Deck 7: Conformity

Question 1

Why would Muzafer Sherif,a social psychologist,choose the autokinetic effect (a perceptual illusion)to study social conformity?

A) He wanted participants to feel pressure to obey his instructions.
B) He wanted to construct a situation that was ambiguous.
C) He wanted to use a dark room to foster a sense of cohesion in the group.
D) He wanted to study the influence of perceptions on social behaviour.
E) He wanted to study how willing people were to harm another person.

Answer 1

He wanted to construct a situation that was ambiguous.

Question 2

According to your text,what did Solar Temple cult members,the students who attacked Reena Virk,and the Canadian peacekeepers in Somalia who tortured Shidane Arone have in common?

A) They were frustrated and this frustration caused them to behave aggressively.
B) They confronted extreme and confusing situations and looked to others to decide how to behave.
C) They lacked independence and thus surrendered control to powerful others.
D) They all had a poorly defined sense of self.
E) They fell under the spell of strong, punitive, charismatic leaders.

Answer 2

They confronted extreme and confusing situations and looked to others to decide how to behave.

Question 3

In social psychology,the change in behaviour resulting from the real or imagined presence of others is known as

A) independence.
B) obedience.
C) conformity.
D) cooperation.
E) interdependence.

Answer 3

conformity.

Question 4

It is Libby's first day in college.When she enters the lecture hall,she notices that other students are sitting quietly toward the back of the hall,glancing through their textbooks,and pulling out pens and notebooks.Unsure how to behave,Libby takes a seat at the back of the room and decides to do the same.This is an example of

A) situational interdependence.
B) situational uncertainty.
C) unintentional social influence.
D) informational social influence.
E) normative social influence.

Question 5

Little Lizzie takes a tumble and bumps her head.As she sits and ponders whether to scream or get up and keep on running,her mother approaches,scoops Lizzie up into her arms,and cries out,"Poor,poor Baby! Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" In response,Lizzie screws up her face and wails.Why did Lizzie respond as she did?

A) Her mother's empathy increased the extremity of Lizzie's pain.
B) The situation was at first ambiguous to Lizzie, who used her mother's response as a cue.
C) Lizzie knew that if she cried, her mother would give her a cookie.
D) Lizzie feared that her mother would punish her for running in the house and sought sympathy.
E) Lizzie had a delayed pain response.

Question 6

You are a little confused about how to address your new boss.Even though you are told that your new supervisor's name is Charlie Rose,you have noticed that everyone in at work calls him "Boss." You,too,decide to start calling your supervisor "Boss." This decision is a product of

A) compliance with authority.
B) normative social influence.
C) private acceptance.
D) obedience.
E) informational social influence.

Question 7

Your niece Caitlin is deathly afraid of glass elevators.You have just read chapter 7 and have decided to use informational social influence to convince Caitlin that there is no need to be afraid to ride in glass elevators.How would you apply the concept of informational social influence in this situation?

A) Get Caitlin's friends to ride a glass elevator and ask them to smile and wave to you both as they ascend.
B) Remind Caitlin how irrational her fear is.
C) Tell Caitlin that her friends will call her "scaredy-cat" if she doesn't get in the elevator.
D) Shove Caitlin into a glass elevator, push the "penthouse" button, and tell her not to cry.
E) Give Caitlin a big hug every time she is willing to approach a glass elevator.

Question 8

In the nineteenth century,audience members who knew the opera intimately served as "claques," or experts who signaled others in the audience when to applaud,or as "bisseurs," who signaled when to call for encores.These experts served as a source of _______ for less sophisticated audience members.

A) irritation
B) contagion
C) normative social influence
D) public compliance
E) informational social influence

Question 9

Kim is downloading music off a new website that showcases tunes from up-and-coming artists.The website also lets Kim see which songs other people have downloaded.Which tunes is Kim most likely to listen to and download?

