	Being in a good mood does not reduce our_______, but reduces our________.
A.	motivation to do hard cognitive work, incentive for doing hard cognitive work
B.	incentive to do hard cognitive work, motivation for doing hard cognitive work
C.	motivation to do hard cognitive work, capacity for doing hard cognitive work
D.	capacity to do hard cognitive work, motivation for doing hard cognitive work
Answer» E.

Discussion

13.	Which of the conditions below is MOST likely to produce stereotype change following the bookkeeping model?
A.	disconfirming information is concentrated on a few atypical group members
B.	disconfirming information is concentrated on a few typical group members
C.	disconfirming information is dispersed across many typical group members
D.	the stereotype is dramatically disconfirmed
Answer» D. the stereotype is dramatically disconfirmed

Discussion

14.	Which stereotype-participant combination is likely to result in the weakest rebound effect?
A.	skinheads stereotype; high prejudice participant
B.	gay stereotype; low prejudice participant
C.	skinheads stereotype; low prejudice participant
D.	gay stereotype; high prejudice participant
Answer» C. skinheads stereotype; low prejudice participant

Discussion

15.	Many findings suggest that intergroup contact improves attitudes among the people actually involved, but it does not generalise to the groups from which they were drawn. This is likely to follow from the fact that:
A.	participants are affected by the acquiescent response bias
B.	most intergroup contact is actually interpersonal contact
C.	questionnaire measures are mostly used in this research
D.	an insufficient number of cross-cultural studies have been carried out
Answer» C. questionnaire measures are mostly used in this research

Discussion

16.	Which of the following is an example of using a derived etic approach to cross cultural research?
A.	research that examines a single culture in its own terms
B.	research that compares members of thirty cultures on a measure that has been well validated in one of the cultures
C.	research that compares members of two cultures on a task that was developed jointly by researchers from both cultures
D.	none of the above
Answer» D. none of the above

Discussion

17.	Social psychology is the scientific study of how people ___________________________, ___________________________, and ___________________________ one another.
A.	understand, feel about, act toward
B.	perceive, think about, act toward
C.	think about, influence, relate to
D.	observe, influence, conflict with
Answer» D. observe, influence, conflict with

Discussion

18.	Social psychology began to emerge as the vibrant field it is today during
A.	the depression of the early 1930s when researchers examined the effects of deprivation on aggression and altruism
B.	world war i when psychologists conducted studies of social conflict and cooperation
C.	world war ii when researchers performed studies of persuasion and soldier morale
D.	the korean war when psychologists examined the effects of brainwashing on prisoners of war
Answer» D. the korean war when psychologists examined the effects of brainwashing on prisoners of war

Discussion

19.	How individuals are affected by the presence of others is the focus of study in the field of
A.	sociology.
B.	social psychology.
C.	experimental psychology.
D.	sociobiology
Answer» C. experimental psychology.

Discussion

20.	An ongoing pattern of life including such things as language, customs and sex roles is called
A.	conformity.
B.	norms.
C.	group cohesion.
D.	culture.
Answer» E.

Discussion

21.	A student who is unprepared for a final exam complains that he has a stomach ache and cannot take the exam. If the student's roommate ignores this complaint, he or she has probably attributed the student's symptoms to the
A.	object.
B.	actor.
C.	situation.
D.	need for affiliation.
Answer» C. situation.

Discussion

22.	The organization of roles, patterns of communication, and power in a group defines the group's
A.	status.
B.	structure.
C.	cohesiveness.
D.	norms.
Answer» E.

Discussion

23.	A learned disposition to respond to people, objects, or institutions in a positive or negative way defines
A.	cognitive dissonance.
B.	socialization.
C.	attitudes.
D.	stereotypes.
Answer» C. attitudes.

Discussion

24.	In general, helping behavior in emergency situations is discouraged by
A.	the presence of a large number of persons.
B.	low costs associated with helping.
C.	smaller social distance between the helper and the victim.
D.	fear of cognitive dissonance.
Answer» D. fear of cognitive dissonance.

Discussion

25.	Negative attitudes that are tinged with fear, hatred, or suspicion is a definition of
A.	prejudice.
B.	authoritarianism.
C.	discrimination.
D.	displaced aggression.
Answer» E.

Discussion

26.	During his rise to power, Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's economic woes. This is an example of
A.	personal discrimination.
B.	social stereotypes.
C.	symbolic prejudice.
D.	scapegoating.
Answer» B. social stereotypes.

Discussion

27.	Interpersonal attraction is encouraged by which one of the following?
A.	personal space
B.	proxemics
C.	competition
D.	similarity
Answer» D. similarity

Discussion

28.	The judge who is caught cheating on his income tax is likely experiencing
A.	role diffusion.
B.	attribution failure.
C.	role conflict.
D.	attribution error.
Answer» D. attribution error.

Discussion

29.	In an experiment in which a "student" simulated a seizure, helping was inhibited by
A.	conditions employing smaller groups.
B.	diffusion of responsibility.
C.	group discussion.
D.	reference cognitive dissonance.
Answer» D. reference cognitive dissonance.

