A team of researchers "predicted that men who believe that a woman was attracted to them would act on their belief and behave relatively more flirtatiously toward the woman than would men having no such belief" (Ridge & Reber, 2002). In this study, the independent variable is best described as ______.
A) men who believe that a woman was attracted to them
B) gender
C) belief regarding a woman's attraction
D) amount of flirtatious behavior

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the belief regarding a woman's attraction, as this is the variable that is being manipulated by the researchers to see its effect on the amount of flirtatious behavior. The other options (men who believe that a woman was attracted to them, gender, and amount of flirtatious behavior) are either not being manipulated or are being measured as dependent variables.

A Team of Researchers "Predicted That Men Who Believe That