Deck 13: Social Psychology

Question 1

Christina and Massimo have been saving money since they got married. Now Massimo wants to buy a new car, but Christina wants to continue saving for a new house. Massimo and Christina

A) are experiencing conflict.
B) are experiencing harmony.
C) have mirror-image perceptions.
D) are developing superordinate goals.

Answer 1

are experiencing conflict.

Question 2

In small groups, as opposed to large ones, individuals are

A) more likely to take more than their equal share.
B) less anonymous and thus less cooperative.
C) more likely to identify with a group's success.
D) more open about their conflicts.

Answer 2

more likely to identify with a group's success.

Question 3

If an attorney creates a Prisoner's Dilemma for two suspects, the attorney's goal is to

A) trick either one of them into revealing what really happened.
B) create an incentive for one of them to confess while the other maintains innocence.
C) create an incentive for both of them to confess privately.
D) achieve the greatest punishment for both suspects.

Answer 3

create an incentive for both of them to confess privately.

Question 4

In the Tragedy of the Commons, the "commons" refers to

A) disputed border territory.
B) stolen goods or winnings.
C) any jointly used, finite resource.
D) private property that repeatedly changes ownership.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a way to resolve social dilemmas?

A) competition
B) changing the payoffs
C) appealing to altruistic norms
D) regulations

Question 6

In the commons dilemma, people often consume more than they realize when

A) others take on a cooperative strategy.
B) resources are not partitioned.
C) the "commons" are divided into equal parts.
D) they belong to a small group.

Question 7

Sato (1987) gave Japanese students opportunities to harvest trees in a simulated forest for money. When the students equally shared the costs of planting the forest, the result was that

A) most of the trees were left to grow too tall for harvesting because the students bickered about the criterion to be used in sharing profits.
B) most of the trees were harvested before they had grown to the most profitable size.
C) none of the trees were harvested because the collectivist students did not want to be the first to ask for his or her share.
D) students made maximum profit not only for themselves individually but for the group.

Question 8

In real life, which of the following parallels the Tragedy of the Commons?

A) water pollution
B) gun control
C) the death penalty
D) online auctions

Question 9

In playing the laboratory version of the Prisoner's Dilemma, you would personally obtain the best payoff on any given trial if _____.

A) you confess and the other person does not confess
B) both you and the other person confess
C) you do not confess but the other person confesses
D) both you and the other person do not confess

Question 10

In the Prisoner's Dilemma, if both prisoners confess, each will get a _____; if neither confesses, each will _____.

A) moderate sentence; get a light sentence
B) severe sentence; get a light sentence
C) severe sentence; get a moderate sentence
D) moderate sentence; get a severe sentence

Question 11

When individuals consume more than their share, and the cost of doing so is dispersed among all, the result is called

A) perceived injustice.
B) environmental devastation.
C) the overconsumption effect.
D) the Tragedy of the Commons.

Question 12

Despite official government warnings of a severe water shortage, most citizens fail to conserve in the belief that their personal water consumption will have little effect on the community's total water supply. The eventual depletion of the community's water resources provides an example of

A) mirror-image perceptions.
B) individualistic calamity.
C) the Tragedy of the Commons.
D) rational disaster.

Question 13

Some individuals have many children so that they can ensure someone will take care of them in the future. However, this contributes to the collective devastation of overpopulation. This is an example of

A) mirror-image perception.
B) the jigsaw problem.
C) perceived injustice.
D) a social dilemma.

Question 14

The outcome of creatively managed conflict is

A) satisfaction.
B) peace.
C) accord.
D) compliance.

Question 15

Conflict is defined as

A) perceived incompatibility of actions or goals.
B) dissatisfaction with relationship outcomes.
C) hostility that results from frustrating interaction.
D) competition for mutually exclusive goals.

Question 16

Pursuing one's self-interest to the collective detriment of one's community or society is the central pattern in

A) mirror-image perception.
B) the jigsaw problem.
C) perceived injustice.
D) a social dilemma.

Question 17

When a local resident in the town of Henzville killed 4 people with a gun, he was considered a murderer. However, weeks later, when a policeman killed 2 civilians in the same town, it was reasoned that he was suffering from depression and financial stress. This exemplifies _____.

A) evolving motives
B) the fundamental attribution error
C) social dilemma
D) the Prisoner's Dilemma

Question 18

The occurrence of conflict in any relationship

A) is usually a sign of lack of motivation.
B) can stimulate improved human relations.
C) is a necessary evil of human interaction.
D) necessarily signifies an incompatibility of goals.

Question 19

We deplete our natural resources because the immediate personal benefits of, for instance, taking a long, hot shower outweigh the seemingly inconsequential costs. This exemplifies _____.