A) the songs that had appealing titles
B) the songs that were posted most recently
C) the songs no-one else has downloaded yet
D) the songs that are in the particular genre that Kim likes
E) the songs that had been downloaded the most

Question 10

Rachel is attending Catholic mass for the first time with her best friend Maria.Rachel is unfamiliar with when to sit,when to kneel,or when to stand,and doesn't know when to respond to what the priest says and when to remain silent.When it is time for parishioners to receive Communion,Rachel looks quizzically to Maria,who silently shakes her head.Rachel remains seated while the rest of the congregation files toward the altar.This situation best exemplifies

A) informational social influence.
B) the power of cultural norms.
C) public social acceptance.
D) a crisis of conversion.
E) normative social influence.

Question 11

When participants were first placed in a dark room alone and asked to estimate the apparent movement of a point of light,individuals became consistent in their own estimates,and these estimates differed greatly from participant to participant.When participants made the same estimates in a group setting,their estimates converged.According to Muzafer Sherif (1936),why did this happen?

A) Conformity occurs when people feel anonymous in a group.
B) Conformity occurs when people can use anonymity to control others.
C) Conformity occurs when people feel uncomfortable and insecure.
D) Conformity occurs when people are in an unambiguous situation.
E) Conformity occurs when people can use others' behaviours as cues for what's right in an ambiguous situation.

Question 12

Cultural norms in North America place a great deal of emphasis on

A) conformity.
B) cooperation.
C) obedience to authority.
D) group unanimity
E) individuality.

Question 13

North American culture stresses the importance of being independent,thinking for yourself,and standing up for yourself.This suggests that North American attitudes toward conformity are

A) generally positive.
B) personality dependent.
C) interdependent.
D) situation-specific.
E) generally negative.

Question 14

Informational social influence occurs because

A) others can reward or punish us for nonconformity.
B) social norms encourage cooperation.
C) individuals need to maintain self-esteem.
D) individuals have a need to belong and be liked.
E) others' behaviours serve as cues in ambiguous situations.

Question 15

In ambiguous situations,we are sometimes influenced by others' attitudes or behaviours,and bring our own attitudes or behaviours into line with theirs because we believe that their interpretation of the situation is more accurate than ours.This type of conformity arises from

A) intentional social influence.
B) voluntary obedience.
C) informational social influence.
D) normative social influence.
E) unintentional social influence.

Question 16

It could be argued that participants in Muzafer Sherif's (1936)study converged in their estimates of the amount of movement of a point of light because they were avoiding public embarrassment or social censure from other participants.Sherif demonstrated that this was unlikely when he found similar results

A) when participants completed the task with their friends.
B) when participants later completed the task again alone.
C) two years later.
D) when a different set of participants responded in the same way to the same stimuli.
E) when participants completed an auditory task in groups.

Question 17

Victor goes to a fancy French restaurant.There are utensils on the table that he's never even seen before,and more spoons and forks than he's ever seen on one table.Eager to dine in an appropriate and sophisticated way,Victor secretly watches other diners to see what they do.This is an example of

A) informational social influence.
B) normative social influence.
C) unintentional social influence.
D) situational interdependence.
E) normative conformity.

Question 18

According to your text,the way we understand the concept of "conformity" is shaped by

A) our cultural value for individualism.
B) social psychologists.
C) internal pressures.
D) gender differences.
E) personality differences.

Question 19

Why has so much research in social psychology focused on conformity?

A) Social psychologists believe that conformity is a maladaptive response.
B) Social psychologists find examples of conformity to be quite unusual.
C) Social psychologists have historically advocated greater interdependence in American society.
D) Social psychologists are dedicated to increasing conformity to reduce individualistic biases.
E) Social psychologists want to determine when and why conformity is sometimes foolish, sometimes adaptive.

Question 20

When we conform to others' behaviours or attitudes because we believe that their interpretations of an ambiguous situation are more accurate than ours,_______ has occurred.

