Exam 13: Behaviour in a Social Context

A student, who is very pleasant and kind, comes home from work one day and gets very aggressive at the slightest provocation. What environmental factor MAY have triggered this level of anger?

Which of the following statements regarding social norms and roles is most accurate?

The fundamental attribution error refers to how people tend to overestimate the importance of personal factors and _______________ the importance of situational factors, when explaining other people's behaviours.

Jeff and Mary have been dating for several weeks and are both considering making their relationship exclusive and not seeing other people. According to social exchange theory, their commitment to the relationship will be greater if

Consider the following scenario: when discussing her recent grades, Sherri indicated that she did very well in Math and attributes her success to studying very hard. Even though she studied equally hard for Chemistry, Sherri failed the exam but explains this failure in terms of her unfair professor. This is an example of

A study by Patterson et al. found that over 80 percent of aggressive behaviours were rewarding for the aggressor, a finding that clearly demonstrates that aggressive behaviour patterns are fostered by ___________.

A researcher contacts you and asks if you would be willing to complete a brief survey for him as part of a study. After you agree to participate, the researcher then informs you that you will need to come into the lab at 10:30 p.m. on Friday night to complete the survey. This example best illustrates the persuasion technique called

Researchers have determined that general attitudes do best when used to predict __________ behaviours.

According to Sternberg, consummate love occurs when all forms of love are present in a relationship. This is the ________.

Prejudicial attitudes create fear and self-consciousness among stereotyped group members that they will confirm other people's negative attitudes. This is considered _________________.

A group of public officials is meeting to decide what to do about a budget shortage. The principle of group polarization would predict that this group of people would be most likely to reach a highly conservative decision if

All of the following were mentioned as ways that people can maintain prejudices when confronted with contradictory information EXCEPT

Which of the following stage of the bystander intervention process would be most likely to inhibit helping behaviour from a person having low self-efficacy?

Janis goes to see a movie with a group of friends. As they leave the theatre, she is surprised to hear her friends exclaim that they loved the movie, because she thought the plot was poorly constructed and the acting terrible. She says nothing to the others, though, because she doesn't want to look stupid or offend other people in her group. Janis has succumbed to

The tendency to be more alert to information that is received first and the tendency for initial information to shape how subsequent information is perceived may both help to explain

Which type of love is thought to involve affection, deep caring, and a commitment to being available for a partner, and contributes significantly to the satisfaction in long-term relationships?

The committee for hiring faculty is reviewing applications for the new faculty position in the psychology department. The short list includes three people, the first two of which are very qualified, and the third a little less so. The department desperately needs a new person to take some of the tremendous teaching load for next semester so the committee really needs to make a decision today. Among the group there are strong opinions, both positive and negative, about the top two candidates but everyone finally agrees that they can "live with" the less qualified person, so that person is offered the job. The committee, in their strong desire to seek agreement, fell sway to

Self-perception theory asserts that counterattitudinal behaviour often serves to change attitudes because of the uncomfortable state of emotional tension evoked by these behaviours.

List and describe the role of four different factors that have been found to influence initial interpersonal attraction.

If you are using fear to persuade someone, research suggests that it is best when the message evokes a moderate level of fear. If you are presented with the task of trying to persuade someone to a discrepant viewpoint, you are generally better off if you present your message with a _________ degree of discrepancy.