Discussion

30.	When making the "attribution error," we tend to overestimate the importance of __________ in judging the behavior of others.
A.	personal factors
B.	situational factors
C.	intelligence
D.	motivation
Answer» D. motivation

Discussion

31.	People who think their ethnic, national, or religious group is superior to others are called
A.	authoritarian.
B.	dogmatic.
C.	ethnocentric.
D.	rigid.
Answer» B. dogmatic.

Discussion

32.	Expected behavior patterns associated with particular social positions are called
A.	roles.
B.	culture.
C.	stereotypes.
D.	mannerisms.
Answer» B. culture.

Discussion

33.	You would like to know the relationship between the number of psychology courses people take and their interpersonal sensitivity. You survey university students to determine how much psychology they have taken and then have them complete a test of social sensitivity. Finally you plot the relationship. This is an example of
A.	a laboratory experiment
B.	a field experiment
C.	a correlational study
D.	participant observation
Answer» E.

Discussion

34.	Who of the following would be most likely to study how the political attitudes of middle-class people differ from those of lower-class people?
A.	a personality psychologist
B.	a social psychologist
C.	a social biologist
D.	a sociologist
Answer» D. a sociologist

Discussion

35.	The experimental method is used in about ___________________________ of all social-psychological research studies.
A.	one-fourth
B.	one-half
C.	three-fourths
D.	nine-tenths
Answer» D. nine-tenths

Discussion

36.	Which of the following research methods would be most effective in demonstrating that the presence of others improves our performance of a task?
A.	an experiment
B.	correlational study
C.	a survey
D.	a field study
Answer» B. correlational study

Discussion

37.	In comparison to North American social psychologists, European social psychologists tend to give more attention to the _______________ levels of explanation.
A.	intrapersonal and interpersonal
B.	intergroup and societal
C.	interpersonal and intergroup
D.	intrapersonal and societal
Answer» C. interpersonal and intergroup

Discussion

38.	The experimental factor that the experimenter manipulates is called the _______________ variable.
A.	dependent
B.	control
C.	independent
D.	experimental
Answer» D. experimental

Discussion

39.	The great strength of _____________________ is that it tends to occur in real-world settings where it can examine questions regarding important factors like race, sex, and social status.
A.	correlational research
B.	field experimentation
C.	laboratory experimentation
D.	quasi-experimentation
Answer» B. field experimentation

Discussion

40.	In an experiment, the variable being measured is called the __________________ variable.
A.	control
B.	independent
C.	experimental
D.	dependent
Answer» E.

Discussion

41.	A research psychologist manipulates the level of fear in human subjects in the laboratory and then examines what effect the different levels of fear have on the subjects' reaction times. In this study, reaction time is the _______________ variable.
A.	dependent
B.	correlational
C.	independent
D.	experimental
Answer» B. correlational

Discussion

42.	According to the text, the fact that human thinking always involves interpretation
A.	provides a valid reason for dismissing science
B.	is precisely why we need scientific analysis
C.	is a reason for preferring experimental over correlational research
D.	has been more frequently recognized by those in the sciences than by those in the humanities
Answer» B. is precisely why we need scientific analysis

Discussion

43.	According to the text, ___________________________ tends to make people overconfident about the validity of their judgments and predictions.
A.	the fundamental attribution error
B.	illusory correlation
C.	the naturalistic fallacy
D.	the hindsight bias
Answer» E.

Discussion

44.	If everyone leaves five minutes before the game is over to avoid a traffic jam, the resulting traffic jam would be an example of
A.	social impregnation.
B.	a social trap.
C.	groupthink.
D.	self-handicapping.
Answer» E.

Discussion

45.	The study in which college students attached a bumper sticker for a militant black organization to their cars and then received frequent traffic citations demonstrates
A.	group prejudice.
B.	scapegoating.
C.	personal prejudice.
D.	discrimination.
Answer» B. scapegoating.

Discussion

46.	Which of the following distinguishes the correlational method from experimentation?
A.	the correlational method uses a smaller group of subjects
B.	the correlational method enables researchers to study social attitudes
C.	no attempt is made to systematically manipulate one or more factors with the correlational method
D.	the findings from the correlational method are more likely to
Answer» D. the findings from the correlational method are more likely to

Discussion

47.	Arabs are typically depicted in the media as oil-rich but ignorant and savage. In a time of war with an Arab country, this image would be used
A.	to make it easier for soldiers to kill the enemy.
B.	to educate the population regarding the enemy.
C.	to strip away the emotional insulation of our soldiers.
D.	very little, since previous attempts at dehumanizing (during w.w.ii, for example) were ineffective.
Answer» B. to educate the population regarding the enemy.