A) informational social influence
B) educated conformity
C) unintentional social influence
D) normative social influence
E) intended social influence

Question 21

When it comes to informational social influence processes,we are more likely to conform with experts' ideas and behaviours than with nonexperts' because

A) experts convey clearer expectations of obedience.
B) expertise is associated with social status and power.
C) social norms dictate that experts should be obeyed.
D) experts are viewed as more valuable sources of information.
E) experts are almost always correct.

Question 22

The role of experts on social influence processes is credited in relation to the discovery that

A) professors rarely share the same view as the top students in their classes.
B) students' views on social issues tend to reflect the views of their professors.
C) students' attitudes on social issues change to gain approval from professors.
D) professors' views tend to moderate over the course of their teaching career.
E) students are motivated to take the views opposite to those expressed by their professors.

Question 23

You're the only one in your class to have taken a social psychology course.Thus,you are the only one to refuse to conform to you classmates' consensus that it is appropriate for salespeople to pay closer attention to African-American shoppers than to European-American shoppers.Now that you have refused to conform to their views,you

A) reconsider your arguments for your views.
B) experience cognitive dissonance and change your attitude to be more tolerant of the practice.
C) soften your views and come up with examples in which the practice is acceptable.
D) have been vindicated and your views remain the same as before.
E) become even more convinced than before that such a practice is discriminatory.

Question 24

___________________ is when a group of people experience similar physical symptoms,but there is no known physical or medical cause.

A) Mass psychogenic illness
B) Mass hysteria
C) Moderate psychogenic illness
D) Mass psychotic illness
E) Moderate psychotic illness

Question 25

Normative social influence is to informational social influence as _______ is to _______.

A) private acceptance; public compliance.
B) knowledge; acceptance.
C) public compliance; private acceptance.
D) the foot-in-the-door technique; the door-in-the-face technique.
E) the door-in-the-face technique; the foot-in-the-door technique.

Question 26

People are most susceptible to informational social influence when

A) they have low self-esteem.
B) they want to be liked by the group.
C) the situation is ambiguous.
D) they have no allies in the group.
E) there is a charismatic leader.

Question 27

An important feature of informational social influence is that it often leads to

A) private acceptance.
B) obedience.
C) decreased self-esteem.
D) public compliance.
E) normative pressures.

Question 28

Why would Muzafer Sherif (1936)study conformity by projecting a light on the wall of a darkened room?

A) Because of the autokinetic effect, he created an ambiguous stimulus.
B) He wondered whether sensory deprivation made people more susceptible to conformity pressures.
C) He wanted a stimulus that was not ambiguous.
D) He didn't want participants to see and therefore influence one another.
E) He wanted to study the effects of anonymity on people's conformity.

Question 29

Roger Buehler and Dale Griffin (1994)had participants interpret an ambiguous newspaper report about the shooting of a suspect by police.Participants were then told that others had assigned 75% of the blame for the tragedy to the police and 25% to the suspect.Some participants conformed to others'' interpretations,while other participants did not.All participants then read the story again and provided a second interpretation of events.Results demonstrated that participants who initially conformed with other participants' versions of events _______,whereas those who initially refused to conform with other participants' versions _______.

A) changed their interpretations to bring them into line with others'; changed their interpretations to deviate more from others'.
B) later deviated from others' interpretations; changed their interpretations to bring them into line with others' interpretations.
C) changed their interpretations in a negative direction; changed their interpretations in a positive direction.
D) changed their interpretations in a positive direction; changed their interpretations in a negative direction.
E) did not change their interpretations; changed their interpretations to bring them into line with others'.

Question 30

Muzafer Sherif (1936)placed participants in a dark room and asked them to estimate the movement of a dot of light projected on a screen.This study of the autokinetic effect demonstrated the power of

A) informational social influence.
B) the situation.
C) conversion.
D) normative social influence.
E) obedience to authority.

Question 31

The decision about whether to conform to informational social influence is an important one because

A) we gain an unjustified belief in a just world when we conform.
B) we risk social punishment if we do not conform.
C) we stand to gain social rewards like approval if we do conform.
D) both our interpretation of reality and our behaviours are affected.
E) we are more likely to commit the fundamental attribution error if we conform.

