Deck 5: The Power of the Unsustainable Situation

Question 1

Which of the following common sayings is not reflected in the textbook's discussion of behavioral contingencies?

A)You Catch More Flies with Honey
B)Timing is Everything
C)Old Habits Die Hard
D)Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Answer 1

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of the foot-in-the-door technique?

A)A door-to-door canvasser asking a resident to sign a petition.
B)A door-to-door canvasser asking a resident to make a donation and sign a petition.
C)A door-to-door canvasser asking a resident to sign a petition, and then making a second request for a donation.
D)A door-to-door canvasser asking a resident to make a donation and making a second request that the resident sign a petition.

Answer 2

A door-to-door canvasser asking a resident to sign a petition, and then making a second request for a donation.

Question 3

One reason the foot-in-the-door technique is effective is that people have a desire to

A)be consistent in their behaviors.
B)think of themselves as rational and reliable.
C)appear consistent to others.
D)All of the above are reasons the foot-in-the-door technique is effective.

Answer 3

All of the above are reasons the foot-in-the-door technique is effective.

Question 4

For most people, feeling hypocritical is

A)no big deal.
B)unpleasant.
C)unlikely.
D)depressing.

Question 5

When we experience a contradiction between our behaviors and attitudes, or between our various behaviors, we are experiencing

A)conformity pressure
B)cognitive dissonance
C)the foot-in-the-door phenomenon
D)sufficient external justification

Question 6

Which of the following is not a circumstance likely to arouse cognitive dissonance?

A)Voluntarily behaving in a way that is inconsistent with our attitudes or beliefs.
B)Behaving in a way that is inconsistent with our sense of self.
C)Being forced to behave in a way that feels inconsistent with our values or sense of self.
D)Behaving in a way that is inconsistent with our prior behaviors.

Question 7

In the campus water conservation study described in the text, participants who were induced to feel hypocritical about their showering habits

A)experienced psychological reactance and stormed away angrily rather than signing the poster.
B)were less likely to sign the water conservation poster than participants who were not made to feel hypocritical.
C)subsequently took significantly shorter showers than participants who were not made to feel hypocritical.
D)gave dishonest responses when asked later about whether they had cut down their shower time.

Question 8

The campus water conservation study described in the text harnessed _____________ to inspire participants to take shorter showers.

A)cognitive dissonance
B)the foot-in-the-door technique
C)psychological reactance
D)conformity pressure

Question 9

When people find themselves engaging in counter-attitudinal advocacy, they are likely to begin to

A)""do unto others as they would have others do unto them.""
B)""practice what they preach.""
C)""turn the other cheek.""
D)""walk a mile in another person's shoes.""

Question 10

Which of the following would likely be the most effective method for inspiring a person to begin composting?

A)Publicly shame the person for not composting.
B)Recruit the person to help educate others about the benfits of composting.
C)Give the person an information sheet about the benefits of composting.
D)Impose a penalty, such as a fine, for not composting.

Question 11

Which of the following is not one of the social truisms discussed in the text?

A)We Do What Makes Us Look Best
B)We Do What Makes Us Feel Best
C)We Do As Others Push Us to Do
D)We Do As Others Do

Question 12

One study tested how people responded to messages that varied with regard to level of certainty about the risks of climate change. The researchers found that

A)all participants were more persuaded by messages high in certainty.
B)all participants were more persuaded by messages high in uncertainty.
C)level of certainty did not affect how the messages were received by participants.
D)whether level of certainty affected participants perceptions of the message depended on how the participants viewed science.

Question 13

Researchers found that adding irrelevant information to a persuasive message about carbon dioxide capture and storage technology made the relevant part of the message ______________.

A)less persuasive
B)more persuasive
C)no more or less persuasive than without the additional information
D)less persuasive, but only when no source was identified.

Question 14

In one study, researchers tested how people's responses to persuasive messages about climate change were affected by their perceptions of scientists' motives in delivering the messages. Participants who believed the scientists were trying to persuade them were _______ persuaded because they experienced __________.

A)more; a feeling of trust and confidence in the scientists
B)less; psychological reactance
C)more; conformity pressure
D)less; conflict about whether it is appropriate for scientists to advocate.

Question 15

Nolan, et al. (2008) measured the extent to which four variables predicted people's intentions to conserve energy: desire to save money, desire to protect the environment, desire to benefit society, and beliefs about neighbors' conservation practices. Participants reported that their beliefs about neighbors' behavior was _____ important than the desire to protect the environment.

A)less
B)a bit more
C)just as
D)much more

Question 16

Nolan, et al. (2008) measured the extent to which four variables predicted people's intentions to conserve energy: desire to save money, desire to protect the environment, desire to benefit society, and beliefs about neighbors' conservation practices. The researchers found that intentions to conserve were _____________.

