Social Psychology Tutorial – Practice MCQs
LECTURE 1-Me, Myself, and I
1) When we compare ourselves to others who are more capable, we are engaged in a(n) _______.
A) Downward social comparison
B) Lateral social attribution
C) Downward attribution
D) Upward social comparison
E) Upward attribution

2) Henry feels helpless at his job, feels that he cannot control his workday, and feels that he is useless, worthless and inept. These characteristics would probably mean that Henry has _______.
A) Low self-esteem
B) High locus of control
C) High self-insight
D) Low locus of control
E) Negative possible selves

3) When we think of ourselves as members of specific social groups, we are thinking of our ________.
A) sexual self-schema
B) social-personal self
C) personal self
D) cultural self identity
E) social identity

4) In meeting a new roommate, David stresses his studious qualities, an aspect of himself he wishes others to agree with, while being willing to underplay other potentially important aspects of himself. David is practicing a ________ approach in presenting himself to others.
A) self-verification
B) ingratiation
C) self-enhancement
D) self-denial
E) neurotic

LECTURE 2-Everyone is a Psychologist
1) Imagine that you see a friend arguing with a sales clerk in a store. You have never seen your friend argue with anyone in public before. Therefore, you think that the clerk did something to cause the argument. The theory that most directly explains how you reached this conclusion is ________.
A) the theory of discounting and augmenting
B) the inferential correspondence effect
C) the actor-observer effect
D) the theory of consensus consistency
E) the theory of correspondent inference

Correspondent inferences: describes how we use others' behavior as a basis for inferring their stable dispositions.

2) Noncommon effects are effects that can be caused by _______.
A) a combination of two or more factors
B) only one specific factor
C) one of several different factors
D) underlying personality traits
E) various factors

3) The extent to which different people react to a given situation in the same general way is known as
________.
A) noncommon effects
B) consistency
C) consensus
D) distinctiveness
E) self-monitoring

4) We are likely to attribute another person's behavior to internal causes when consensus is ________, consistency is ________, and distinctiveness is ________.
A) low; high; low
B) high; high; low
C) low; low; low
D) high; high; high
E) high; low; high

LECTURE 3 – Attitudes and Attitude Change

1) Classical conditioning suggests that people can learn to ________.
A) dislike stimuli to which they are initially neutral
B) dislike stimuli which gives them some sort of punishment
C) form evaluations only in the presence of others
D) prefer stimuli only after careful evaluation
E) form evaluations through spontaneous experiences

2) In La Piere's classic study, a young Chinese couple traveled across the U.S.A. and reported being treated courteously at virtually every restaurant and hotel. A follow-up survey asking for attitudes toward
Chinese travelers found that ________.
A) the level of service was highly correlated with the attitudes expressed on the survey
B) the ethnicity of other travelers was highly influential in determining survey responses from managers of hotels and restaurants
C) social norms generally accounted for the positive attitudes expressed on the survey
D) most restaurant and hotel managers responded that they would refuse service to Chinese travelers
E) the researchers had mistakenly surveyed only establishments the couple had not visited

3) Efforts to change our attitudes by using different kinds of messages is (are) known as ________.
A) intentions
B) norms
C) hypocrisy
D) persuasion
E) subliminal conditioning

4) In Festinger and Carlsmith's classic cognitive dissonance experiment, dissonance arises because the participant, having completed the behavior s/he's been induced to perform, feels he has ________ the behavior in the ________ condition, compared to the ________ condition.
A) insufficient justification to warrant ; $ 1.00; $ 20.00
B) over justification to feel guilty enough; $ 1.00; $ 20.00
C) insufficient justification to warrant; $ 20.00; $ 1.00
D) was not bored enough by the task to justify; $ 1.00; $ 20.00
E) done everything he or she can to warrant; $ 20.00; $ 1.00

