Deck 36: A: Reading

Question 1

Which of the following is an accurate summation of the central finding in the Snyder et al. study of the relationship between stereotypes and social interaction?

A) Male "perceivers" did not assess their female partners on the basis of stereotypes linking physical attractiveness and positive personality traits.
B) Male "perceivers" impressions of their female partners created a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereby the female partners came to believe in ways that were consistent with the "perceivers" impressions of them.
C) Male "perceivers" assessed their female partners on the basis of gender stereotypes linking physical attractiveness to femininity.
D) "Observers" did not detect any differences in social interactions between women assigned to the attractive-target condition and women assigned to the unattractive-target condition.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In Snyder et al.'s experiment, the experimenters "activated" the schema by _________ females that had been rated very high or very low in terms of her attractiveness.

A) having male subjects talk to
B) setting up dates with
C) giving the males a biographical sketch with a photograph of
D) telling the males they would be interviewing

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Snyder et al. not only had male "perceivers" rate their partners' personality characteristics, they also had "observers" judge the women's conversational interaction with the male subjects. This was done to:

A) provide a check on the manipulation of the target women's attractiveness.
B) make sure that the male "perceivers" did not make mistakes in their ratings.
C) see whether male "perceivers" made their initial assessments of the female partners' personality based on stereotyped beliefs about physically attractive women.
D) see whether the "perceivers" initial impressions of their partners initiated a sequence of behaviors in which the female partners acted in ways that confirmed the "perceivers" stereotypes.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The central hypothesis of Snyder et al.'s experiment on social stereotypes can be most accurately stated as:

A) stereotypes help to create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
B) the stereotype that physically attractive people are really more likable, friendly, and confident than unattractive people is erroneous.
C) we tend to "fill in the gaps" in our knowledge about someone by selecting information that tends to disconfirm our stereotypes.
D) even if we treat people in a hostile fashion, they will tend to try to counteract our negative behavior by acting in a very friendly way, thus disconfirming our stereotypes about them.

Question 5

In their discussion of the implications of their study of social perception, Snyder et al. maintain that most research and theory in social perception has focused on how people process information and has neglected:

A) how people help to create or construct the information they process.
B) the predictive power of personality traits.
C) the link between physical attractiveness and personality traits.
D) the importance of beliefs about the self in determining people's behavior.