A)better predicted by people's beliefs about their neighbors' behaviors than by their desires to protect the environment or save money.
B)better predicted by people's desire to protect the environment than by any of the other three variables.
C)predicted by desires to save money and protect the environment, but not by beliefs about others' behavior or concern for society.
D)best predicted by people's desire to benefit society in general.

Question 17

In most social situations, conformity pressure is

A)absent
B)weak
C)strong
D)overwhelming

Question 18

Other people's behavior can communicate general guidelines about what sort of conduct is typical, expected, or correct in a situation. These unspoken guidelines are also known as

A)laws of conformity
B)social norms
C)reference groups
D)modeling

Question 19

People's reactions to social norm violations are typically negative. From an evolutionary perspective, this may be because

A)when someone violates a norm, it may indicate that the person is an outsider, and, therefore, a potential threat.
B)biology is based on order rather than disorder, so unpredictable behavior is unnatural.
C)in the animal kingdom, it is more common to compete with others than to cooperate.
D)All of the above.

Question 20

What most people do in a situation is the ____________ norm; what most people approve of is the _________________ norm.

A)social; injunctive
B)injuctive; descriptive
C)descriptive; injunctive
D)descriptive; social

Question 21

In the case of many environmentally relevant behaviors, the descriptive and injunctive norms are in conflict. When this happens

A)the injunctive norm will exert a stronger influence than the descriptive norm.
B)the descriptive norm will exert a stronger influence than the injunctive norm.
C)the injunctive norm will likely be more salient than the descriptive norm.
D)the descriptive norm will likely be more salient than the injunctive norm.

Question 22

In one study, participants who heard their friends and colleagues favorably discussing the use of non-toxic household products were

A)interested in trying such products themselves, because the overheard conversation made them feel like their friends would approve.
B)eager to hear alternate points of view because they felt their friends and colleagues were suffering from groupthink.
C)skeptical about whether their friends and colleagues had legitimate expertise on the topic.
D)interested in pursuing that behavior themselves because they assumed they could borrow some products on a trial basis from their friends and colleagues.

Question 23

Which of the following is false about people's responses to environmental messages coming from experts vs. non-experts?

A)In general, experts are seen as more credible than non-experts.
B)Experts are always more persuasive than non-experts.
C)Non-experts can seem credible if the feel similar to the audience.
D)Sometimes expertise can be alienating.

Question 24

In one classic study, New York City residents cut their electricity use significantly more when asked in a letter with New York State Public Service Commission letterhead than when the same letter was sent on stationary from Con Edison, the local utility provider. What was the key factor influencing their responses?

A)Amount of information in the letter.
B)Perceived credibility of the sources.
C)Perceived trustworthiness of the sources.
D)Perceived authority of the sources.

Question 25

In one study, researchers tested how people's responses to persuasive messages about climate change were affected by their perceptions of scientists' motives in delivering the messages. What did the researchers find?

A)People trusted scientists less and were less persuaded, when they believed that the scientists' intent was merely to inform, rather than persuade.
B)People trusted scientists more, but were less persuaded, when they believed that the scientists' intent was merely to inform, rather than persuade.
C)People trusted scientists less, but were more persuaded, when they believed that the scientists' intent was merely to inform, rather than persuade.
D)People trusted scientists more, and were more persuaded, when they believed that the scientists' intent was merely to inform, rather than persuade.

Question 26

How does relative deprivation contribute to unsustainable behavior?

A)When people feel deprived relative to others, they seek material things they don't actually need.
B)When people are deprived of basic necessities, they don't have the luxury of considering the ecological impact of their behaviors.
C)When people are deprived relative to others in their social group, they deprioritize sustainability in favor of climbing the social ladder.
D)When people's extended family members are materially deprived, they have a tendency to take more than their fair share of pooled resources.

Question 27

Given the research evidence, what can one conclude about how social status concerns affect people's ecologically relevant behaviors?

A)Social status concerns discourage ecologically sustainable behaviors.
B)Social status concerns encourage ecologically sustainable behaviors.
C)Social status concerns sometimes discourage, and sometimes encourage, ecologically sustainable behaviors.
D)Social status concerns neither encourage nor discourage ecologically sustainable behaviors.

Question 28

As proposed by Griskevicius, et al. (2010), from an evolutionary theoretical perspective, green products may serve as _______________, indicating that the person who uses them is willing and able to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of the greater good.

A)costly signals
B)status symbols
C)mate bait
D)self-esteem boosters

Question 29

Engineered social feedback typically encourages

A)conformity
B)social comparison
C)Both A and B
D)Neither A nor B

Question 30

What happened when Schultz, et al. (2007) provided descriptive normative information on homeowners' energy bills?