Question 32

Which of the following phenomena is most likely to result in private acceptance of an idea or behaviour?

A) situational social influence
B) normative social influence
C) informational social influence
D) mass psychogenic illness
E) contagion

Question 33

Consider the following (edited)excerpt from a James Thurber New Yorker piece: "Suddenly someone began to run.It may be that he had simply remembered … an engagement to meet his wife,for which he was now frightfully late.Whatever it was,he ran east on Broad Street....Somebody else began to run,perhaps a newsboy in high spirits....Another man … broke into a trot....A loud mumble gradually crystallized into the dread word 'damn.' 'The dam has broke!' The fear was put into words by a little old lady in an electric car,or by a traffic cop,or by a small boy: Nobody knows who....Two thousand people were abruptly in full flight...." This literary excerpt illustrates the phenomenon known as

A) contagion.
B) conversion.
C) mass hysteria.
D) collective psychosis.
E) obedience.

Question 34

Where is the example labelled with the correct type of social influence?

A) Informational social influence: Steve really wants to hang out with the popular kids in school. He notices that they all dress mostly in black and shave the sides of their heads. Since Steve really wants to fit in, he buys some new black clothes and gets a haircut to match.
B) Informational social influence: Anna is beginning her new job and is not quite sure how to dress. To figure out what is appropriate, she looks at what the other employees are wearing and chooses her outfits to dress like them.
C) Normative social influence: Janet enjoys reading and art, so she spends a lot of the time at the library and at art galleries.
D) Normative social influence: Mischa is attending the symphony for the first time. During a break in the music, she is ready to begin applauding. She looks around and sees that nobody else is about to clap. She decides to sit quietly like everyone else.
E) Informational social influence: Miguel's friends all decide to try out for the wrestling team at school. He's not really interested in wrestling, but decides to try out for the team anyway so that he can still be a part of the group.

Question 35

Kelsey has just joined a new ballet company in which thinness is of paramount importance in becoming a successful dancer.From Martha she learns how important it is to remain painfully thin.From Annette,she learns that laxatives are useful tools for weight control.The first "lesson" represents _______,whereas the second "lesson" represents _______.

A) informational social influence; contagion.
B) normative social influence; contagion.
C) informational social influence; normative social influence.
D) contagion; informational social influence.
E) normative social influence; informational social influence.

Question 36

_______ conformity is to the desire to be right as _______ conformity is to the desire to be liked.

A) Informational; normative
B) Mindless; normative
C) Normative; informational
D) Normative; mindless
E) Informational; mindless

Question 37

Which of the following phenomena occurs because informational social influence has backfired?

A) private acceptance
B) public compliance
C) mass psychogenic illness
D) post-decision dissonance
E) normative social influence

Question 38

You are on a flight from New York to California.Somewhere over the Rocky Mountains,the plane begins to dip and rise abruptly.The ride is getting more and more bumpy.You're concerned and wonder if something is seriously wrong with the plane.To whom (or what)are you most likely to turn to clarify this extreme and ambiguous situation?

A) the passenger next to you who seems to be calm
B) the cockpit crew
C) the information pamphlet in front of your seat
D) the passengers in first class
E) the passenger next to you who seems to be afraid

Question 39

Not all members of the radio audience of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast panicked immediately.Indeed,some didn't panic until they saw the looks of concern and worry on the faces of their loved ones who were also listening to the program.This example illustrates that contagion

A) can result from informational social influence.
B) is especially likely when people are motivated to make independent decisions.
C) can result when cultural norms reinforce people's most likely responses.
D) only applies to people who tend to be gullible.
E) occurs primarily because humans are by nature irrational creatures.