A) the Prisoner's Dilemma
B) the Tragedy of the Commons
C) the fundamental attribution error
D) the sleeper effect

Question 20

Peace is the outcome of

A) constructively negated conflict.
B) a mere suppression of open conflict.
C) absence of conflict.
D) creatively managed conflict.

Question 21

One potential way to resolve social dilemmas is to

A) avoid making regulations.
B) avoid two-way communication.
C) reduce excess resources.
D) keep groups small.

Question 22

As Sherif noted, despite the fact that the competitive behavior of the boys in the warring camps seemed "wicked, disturbed, and vicious," what actually triggered their evil behavior was

A) their leaders' modeling of aggression.
B) their delinquent backgrounds.
C) their ethnic identities.
D) an evil situation.

Question 23

Research on laboratory dilemmas reveals that cooperation is facilitated if

A) one person is 100 percent cooperative.
B) the opponents can communicate with one another.
C) the game is changed into a zero-sum game.
D) the size of the payoffs is increased.

Question 24

The smaller the group, the more

A) responsible each person feels for it.
B) intense the conflict among individual members.
C) apathetic people are about its preservation.
D) the more likely communication will take the form of intimidation and deception.

Question 25

Which of the following is a method for resolving social dilemmas?

A) communication
B) punishment
C) increasing group size
D) competition

Question 26

In Sherif's research, the camper groups became hostile towards each other when

A) they learned of the other group's existence.
B) the two groups first met.
C) competition between the groups was introduced.
D) competition between the groups ended.

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT a method for resolving social dilemmas?

A) regulation
B) making the group smaller
C) communication
D) conciliation

Question 28

Which of the following is NOT a feature shared by both the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Tragedy of the Commons?

A) Both tempt people to explain their own behavior dispositionally.
B) Participants tend to commit the fundamental attribution error.
C) Participants' motives change in the course of the entrapment.
D) Both are non-zero-sum games.

Question 29

Attempting to explain one's own behavior situationally characterizes

A) the Prisoner's Dilemma, but not the Tragedy of the Commons.
B) the Tragedy of the Commons, but not the Prisoner's Dilemma.
C) both the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Tragedy of the Commons.
D) neither the Prisoner's Dilemma nor the Tragedy of the Commons.

Question 30

A common excuse for noncooperation is

A) "I couldn't have made a difference anyway."
B) "The devil made me do it."
C) "That's unfair."
D) "Cooperation is for the weak and cowardly."

Question 31

According to research, it seems that just knowing about the dire consequences of noncooperation in a social dilemma

A) encourages people to do what is good.
B) leads to greater mistrust of others.
C) tends to foster greater self-interest and competition.
D) has little real effect on people's behavior.

Question 32

Which of the following exemplifies a non-zero-sum game?

A) the Prisoner's Dilemma
B) the illusion of transparency
C) the self-fulfilling prophesy
D) the availability heuristic

Question 33

Which statement is NOT true of competition?

A) Win-lose competition produces intense conflict and strong ingroup cohesiveness and pride.
B) Competition kindles conflict.
C) Competition is expected when people perceive that resources are limited.
D) In competition-fostering situations, individuals act more competitively than do groups.

Question 34

People know that climate change is underway, yet continue buying gas-slurping SUVs. This is an example of

A) how larger groups are more conservative than smaller ones.
B) how changing the payoffs results in cooperation.
C) how knowing good does not always lead to doing good.
D) how important status is to so many people.

Question 35

In research on social dilemmas, it has been found that group discussion

A) polarized competitive tendencies.
B) had no effect on the outcome.
C) led to greater cooperation.
D) led to escalated conflict and tension.

Question 36

In a non-zero-sum game,

A) both can win and both can lose.
B) one side wins and the other loses.
C) one's gains equal another's losses.
D) altruistic motives dominate.

Question 37

Attempting to explain others' behavior dispositionally is a characteristic of

A) the Prisoner's Dilemma, but not the Tragedy of the Commons.
B) the Tragedy of the Commons, but not the Prisoner's Dilemma.
C) both the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Tragedy of the Commons.
D) neither the Prisoner's Dilemma nor the Tragedy of the Commons.

Question 38

Which of the following is an example of changing payoffs to resolve social dilemmas?

A) allowing carpoolers to drive in the faster, freeway lane
B) requiring carpool cars and vans to park in special, larger parking lots farther away from the office building
C) lowering the price of gasoline to well below $1 per gallon
D) rewarding people who drive by themselves to work

Question 39

In both the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Tragedy of the Commons, people are tempted to explain their own behavior _____ and others' behavior _____.

A) dispositionally; situationally
B) positively; negatively
C) situationally; dispositionally
D) negatively; positively

Question 40

The relationship between the size of a group and a person's feeling of responsibility for it is

A) positive.
B) negative.
C) neutral.
D) curvilinear.