LECTURE 4 – Group processes

1) Ahmed belongs to his university's Student Senate, a group that is high in entitativity. It is likely that Ahmed feels that the Student Senate ________.
A) is unlikely to be stereotyped
B) is of great consequence to him
C) uses too much political jargon
D) cannot provide him with a very useful entry on his CV
E) is polarized in a conservative direction

2) When people work on relatively simple, well-known tasks, an audience ________.
A) causes performance to suffer for most people
B) improves performance for most people
C) will cause performance to suffer for introverts but not extroverts
D) has no effect on the performance of most people
E) will cause improvement to performance for extroverts but not introverts

3) Social loafing is ________.
A) a disincentive for being part of a highly cohesive group
B) an increase in motivation and effort when individuals work collectively in a group
C) avoided when individual-level accountability for group performance is absent
D) a reduction in motivation and effort when individuals work collectively in a group
E) a reward for being part of a highly cohesive group

4) When there are many bystanders during an emergency, the probability of receiving help is reduced. This is because of ________.
A) the diffusion of responsibility that occurs
B) selective altruism
C) inclusive fitness
D) the empathy-altruism hypothesis
E) moral hypocrisy

LECTURE 5-Social influence

1) The type of social influence in which individuals change either their attitudes or behavior to adhere to existing social norms is known as ________.
A) obedience
B) conformity
C) ingratiation
D) cohesiveness
E) compliance

2) ________ are rules that indicate how people are expected to behave in particular situations.
A) Individuations
B) Social pressures
C) Normative foci
D) Social validations
E) Social norms

3) In Asch's classic experiment, a standard-setting line was first presented to small groups of people, followed by the presentation of three comparison lines of different lengths. In one condition, three accomplices, posing as students, chose an incorrect answer before the subject could respond. Frequently, the subject would then also select an incorrect response. This result illustrates ________.
A) the effects of compliance
B) the low-ball technique
C) an informational social influence
D) the absence of individuation tendencies in some participants
E) the influence of group pressure to conform

4) Individuation is ________.
A) our need to differ from others in some respects
B) our need to be part of a larger group
C) our need to feel an attraction to at least some members of our own group
D) our need to offer help to others within our own group
E) our need to fit in with our particular in-group

LECTURE 6- Prejudice

1) Providing members of a group with less favorable treatment because of their group membership is known as ________.
A) stereotyping
B) bias
C) prejudice
D) discrimination
E) tokenism

2) Negative feelings toward an individual because of that individual’s group membership is known as ________.
A) bias
B) prejudice
C) discrimination
D) stereotyping
E) tokenism

3) Gender stereotypes are ________.
A) beliefs about the characteristics of women and men
B) inaccurate categorizations of women only
C) inaccurate categorizations of women and men
D) inaccurate and accurate beliefs about women
E) inaccurate categorizations of men only

4) ________ often refers to the practice of hiring one, or a small number, of individuals from a particular group, in order to demonstrate that no discrimination is being directed toward that group.
A) Reverse discrimination
B) Shifting standards
C) Hostile sexism
D) Tokenism
E) Benevolent sexism

LECTURE 7 - Intergroup relations 1) The tendency to divide the social world into separate groups, including our in-group and a number of different out-groups is known as ________.
A) social categorization
B) in-group differentiation
C) contact hypothesis
D) out-group differentiation
E) social identity formation

2) The social group to which an individual belongs is known as ________.
A) a disadvantaged group
B) an in-group
C) a superordinate group
D) a social identity group
E) an out-group

3) The idea that part of our self-esteem stems from identifying with the social groups to which we belong is part of ________. A) implicit associations theory
B) realistic conflict theory
C) social learning theory
D) social identity theory
E) minimal groups theory

4) We tend to identify with groups to which we belong and this identification with a group raises our self-esteem. As a result, we frequently see other groups as being ________ to our own group.
A) equivalent
B) unimportant
C) superior
D) irrelevant
E) inferior

