Question 1

_____ refers to feeling drawn to other people and having positive thoughts and feelings about them.

Accepted Answer

Attraction refers to the feeling of being drawn to other people and having positive thoughts and feelings about them. Attribution refers to the process of assigning causes to behavior. Attitude refers to a person's overall evaluation of something, while magnetism refers to the physical force between objects that attracts or repels them.

Question 2

How might an Asian student at a university who is demonstrating the self-effacing bias explain her poor academic performance on an exam?

Accepted Answer

The self-effacing bias is a tendency to downplay one's abilities or take responsibility for negative outcomes. Option B shows ownership of the poor academic performance and implies a desire to do better in the future. The other options either blame external factors or shift responsibility to others.

Question 3

In a seminar discussion on the death penalty, Bertha said she believed that the ultimate penalty should be applied to the ultimate crime of murder. Bertha's statement best reflects the _____ component of attitudes.

Accepted Answer

Bertha's statement reflects her cognitive component of attitude, which includes beliefs and thoughts about a particular issue. The statement does not reflect her emotional or behavioral components of attitude, which involve feelings and actions towards the issue, respectively. The normative component of attitude involves societal and cultural values and expectations, which are not reflected in Bertha's statement.

Question 4

A(n) _____ is a learned tendency to evaluate some object, person, or issue in a particular way that may be either positive, negative, or ambivalent.

Accepted Answer

An attitude is a learned tendency to evaluate something in a particular way, whether it is positive, negative, or ambivalent. It is an evaluation that encompasses an affective, behavioral, and cognitive response to a particular entity. Attribution refers to the process of assigning causes to behavior or events. Self-effacing bias is a tendency to attribute one's failures to internal factors and successes to external factors. Prosocial behavior refers to any behavior that benefits others or society as a whole.

Question 5

Attitudes:

Accepted Answer

Attitudes can involve cognitive components (thoughts and beliefs about a particular object, person, or situation), behavioral components (actions or intentions to act towards the object, person, or situation), and emotional components (feelings or emotions associated with the object, person, or situation). While attitudes can be found in both individualistic and collectivistic cultures, they may be expressed and valued differently due to cultural differences.

Question 6

Social psychologists have found that we are most likely to behave in accordance with our attitudes when:

Accepted Answer

According to the principle of cognitive consistency, people are most likely to behave in accordance with their attitudes when their attitudes are formed through direct experience and they have a vested interest in the subject. When attitudes are formed through personal experience, they are more salient and have a stronger impact on behavior. Additionally, if individuals have a vested interest in the subject, they are more likely to act on their attitudes because it affects their own self-interest.

Question 7

Although the _____ is common in individualistic cultures, such as Australia and the United States, in collectivistic cultures, such as Japan and China, the _____ is more common.

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias, where individuals attribute positive outcomes to their own character but negative outcomes to external factors, is more prevalent in individualistic cultures like Australia and the United States. Conversely, the self-effacing bias, where individuals attribute success to external factors and failures to themselves, is more common in collectivistic cultures like Japan and China.

Question 8

According to the discussion in your text, which of the following is TRUE about the effect of attitudes on behavior?

Accepted Answer

The text discusses the various factors that can affect the relationship between attitudes and behavior, but ultimately concludes that attitudes do have an influence on behavior in many instances. Therefore, option A is the correct answer. Options B, C, and D are all incorrect according to the text.

Question 9

Taylor noticed that one of his students had fallen asleep during class. Dr. Taylor immediately thought to himself, "This student was probably out too late partying last night. Alcohol abuse is to blame for his somnolence." In reality, the student had just finished working the night shift at his job, and the interaction of poverty and hard work was to blame for his somnolence. Dr. Taylor's thinking is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Dr. Taylor's thinking is an example of a fundamental attribution error, which is the tendency to incorrectly attribute a person's behavior to their internal characteristics rather than external circumstances. In this case, Dr. Taylor assumed the student's sleepiness was due to personal behavior (alcohol abuse) rather than external circumstances (working the night shift).

Question 10

During a discussion about junk food with her two adolescent children, Mrs. Kozena made it very clear that she thought junk food was disgusting and that it upset her to see her children eat it. Mrs. Kozena's negative feeling about junk food best illustrates the _____ component of attitudes.