Question 41

In the context of misperceptions in conflict, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Terrorism is in the eye of the beholder.
B) Conflicts engage "a two-category world-of good people, like US, and of bad people, like THEM."
C) Opposing sides in a conflict tend to exaggerate their differences.
D) Highly intelligent people display a "myside bias."

Question 42

When both sides of a conflict believe "we are peace-loving, they are hostile," each may treat the other in ways that _____ its expectations.

A) deny
B) confirm
C) reduce
D) expand

Question 43

To a striking degree, the misperceptions of those who are in conflict are usually

A) nonreciprocal.
B) unilateral.
C) mutual.
D) inequitable.

Question 44

The reciprocal views that parties in conflict often hold of one another are referred to as

A) mirror-image perceptions.
B) stereotypical inclinations.
C) complementary images.
D) cognitive illusions.

Question 45

When two sides have clashing perceptions, at least one of them is misperceiving the other, and when that is the case, according to Bronfenbrenner (1961), "it is characteristic of such images that they are _____."

A) self-defeating
B) self-confirming
C) self-handicapping
D) self-monitoring

Question 46

Some noncapitalist cultures define justice not as equity but as

A) regulation of resources.
B) fulfillment of need.
C) attainment of social objectives.
D) accomplishment of goals.

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT one of the seeds of misperception?

A) self-serving bias
B) reduced competition
C) fundamental attribution error
D) groupthink

Question 48

One aspect of mirror-image perception is that one side tends to

A) exaggerate its differences from its adversaries.
B) see itself reflected in the way others see it.
C) see the situation as the reflection of an evil situation.
D) agree with the other side.

Question 49

John believes that he is hardworking and his wife Rachel is lazy. Rachel believes that she is hardworking and John is lazy. This is an example of

A) an equitable relationship.
B) mirror-image perceptions.
C) perceived injustice.
D) a social trap.

Question 50

Group conflicts are often fueled by an illusion that the enemy's top leaders are _____ and their people are _____.

A) good; evil
B) evil; good
C) good; aggressive
D) evil; helpless

Question 51

In times of tension, such as during an international crisis,

A) views of the opposing side become more simplistic.
B) rational thinking becomes less difficult.
C) seat-of-the-pants judgments become less likely.
D) tendencies toward groupthink are weakened.

Question 52

Ralph White reviewed ten wars from the last century and reported that each was marked by at least one misperception. Which of the following was NOT on this list?

A) underestimating the enemy's strength
B) overestimating the leaders' power
C) demonizing the enemy
D) rationalizing one's own motives

Question 53

What refers to the "golden rule" of social justice?

A) "Equity for strangers, equality for friends."
B) "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
C) "Care most for those in greatest need."
D) "Whoever has the gold makes the rules."

Question 54

Before they married, Melinda and Michael, who are both employed full time and collect the same pay, agreed to share equally in routine household tasks such as cleaning and grocery shopping. In reality, Melinda is now doing about 80 percent of the household work. This situation is an example of

A) an integrative disaster.
B) an inequitable relationship.
C) a social dilemma.
D) a zero-sum relationship.

Question 55

The Republic of Fredonia believes its long-time enemy, the Kingdom of Franistan, is aggressive, greedy, and impulsive. On the other hand, Franistan believes Fredonia is hostile, selfish, and unpredictable. This is an example of

A) an inequitable relationship.
B) a zero-sum relationship.
C) mirror-image perceptions.
D) reciprocal illusions.

Question 56

When Bush called Iraq "evil" in the buildup to the invasion, he was making which common misperception?

A) underestimating the strength of one's enemy
B) demonizing the enemy
C) rationalizing one's own motives
D) blaming the wrong people

Question 57

According to Staub and Bar-Tal (2003), all of the following are characteristics of a group in intractable conflict EXCEPT the group that

A) views its own goals as supremely important.
B) believes itself to be victimized.
C) takes pride in "us" and intensely devalues "them."
D) attributes similar characteristics to the other group.

Question 58

Rodney and Ralph are twin brothers who each contributed $75 to purchase a new bicycle. Rodney rides it 75 percent of the time. This would be an example of

A) an inequitable relationship.
B) the Tragedy of the Commons.
C) a zero-sum relationship.
D) mirror-image perceptions.

Question 59

Equity exists when

A) rewards are distributed in proportion to individuals' contributions.
B) individuals are all equally satisfied with their rewards.
C) rewards are distributed equally to all group members regardless of their contributions.
D) group members decide among themselves how rewards should be distributed.

Question 60

What do self-serving biases, group polarization, and negative stereotypes have in common?

A) They illustrate the power of the situation.
B) They are potential seeds of misperception.
C) They illustrate that we are cognitive misers.
D) They negate conflict.