LECTURE 8 - Aggression 1) Miller has been watching a very exciting adventure movie at the theater. His heart rate is still a little elevated as he leaves the cinema. Just as he reaches his car in the parking lot, he sees someone accidentally bump his car as they back out of another parking space. Miller becomes extremely agitated and excitedly begins yelling and pounding on the other person's car fender. This extreme reaction to a relatively minor annoyance can best be explained by ________.
A) the excitation transfer theory
B) a hostile attributional bias
C) the catharsis hypothesis
D) the provocation theory
E) the frustration-aggression hypothesis

2) What is the relationship between gender and aggression?
A) Women are more likely than men to engage in any kind of aggressive behavior.
B) Men are more likely to engage in direct aggression; women are more likely to engage in indirect aggression.
C) Both genders are equally likely to engage in direct aggression, but women are more likely to engage in direct aggression.
D) Men are more likely than women to engage in any kind of aggressive behavior.
E) Both genders are equally likely to engage in direct aggression, but men are more likely to engage in indirect aggression.

3) Laboratory studies of the relationship between temperature and aggression have demonstrated that ________.
A) low temperatures reduce aggression
B) very high temperatures reduce aggression C) neither high nor low temperatures influence aggression
D) low temperatures increase aggression
E) moderately high temperatures reduce aggression

4) Gender differences in aggression tend to shrink or disappear in situations where ________.
A) provocation is absent
B) males provoke females
C) females provoke males
D) provocation is present
E) males dominate

LECTURE 9-Prosocial behavior

1) Whereas prosocial behavior is any act performed to benefit another, __________ is such an act performed with no regard for one’s safety or interests.
A) Antisocial behavior
B) Self-help
C) Altruism
D) Self-sacrifice
E) Pluralistic ignorance.

2) The idea that natural selection favors behaviors that help a genetic relative is known as __________
A) Kin selection.
B) Familial selection.
C) Familial reciprocity.
D) Genotype reciprocity.
E) Selection bias

3) The __________ effect refers to the finding that the greater number of witnesses of an event, the less likely individuals are to help.
A) Pluralistic ignorance.
B) Inadequate preparation.
C) Functional distance
D) Bystander
E) Propinquity

4) The phenomenon in which each bystander’s sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases best defines __________
A) Diffusion of responsibility.
B) Pluralistic ignorance.
C) Failure to help.
D) Inadequate preparation.
E) Compliance

LECTURE 10-All you need is love and friendship

1) Brad and Angelina are involved in a romantic relationship. Brad has recently given Angelina a gold bracelet. Because there was no special occasion, Angelina now feels the need to reciprocate the gift. The __________ theory of relationships is most applicable in this case.
A) Social exchange
B) Equality
C) Equity
D) Triangular
E) Mere Exposure

2) __________ love appears to involve an intense and often unrealistic emotional reaction to another person.
A) Passionate
B) Intimacy
C) Empty
D) Unpredictable
E) Companionate

3) Edison has had many girlfriends in his life, mostly because he feels unable to comfortably commit to any one person. As soon as a relationship begins to get serious, he feels trapped and puts up barriers to his partner. His girlfriends always want him to make a bigger commitment than he is comfortable making. Edison’s attachment style is best described as ________.
A) Secure
B) Fearful avoidant
C) Anxious
D) Insecure
E) Uncertain

4) Jolene cares deeply about Jay, but does not feel any passion for him. Jay, on the other hand, has feelings of great longing accompanied by physical arousal whenever she’s near. In this situation, Jolene is feeling __________ love for Jay, whereas Jay is feeling __________ love for Jolene.
A) consummate; companionate
B) fatuous; consummate
C) passionate; fatuous
D) companionate; passionate

Notes: liking (intimacy alone), infatuation (passion alone), empty love (commitment alone), romantic love (intimacy plus passion), companionate love (intimacy plus commitment), fatuous love (passion plus commitment), and consummate love (intimacy plus passion plus commitment).