Accepted Answer

The emotional component of attitudes refers to the feelings and emotions associated with a particular attitude. In this case, Mrs. Kozena's negative feelings towards junk food illustrate the emotional component of her attitude towards it.

Question 11

According to your textbook, an attitude is formally defined as:

Accepted Answer

An attitude is best defined as a learned tendency to evaluate some object, person, or issue in a particular way that can be positive, negative, or mixed. This definition emphasizes that attitudes are learned and evaluative in nature. Option A describes a stereotype, option B describes obedience, and option C describes altruism.

Question 12

The tendency to attribute successful outcomes of one's own behavior to internal causes and unsuccessful outcomes to external, situational causes is called:

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute successful outcomes of one's own behavior to internal causes (such as personal traits or abilities) and unsuccessful outcomes to external, situational causes (such as luck or other people's actions). This bias helps to protect one's self-esteem and maintain a positive self-image.

Question 13

The Chinese proverb, "Haughtiness invites ruin; humility receives benefits" relates to which of the following?

Accepted Answer

The proverb emphasizes the importance of humility over haughtiness, which aligns with the concept of self-effacing bias, where individuals tend to attribute their successes to external factors and their failures to internal factors. It also implies that being humble and acknowledging others' contributions can bring benefits, while being arrogant can lead to ruin.

Question 14

The tendency to attribute successful behavior to internal, personal characteristics is to _____ as the tendency to blame ourselves for our failures while downplaying our successes is to _____.

Accepted Answer

The tendency to attribute successful behavior to internal, personal characteristics is known as self-serving bias, while the tendency to blame ourselves for our failures while downplaying our successes is known as self-effacing bias. The other options do not accurately describe these biases.

Question 15

The self-serving bias is to _____ as the self-effacing bias is to _____.

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute success to internal, personal factors and failure to situational factors, while the self-effacing bias is the tendency to attribute success to situational factors and failure to internal, personal factors. Therefore, choice D correctly matches the two biases with their respective tendencies to attribute success or failure to internal or external factors.

Question 16

When Ainslie did poorly on the physics midterm exam, she blamed her low score on the unfair exam and the unreasonable professor. But when the final grades in the course were curved and she received an A-, she concluded that she had a real talent and mental capacity for logical, scientific thinking. This example illustrates:

Accepted Answer

This example illustrates the self-serving bias, as Ainslie attributed her success in receiving an A- to her own abilities and talents, while blaming her previous poor performance on external factors. The self-serving bias refers to the tendency for individuals to attribute their successes to internal factors and their failures to external factors.

Question 17

Suzy's psychology professor (Dr. Taylor) was 10 minutes late to class today. Suzy immediately thought to herself, "How unprofessional. I bet he was napping in his office or something." In reality, Dr. Taylor had been in a terrible car accident, yet made it to class only 10 minutes late. Suzy's thinking about the dedicated Dr. Taylor is an example of a(n):

Accepted Answer

Suzy's immediate assumption about Dr. Taylor's behavior is an example of the fundamental attribution error, which is the tendency to overestimate dispositional (internal) factors and underestimate situational (external) factors when explaining others' behavior.

Question 18

Collectivistic cultures differ from individualistic cultures in that:

Accepted Answer

Collectivists are more likely to attribute causes of another person's behavior to external, situational factors rather than to internal, personal factors.

Question 19

Leslie is concerned about the environment and consistently sorts her garbage by placing paper, plastic, metal, and glass in their respective recycling containers. This example best illustrates the _____ component of attitudes.

Accepted Answer

The behavioral component of attitudes refers to the actions or behaviors that are consistent with one's beliefs or attitudes. In this example, Leslie is engaging in the behavior of sorting her garbage, which is consistent with her attitude toward protecting the environment. The cognitive component refers to the thoughts or beliefs associated with an attitude, the emotional component refers to the feelings associated with an attitude, and the biological component is not a recognized component of attitudes.

Question 20

Which of the following characteristics is NOT considered attractive in cultures across the world?

Accepted Answer

While larger eyes, a wide smile, and full lips are generally considered attractive across various cultures due to their association with youthfulness, health, and femininity, a strong jaw is more variable in its attractiveness. It is often seen as attractive in men in many cultures due to its association with masculinity and strength, but its attractiveness is not as universally agreed upon as the other features, especially for women.

Quiz 11: Section 2: Social Psychology