Question 40

Juanita is sitting on an airplane and hears another passenger throwing up.The flight attendant asks the passenger if he often gets motion sickness,and he says no.Soon afterwards,Juanita hears another passenger in another part of the plane throwing up,and someone elsewhere coughing.She starts to notice that her stomach is feeling a bit upset.This could be an example of

A) normative social influence.
B) mass psychogenic illness.
C) mass hysteria.
D) psychosis.
E) general psychogenic illness

Question 41

Gregory Berns and his colleagues (2005)found that the parts of the brain dedicated to vision and perception were activated when participants completed the Asch line task alone and when they conformed to the group's wrong answer,but that this area of the brain was not activated when they chose to defy the group and give the right answer.Instead,when participants did not conform,areas of the brain associated with negative emotions and modulating social behaviour were activated.What conclusion did they draw from this result?

A) Informational social influence occurs because people feel negative emotions when they go against the group.
B) Normative social influence is associated with activation of the vision and perception centres of the brain.
C) Informational social influence is associated with activation of the vision and perception centres of the brain.
D) Both normative and informational influence occur because people feel negative emotions when they go against the group.
E) Normative social influence occurs because people feel negative emotions when they go against the group.

Question 42

According to Bibb Latané's social impact theory (1981),the likelihood that people will conform to social influence pressures depends on three variables:

A) conformity, obedience, and social pressure.
B) norms, values, and social practices.
C) pressure, resistance, and interdependence.
D) strength, immediacy, and number.
E) anonymity, situational ambiguity, and norms.

Question 43

Imagine that you are attending a new high school and would like to make friends.On the first day of school,you observe that all of the students in your homeroom are crumpling paper into balls and throwing them on the floor.You begin to do the same.You have conformed to the group's behaviour due to

A) informational social influence.
B) your low self-esteem.
C) normative social influence.
D) obedience to authority.
E) mindless conformity.

Question 44

Gregory Berns and his colleagues (2005)had participants complete a variation of the Asch experiment while in an fMRI scanner.Participants made some of their judgments without knowing what other participants had answered,and made the rest of their judgments after being told that other participants had unanimously chosen either the right answer or the wrong answer.They found that the areas of the brain dedicated to vision and perception were activated _____________ and the areas of the brain associated with negative emotions and modulating social behaviour were activated ____________________.

A) during all trials; when they disagreed with the group and gave the correct answer
B) during all the trials; whenever they were provided with information about the other participants' answers
C) when participants answered alone; whenever they were provided with information about the other participants' answers
D) when participants answered alone and when they conformed to the group's wrong answers; when they disagreed with the group and gave the correct answer
E) whenever they were provided with information about the other participants' answers; when they answered alone

Question 45

In essence,normative social influence arises from humans' fundamental

A) selfishness, which must be kept in check.
B) need for companionship, affection, and acceptance.
C) tendency to be obedient.
D) need for accurate perceptions and beliefs about a confusing world.
E) desire to submit to knowledgeable authorities.

Question 46

Normative social influence often results in _______ but not _______.

A) individuation; total independence.
B) private compliance; public acceptance.
C) private acceptance; public compliance.
D) total independence; individuation.
E) public compliance; private acceptance.

Question 47

What is the moral or the take-home message of Solomon Asch's (1951,1956,1957)series of experiments in which participants were asked to judge the lengths of lines? People will go to great lengths

A) not to look like fools in front of others.
B) to interpret ambiguous stimuli.
C) to assert their independence.
D) to convince others of their points of view.
E) to please people on whom they depend.

Question 48

The authors of your text report instances of teens "surfing" on the tops of electric trains in Brazil and on cars in the U.S.and Australia.Which of the following is the best social psychological approach to explain such dangerous behaviour?

A) the power of normative social influence
B) the power of informational social influence
C) these teens have "excitement seeking" personalities
D) these are usually delinquent teens using this activity for gang initiations
E) the power of obedience to authority figures

Question 49

Solomon Asch (1951,1956)asked participants to estimate the lengths of lines.In response to the incorrect answers of others,some participants actually denied what their eyes saw.These studies provide evidence of

A) informational social influence.
B) obedience.
C) contagion.
D) normative social influence.
E) private acceptance.

