John decides to conduct an experiment to examine whether social comparison processes,rather than the persuasive arguments account,help explain why the group polarization effect occurs.To do so,John should expose individual group members to ________ to see if group polarization still occurs.
A) a pool of specific arguments that do not convey any information about the positions endorsed by the rest of the group
B) the positions endorsed by the rest of the group without conveying the specific content of their arguments
C) the positions endorsed by all others in the group and the specific content of their respective arguments
D) a pool of specific arguments and ask them to guess which other group member(s) made them

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

By exposing individual group members to the positions endorsed by the rest of the group without conveying the specific content of their arguments, John can test whether social comparison processes are responsible for group polarization. If group polarization still occurs, it suggests that group members are influenced by social comparison processes rather than persuasive arguments. This design allows John to isolate the effect of social comparison on group polarization. Choices A and D do not provide a comparison of social comparison processes and persuasive arguments, while choice C includes specific persuasive arguments, which may confound the effect of social comparison processes.

John Decides to Conduct an Experiment to Examine Whether Social