Discussion

48.	Most social-psychological research is conducted either in the field or in the ______________________ and is either correlational or ________________________.
A.	clinic; survey
B.	laboratory; experimental
C.	laboratory; survey
D.	clinic; experimental
Answer» C. laboratory; survey

Discussion

49.	Who of the following is most likely to study how religious attitudes develop within the typical individual?
A.	a sociologist
B.	a social worker
C.	a social psychologist
D.	a theologian
Answer» C. a social psychologist

Discussion

50.	When we perform well, we typically attribute our success to __________.
A.	internal characteristics
B.	our group of colleagues
C.	external circumstances
D.	our personality type
Answer» E.

Discussion

Explore topic-wise MCQs in Bachelor of Science in Counselling Psychology (BSc Counselling Psychology).

What has, according to an eminent social psychologist, been treated like a rude bastard relative at a family gathering ?

Why is it generally felt that members of some societies might develop a stronger preference for dispositional explanations?

In Heider s (1948) balance theory, which of the following would represent an unbalanced triad?

You decide to train for a marathon, and for a month you force yourself to get up at 6am every day to go running. At the end of the month, you notice that you have also been more successful recently at resisting the temptation to eat junk food. How would the strength model explain this:

According to Ajzen and Fishbein (1977), measures of attitude and behavior need to correspond in four key ways. But which of the following is NOT one of these?

Below are three strongly-held views over which source condition (minority or majority) elicits the highest cognitive scrutiny of a message. But which one have studies shown to be correct?

According to Moscovici (1976, 1980), what process of influence do minorities induce?

Which of the following would suggest that a person has low implicit self-esteem?

According to social identity theory, which of the following strategies is LEAST likely to improve relations between social groups in an intergroup contact situation?

In Gottman and Levenson s study of married couples social interactions, what was the strongest predictor of divorce?

Self-categorisation theory suggests that social category salience is a function of:

Being in a good mood does not reduce our_______, but reduces our________.

Which of the conditions below is MOST likely to produce stereotype change following the bookkeeping model?

Which stereotype-participant combination is likely to result in the weakest rebound effect?

Many findings suggest that intergroup contact improves attitudes among the people actually involved, but it does not generalise to the groups from which they were drawn. This is likely to follow from the fact that:

Which of the following is an example of using a derived etic approach to cross cultural research?

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people ___________________________, ___________________________, and ___________________________ one another.

Social psychology began to emerge as the vibrant field it is today during

How individuals are affected by the presence of others is the focus of study in the field of

An ongoing pattern of life including such things as language, customs and sex roles is called

A student who is unprepared for a final exam complains that he has a stomach ache and cannot take the exam. If the student's roommate ignores this complaint, he or she has probably attributed the student's symptoms to the

The organization of roles, patterns of communication, and power in a group defines the group's

A learned disposition to respond to people, objects, or institutions in a positive or negative way defines

In general, helping behavior in emergency situations is discouraged by

Negative attitudes that are tinged with fear, hatred, or suspicion is a definition of

During his rise to power, Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's economic woes. This is an example of

Interpersonal attraction is encouraged by which one of the following?

The judge who is caught cheating on his income tax is likely experiencing

In an experiment in which a "student" simulated a seizure, helping was inhibited by

When making the "attribution error," we tend to overestimate the importance of __________ in judging the behavior of others.

People who think their ethnic, national, or religious group is superior to others are called

Expected behavior patterns associated with particular social positions are called

Who of the following would be most likely to study how the political attitudes of middle-class people differ from those of lower-class people?

The experimental method is used in about ___________________________ of all social-psychological research studies.

Which of the following research methods would be most effective in demonstrating that the presence of others improves our performance of a task?

In comparison to North American social psychologists, European social psychologists tend to give more attention to the _______________ levels of explanation.

The experimental factor that the experimenter manipulates is called the _______________ variable.

The great strength of _____________________ is that it tends to occur in real-world settings where it can examine questions regarding important factors like race, sex, and social status.

In an experiment, the variable being measured is called the __________________ variable.

A research psychologist manipulates the level of fear in human subjects in the laboratory and then examines what effect the different levels of fear have on the subjects' reaction times. In this study, reaction time is the _______________ variable.

According to the text, the fact that human thinking always involves interpretation

According to the text, ___________________________ tends to make people overconfident about the validity of their judgments and predictions.

If everyone leaves five minutes before the game is over to avoid a traffic jam, the resulting traffic jam would be an example of

The study in which college students attached a bumper sticker for a militant black organization to their cars and then received frequent traffic citations demonstrates

Which of the following distinguishes the correlational method from experimentation?

Arabs are typically depicted in the media as oil-rich but ignorant and savage. In a time of war with an Arab country, this image would be used

Most social-psychological research is conducted either in the field or in the ______________________ and is either correlational or ________________________.

Who of the following is most likely to study how religious attitudes develop within the typical individual?

When we perform well, we typically attribute our success to __________.

Being in a good mood does not reduce our_, but reduces our__.

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people _____________, _, and _______________ one another.

Most social-psychological research is conducted either in the field or in the and is either correlational or __.