Question 50

The concept of social norms refers to

A) implicit or explicit rules a group has for acceptable beliefs, values, or behaviour.
B) legal sanctions in response to deviant behaviour.
C) social sanctions in response to deviant behaviour.
D) social practices designed to promote cooperation in a group.
E) the most common beliefs, values, or behaviour in a group of people.

Question 51

In a variation of his standard experiment,Solomon Asch (1957)found that when participants could write their responses on a piece of paper,conformity dropped dramatically.This finding indicates that participants exhibited _______,not _______ during the standard experiment.

A) private acceptance; public compliance
B) logical reasoning; mindless conformity
C) public compliance; private acceptance
D) obedience; acceptance
E) mindless conformity; logical reasoning

Question 52

In a series of studies by Solomon Asch (1951,1956),when participants judged the lengths of lines alone rather than in a group of confederates,their judgments were accurate about 99% of the time.Still,when other participants made judgments in a group of people who gave the wrong answers,they too,reported incorrect judgments.These findings suggest that

A) people will distort reality to avoid punishment or social censure.
B) normative social influence was at work.
C) people are easily distracted in a group setting.
D) experts exert informational social influence in ambiguous situations.
E) informational social influence happens, even in unambiguous situations.

Question 53

Pierre joins the other concert-goers in giving the symphony a standing ovation,even though he thought the performance was merely adequate.The next morning,Pierre confides to his girlfriend that the performance was "satisfactory,but not overwhelming." In joining the standing ovation,Pierre displayed what kind of conformity?

A) mindless conformity
B) obedience
C) public compliance without private acceptance
D) private acceptance
E) social deviance

Question 54

According to the results of Janes and Olson's (2000)study on the effects of rejection on peer conformity,who would be the most likely to comply with a peer group directive to engage in illegal behaviour?

A) Sean, who is the group leader and wants the others to go along with the suggestion
B) Adam, who has a new girlfriend and is anxious to spend time with her
C) John, who is hanging out with the group for the first time
D) William, who is also a member of a separate peer group that does not engage in illegal behaviour
E) Sam, who just observed another group member being ridiculed by the group leaders

Question 55

Solomon Asch (1951,1956)embarked on a series of studies in which participants were asked to estimate the lengths of lines that clearly differed in length.Asch originally undertook these experiments to

A) challenge the prevailing view that humans are inherently motivated to be accurate in their perceptions.
B) systematically replicate the earlier "autokinetic effect" studies of Muzafer Sherif, using different ambiguous stimuli.
C) show that in unambiguous situations, people will behave in reasonable, rational ways.
D) demonstrate how poor people tend to perform on tasks in groups.
E) demonstrate that in ambiguous situations, people would rather be "liked" than "right."

Question 56

If a teenager starts to smoke cigarettes in order to look "cool" and fit in with her friends,it is an example of _______ at work.

A) obedience
B) the foot-in-the-door technique
C) mindless conformity
D) normative social influence
E) informational social influence

Question 57

"Jeer pressure" is related to which of the following concepts?

A) expert advice
B) private acceptance
C) ambiguity of the situation
D) contagion
E) normative social influence

Question 58

In a series of experiments,why did Solomon Asch (1951,1956)ask participants to judge the lengths of lines,which were clearly different from one another?

A) Asch believed that Muzafer Sherif's experiments were fatally flawed.
B) Asch wanted to study conformity in unambiguous situations.
C) Asch believed that people would conform in their judgments.
D) Asch wanted to study conformity in ambiguous situations.
E) Asch wanted to study obedience in a lab setting.

Question 59

When people conform in attitudes or behaviours in order to be accepted and liked by others,social psychologists say that _______ has occurred.

A) social approval
B) contagion
C) social acceptance
D) normative social influence
E) informational social influence

Question 60

Going along with the crowd (e.g.,swallowing goldfish,taking ecstasy,train-surfing)to avoid social censure is an example of

A) social impact.
B) obedience.
C) social dominance.
D) informational social influence.
E) normative social influence.