Question 61

A goal that overrides people's differences from one another is called a(n)

A) superior goal.
B) superordinate goal.
C) ingroup goal.
D) independent goal.

Question 62

Surveys of nearly 400 Europeans revealed that an important factor in determining whether attitudes toward a minority group will become more favorable is whether

A) one has a friend who is a member of that minority group.
B) the minority group tends to be submissive.
C) the minority group has a history of significant accomplishment.
D) the language of the minority group can be easily mastered.

Question 63

By emphasizing the contribution, Jackie Robinson might make to the Brooklyn Dodgers' winning the 1947 pennant, Branch Rickey used _____ to reduce racial prejudice and conflict among team members.

A) a superordinate goal
B) an integrative agreement
C) an arbitration
D) the GRIT strategy

Question 64

Which of the following is NOT one of the four Cs of peacemaking?

A) contact
B) correction
C) conciliation
D) communication

Question 65

Which of the following best illustrates a superordinate goal?

A) A college student who has been failing English gets an A on a paper.
B) A woman beats her husband at tennis.
C) Apartment dwellers install a television antenna they can all use.
D) An obese person loses 20 pounds in two weeks.

Question 66

The fact that, in New York City, divorce rates dropped in the aftermath of 9/11 is an example of

A) improved cooperation resulting from desegregation.
B) cohesiveness as a result of a common external threat.
C) justification for poor performance.
D) heightened paranoia.

Question 67

Racers and Riders are two different groups in a college. Racers is a White male group, and Riders is a Hispanic male group. Their teacher asks them to be part of a group discussion on current affairs. According to research done by Ananthi Al Ramiah and Miles Hewstone, as their verbal contact increases, their _____ decreases.

A) anxiety
B) cohesiveness
C) empathy
D) knowledge

Question 68

_____ occurs when conflicted parties seek an agreement through direct negotiation.

A) Bargaining
B) Amelioration
C) Mediation
D) Arbitration

Question 69

Triandis (1994) reported that _____ immigrants felt more comfortable identifying with their ethnicity than _____ immigrants.

A) grandchildren of; second-generation
B) second-generation; grandchildren of
C) European; Asian
D) Asian; European

Question 70

According to Phinney (1990), someone who identifies with both his or her ethnic culture and the larger culture is said to have a _____ identity.

A) schizophrenic
B) cultural
C) bicultural
D) subcultural

Question 71

Aronson's jigsaw technique involved having elementary school children

A) study in small, racially mixed teams and then compete with other teams in a class tournament.
B) form academically and racially diverse groups, with each member of the group becoming an expert in one area.
C) role-play being members of another race for two-week periods.
D) take turns telling each other about their family backgrounds in small-group discussions.

Question 72

After their town was ravaged by a disastrous tornado, two rival community groups set aside their differences and worked together on repairing the damage. This cooperation best illustrates the importance of

A) mediation.
B) the GRIT strategy.
C) superordinate goals.
D) the jigsaw technique.

Question 73

Studies from eleven countries show adolescents have more positive peer relationships and may achieve more when working _____, rather than _____.

A) competitively; cooperatively
B) submissively; domineering
C) cooperatively; competitively
D) domineering; submissively

Question 74

Desegregation could be expected to have poor results when contacts were competitive and unsupported by authorities. In order to achieve positive results with desegregation, contact should be _____.

A) unequal in status
B) equal in status
C) short-term
D) long-term

Question 75

Review of desegregation situations shows that sometimes increased contact improves racial attitudes and sometimes it does not, especially when there is

A) anger.
B) lack of trust.
C) miscommunication.
D) perceived threat.

Question 76

When we think we are interested in knowing someone and think about approaching them, especially someone from outside our racial or social group, we assume our body language will show our interest. This is an example of

A) mirror-image perceptions.
B) the illusion of transparency.
C) the false uniqueness effect.
D) representativeness heuristic.

Question 77

When considering reactions to a common external threat, approval of President Bush's performance after September 11, 2001

A) increased.
B) decreased.
C) stabilized.
D) was unaffected.

Question 78

In order for contact between opposing racial groups to reduce conflict, the contact must

A) occur in a zero-sum context.
B) be structured to confer equal status on both races.
C) temporarily award superior status to the minority group.
D) be mediated by a third party.

Question 79

For Blacks, the most noticeable consequence of desegregated schooling is

A) very short-term improvements of interracial relations.
B) the reduced likelihood of attending primarily White colleges.
C) the increased likelihood of living and working in integrated settings.
D) a more favorable self-image.

Question 80

Through the use of _____, Muzafer Sherif made boy camper enemies into friends.

A) contact
B) superordinate goals
C) bargaining
D) conciliation