Exam 13: Behaviour in a Social Context

Melissa has been assigned to do a group project with three other students.She knows that two of them are good students who will do an excellent job on the project.Since the teacher won't know who has done what work on the project,she doesn't bother to work very hard.The smart kids,as she thinks of them,can do the work.Her apparent laziness is due to

Ayeisha is serving jury duty for the first time.One of the attorneys explains that he and the other attorney need to ask some questions to make sure the defendant will receive a fair trial.Then he asks whether anyone has ever had a problem with a lawyer.Though Ayeisha went through an ugly divorce in which she felt that she was treated poorly by a lawyer,she is intimidated by the presence of the judge,and since nobody else says anything,she remains silent.What would be most likely to encourage Ayeisha to speak up?

Members of some hate groups cover their faces and sometimes their entire bodies while mistreating their targeted group.This can also happen if the hate group is extremely large or a mob mentality forms.In these situations,people find it easier to participate in crimes they would not normally commit,due to

When the Enron Corporation went bankrupt in 2001,this collapse was the largest corporate failure in history and the name has since become synonymous with corporate fraud.Enron's board of directors failed to monitor,question,or analyze the company's management and business practices,and billions of dollars' worth of unscrupulous activities were conducted to make Enron look more financially stable than it was.Though the board had access to evidence that something was wrong with Enron's business practices,a culture had developed in which conformity was encouraged and diverse views not acceptable.In other words,Enron fell prey to

Aaron has been training to run his first half marathon and has timed himself repeatedly over the past months.When he actually runs the half,he is surprised that he performs

The upscale Ethan Grant Company has created a new cologne called Ethan for men and a complementary perfume called Ethan Femme.The company's advertising executives know that their new fragrances will be competing with hundreds of others and that the human nose can discriminate only among so many smells.They know there's no way they can logically convince someone to pay an exorbitant price for Ethan and Ethan Femme;instead,they will need to rely on

On the first day of class,Dr.Moskowitz is serious and tough as he reviews his rules for the course.After the first day,he is friendly and warm,but his students often continue to see him as unsympathetic and firm.This is due to

In classic Christian mythology,when God accuses Adam and Eve of eating from the forbidden tree,Adam blames Eve for giving him the apple and Eve blames the serpent.Neither Adam nor Even wants to take credit for disobeying God,though if God had wanted to reward them for something they probably would have been happy to say they were responsible.Adam and Eve have displayed

Jody is known at the office for being meek and even a pushover.Though people like him,they sometimes joke that if they need something done,Jody will do it.One morning,Jody wears a new tie with an unusual pattern and when a colleague asks him if he was on drugs when he picked it,Jody attacks him.Everyone is so stunned by Jody's sudden aggressiveness that more than a minute passes before people drag him away from the man he was beating.Before the end of the day,Jody is in a psychologist's office,filling out a test that reveals that he has

Medea and her friends go out for dinner at a sit-down restaurant.Their waiter is slow to greet them,confuses their drink orders,forgets to bring their appetizers,and is angry when they complain.Medea's friends begin to say that the waiter is a jerk and that they don't intend to tip him.Medea has waited tables in the past,and she tells them that the waiter is probably just having a rough night.She is making a ___________ attribution.

Kenisha and Will have been dating for several months and have just had their first major fight.John Gottman's research shows that ____________________ crucial if the relationship is to remain healthy and survive.

Galatea attends a high school that encourages and emphasizes creativity and the arts.In her junior year,her mother's employer transfers her to another state,so Galatea and her father must also move.Because there isn't a special arts school in the new town,Galatea is enrolled in the public high school.On her first day,she dresses as she always has,in an eclectic,funky style that is uniquely hers.The other students,who appear to Galatea to be dressed in boringly similar styles,stare and laugh at her appearance,and by the end of the day Galatea is uncomfortable.If she conforms to be accepted by her new schoolmates,Galatea will have succumbed to

Glynnis has been involved in her college's theatre department for several years.When she first is provided a script she practices alone,repeating her lines until they sound and feel realistic to her.She always notices that her performance improves significantly when she participates in dress rehearsals with other actors,due to

In a study researchers sent 5,000 fictitious résumés,identical except for the names,to companies advertising in Chicago and Boston.Applicants with black-sounding names were 50 percent less likely to be called for an interview than those with white-sounding names.This unfair treatment is called

A good way to help yourself quit smoking is to spend time educating other people about the dangers of smoking.Because one action (smoking)is incongruent with the other action (telling others about the dangers related to smoking),you will probably experience

When Nikolaos arrives a few minutes late to his psychology class,he finds that everyone has turned their desks to face the back of the room.Though the teacher is not in the room,he assumes that they know something he doesn't and turns his desk to face the back of the room too.Nikolaos is conforming,due to

Cheyenne loves to be in love.For her the first few months of a new relationship are always filled with intense emotions,passion,and excitement.The problem is that her love never lasts.Eventually,the passionate feelings fade and more often than not she finds herself left with someone she doesn't even like.Why is this happening to Cheyenne?

As Theo leaves his grocery store,a woman at a table near the door asks him to donate $10 to a cause that Theo has heard of but in which he has no personal investment.Theo politely declines,because $10 feels like a lot of money to give to a charity that has no particular meaning for him.The woman then asks if he'd be willing to give one dollar instead,and Theo pulls some change out of his pocket and drops some quarters into the bucket on the table.The solicitor used the

Kenisha and Will have been dating for several months and have just had their first major fight.John Gottman's research shows that couples who behave with ____________________ toward one another are least likely to have a happy or healthy relationship.

When Majan comes to class wearing his bathrobe,his classmates stare and laugh because he