Question 61

In public situations,women are more conforming than men.In private situations,men and women are comparably conforming.According to Alice Eagly (1987),this pattern of results can be explained by

A) the different concepts men and women hold of themselves.
B) the fact that men are more publicly self-aware than women.
C) the different social roles men and women are taught in our society.
D) sex differences in the tendency to behave aggressively.
E) the fact that women are more publicly self-aware than men.

Question 62

If you wanted to resist an influence attempt,social impact theory (Latané,1981)suggests that you should

A) ensure that the group members evaluate you favorably.
B) increase the distance between yourself and the group.
C) spend as much time as possible with the group.
D) ensure that the group is unanimous.
E) repeatedly think about how important the group is to your life.

Question 63

Which of the following statements regarding conformity is TRUE,according to information presented in your text?

A) Conformity is more highly valued in farming cultures than in those that rely on hunting and fishing.
B) A group of 8 people exerts about twice the pressure to conform on an individual as a group of 4 people.
C) There is usually less pressure to conform in highly cohesive groups because group members are more understanding of each other and tolerant of disagreement.
D) An individual who holds unpopular social beliefs usually feels stronger and more able to resist pressure to conform if she believes she is the only one who knows the truth.
E) Conformity is highly valued in countries like Canada.

Question 64

Alice Eagly and Linda Carli (1981)found that compared to female researchers,male researchers are more likely to find that female participants are more conforming than male participants.Although these findings are controversial,the authors suggest that

A) women are more likely to fulfill the expectations of a high-status male experimenter.
B) female experimenters make female participants more aware of sex role expectations.
C) male researchers are more likely to display experimenter bias.
D) male and female experimenters are often biased in the stimulus materials they use.
E) male researchers give off subtle cues that influence women's behaviours.

Question 65

Jane's softball team is planning to steal the other team's mascot-a baby goat.Jane does not want to participate in such a scheme.Which of the following situations would make it more likely that Jane will refuse to help her team steal the goat?

A) Another member of the team decides not to participate.
B) The group is important to Jane.
C) Jane has many friends on the team.
D) The situation is ambiguous.
E) Jane has built up "favourability credits."

Question 66

Which of the following comparisons represents the strength dimension as defined by social impact theory (Latané,1981)?

A) a group of 2 acquaintances versus a group of 10 acquaintances
B) being with a friend right now or meeting a friend one month from now.
C) friends versus strangers
D) yielding to informational influence versus yielding to normative influence
E) living with your family versus living 100 miles away

Question 67

When Solomon Asch (1955)conducted an experiment in which six confederates gave the wrong judgment about the lengths of lines and in which a seventh confederate gave the correct judgment,participants' normative conformity dropped drastically.These findings support the importance of _______ in producing conformity.

A) a unanimous group
B) authority
C) normative pressures
D) immediacy
E) strength

Question 68

Which of the following is NOT a variable considered by social impact theory?

A) how close in time other group members are to you
B) the expertise of other group members
C) how important the group is to you
D) how many people are in the group you are in
E) how close in space other group members are to you

Question 69

Results of a meta-analysis conducted by Alice Eagly and Linda Carli (1981),which combined data from over 21,000 research participants in all kinds of conformity studies,have revealed that when it comes to conformity,

A) men are actually more easily influenced than women.
B) women are only slightly more "influenceable" than men.
C) women appear more conforming in experiments, but men appear more conforming in surveys.
D) there is no gender difference in the extent to which people are influenced.
E) men appear more conforming in experiments, but women appear more conforming in surveys.

Question 70

Which situation below best exemplifies the tenet of social impact theory that strength is directly related to conformity?

A) When Adam is with his "slacker" friends he doesn't take school seriously; when he's at home alone, he studies for hours on end.
B) When Jason's friends use subtle influence attempts, he conforms; when they use coercive tactics, he resists them.
C) One-on-one, Melissa will talk a lot, but when she's in a group she's very quiet.
D) When eating with strangers, Suzie will talk with her mouth full, but not when eating with her friends.
E) When Belinda is with her hard partying friends she tends to be loud and outgoing, but when she is with her parents she tends to be quiet and reserved.

Question 71

Marcia values the opinions and desires of both her parents and her close friends.When she's with her parents,she finds herself agreeing with them.When she's with her friends,she finds herself agreeing with them,even though they sometimes disagree with her parents.This example represents the influence of Bibb Latané's (1981)concept of _______ on normative conformity.

A) number
B) pressure
C) immediacy
D) power
E) strength

Question 72

Tafarodi and colleagues (2002)asked Chinese Canadian women at the University of Toronto to rate paintings after they were exposed to ratings supposedly given by the majority group and their minority cultural group.Participants who completed the ratings in front of a mirror showed more conformity to the majority group ratings than those without the mirror.We can conclude from the results of this study that

A) concerns about body image can influence people's perceptions of attractiveness.
B) informational social influence is stronger when people are self-conscious.
C) reminding people of their minority status can increase resistance to normative social influence.
D) identity can be manipulated by exposing people to their mirror image.
E) motivation to conform is strengthened if people are attracted to a group but reminded that they don't quite fit in.

Question 73

According to research by Alice Eagly (1987),when men and women _______,gender differences in conformity virtually disappear.

A) respond in private as opposed to in public
B) respond to their friends' attempts to influence them
C) are in leadership positions
D) have high self-esteem
E) experience psychological reactance

Question 74

Rod Bond and Peter Smith (1996)conducted a meta-analysis of 133 Asch line judgment studies conducted in 17 countries.They found that conformity was higher in _______ cultures because normative social influence _______.

A) industrialized cultures; norms are more widely shared.
B) individualistic cultures; conformity prevents conflict.
C) collectivistic cultures; promotes harmony.
D) agricultural cultures; survival depends on cooperation.
E) elderly cultures; were stronger in prior decades.

Question 75

Teenagers are often more susceptible to influence attempts from peers than from their parents.This is because peers become more important to teenagers than their parents are.This example represents the influence of Bibb Latané's (1981)concept of _______ on normative conformity.

A) strength
B) age
C) immediacy
D) pressure
E) number

Question 76

In his line judgment studies,Solomon Asch (1955)discovered that as the number of unanimously incorrect confederates exceeded four,increasing numbers of such confederates had little additional effect on participants' conformity.These findings lend support to which of the following assumptions of social impact theory?

A) As immediacy decreases, conformity decreases.
B) Conformity pressures peak.
C) As impact increases, conformity increases.
D) An increase in strength will inevitably lead to an increase in conformity.
E) Ironically, as strength increases, conformity decreases.

Question 77

Suppose you wanted your friend Nick to agree to join the Save the Seals campaign,a campaign that most of your other friends support.You should invite Nick to a meeting consisting of

A) two other friends of Nick who support Save the Seals.
B) four other friends of Nick who support Save the Seals.
C) two friends of Nick who support Save the Seals and two friends of Nick who do not support Save the Seals.
D) seven friends of Nick who support Save the Seals, and three friends of Nick who do not support Save the Seals.
E) people Nick does not know who have strong support for Save the Seals.

Question 78

According to Latané's (1981)social impact theory,Katy will binge eat with her sorority sisters because

A) she is uncomfortable being a member of a sorority.
B) her sorority sisters are immediate and the sorority is very important to her.
C) she wants to be thin and accepted by others.
D) she is predisposed to binge eating.
E) she is in an ambiguous situation and so follows what others do around her.

Question 79

According to Bibb Latané's (1981)social impact theory,people are most likely to conform when

A) the group has a wide variety of opinions.
B) group size reaches four or five.
C) the group is small.
D) the group is dispersed throughout a wide area.
E) the group is diverse.

Question 80

Bibb Latané's (1981)social impact theory is useful to social psychologists who study conformity because its tenets

A) are easily quantifiable.
B) identify the costs of refusal to conform to norms.
C) identify variables that make a source more influential.
D) predict characteristics of people most likely to resist conformity pressures.
E) predict when conformity is adaptive and when it's not.