A)Higher users reduced their usage to be more consistent with the neighborhood average.
B)Lower users increased their usage to be more consistent with the neighborhood average.
C)Both A and B
D)Neither A nor B

Question 31

When Schultz, et al. (2007) provided descriptive normative information on homeowners' energy bills, they found a ""boomerang effect."" This effect was alleviated in a subsequent study by including additional feedback in the form of

A)information about the ecological benefits of energy conservation.
B)social approval.
C)social disapproval.
D)information about the financial benefits of energy conservation,

Question 32

When Schultz, et al. (2007) included a smiley or frowny face on homeowners' energy bills, this gesture communicated

A)an injunctive norm.
B)a descriptive norm.
C)a costly signal
D)a social comparison

Question 33

When Schultz, et al. (2007) included a smiley or frowny face on homeowners' energy bills, people's reactions were consistent with the idea that

A)feedback is ineffective at promoting long-term behavior change.
B)reinforcement generally works better than punishment.
C)descriptive norms are more powerful than injunctive norms.
D)informational feedback is more powerful than social feedback.

Question 34

Choice architecture is a term used to describe

A)setting up consequences so that when people make the better choices they experience the best outcomes.
B)limiting people's choices so that all possible options are optimal ones.
C)setting up contingencies that force people to make the optimal choice without realizing they've been manipulated.
D)setting up antecedents to make the better options easiet without limiting people's freedom to choose.

Question 35

When a person takes a small first step in a sustainable direction, there is a risk that they may stop there because just doing something is enough to alleviate any worry that is motivating them. This is known as the

A)single action bias
B)rebound effect
C)dissonance paradox
D)justification bias

Question 36

When a person takes a large first step in a sustainable direction, there is a risk that they may feel entitled to become less environmentally responsible in other domains. This is known as

A)single action bias
B)rebound effect
C)dissonance paradox
D)justification bias

Question 37

Pick a proenvironmental behavior and describe an example of positive reinforcement of that behavior and an example of negative reinforcement of that behavior. Explain what makes these examples ""positive"" and ""negative,"" respectively.

Question 38

Provide an example of an environmentally related commons dilemma and an example of an environmentally related public goods dilemma. In what ways are the consequences involved in environmentally related social dilemmas different from the conseuqnces involved in some other social dilemmas?

Question 39

Identify three examples of environmentally relevant behaviors in your community (e.g., on your campus, in your dorm, in your neighborhood) for which the injunctive and descriptive norms are in conflict. What could members of this community do to help bring the descriptive norm in line with the injunctive norm?

Question 40

Given the research evidence, which of the following is false about the use of informational feedback to encourage environmentally responsible behavior?

A)Simply posting the number of aluminum cans retrieved from a recycling container would not be effective to encourage future recycling.
B)People are most likely to reduce energy consumption when informational feedback is clear, timely, and customized.
C)Putting informational feedback into context, such as by specifying the number of trees required to offset a person's carbon emissions, can bolster its effectiveness.
D)Consumers prefer receiving information about their energy use that demonstrates patterns over time

Question 41

Incentives like rebates and tax breaks are useful to encourage

A)long-lasting environmentally responsible habits.
B)one-time actions that produce increases in energy efficiency.
C)the development of more ecologically friendly attitudes and values.
D)Incentives are useful to encourage all of the above.

Question 42

Which of the following is false about the use of incentives (e.g., rebates, coupons) to encourage environmentally responsible behavior?

A)Extrinsic reinforcers like these are effective at creating long-lasting behavior change.
B)Use of these types of extrinsic rewards has declined compared to their popularity in the 1970s.
C)Extrinsic rewards like these are difficult and costly to implement.
D)New behaviors established through the use of extrinsic reinforcers like these are easily extinguished.

Question 43

Griskevicius, et al. (2010) suggested that green products may serve as costly signals. What does this mean?

A)It means these products send the message that sustainable living is a luxury only the wealthy can afford.
B)It means that these products make their owners focus on personal costs and self-sacrifice rather than on social responsibility.
C)It means that these products reinforce the idea that sacrifice is the key to sustainability.
D)It means that these products send the message that the person who uses them is willing and able to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of the greater good.

Question 44

The intentional manipulation of situational contingencies so as to motivate more sustainable behaviors is called

A)induced hypocrisy
B)behavioral engineering
C)negative reinforcement
D)conformity pressure

Question 45

Information, modeling, and prompts are examples of _____________ strategies.

A)consequence
B)antecedent
C)reinforcement
D)punishment

Question 46

A recent meta-analysis of 94 experiments found that information has ________ effect on sustainable behavior

A)a significant, but moderate
B)a significant, but tiny
C)a significant and strong
D)no significant

Question 47

In a research study on how to encourage hotel guests to reuse their towels, the most effective message was,

A)""reusing towels saves valuable resources.""
B)""the majority of the guests in this hotel resuse their towels.""
C)""the majority of guests in this room reuse their towels.""
D)""many of our guests value conservation.""

Question 48

Rresearch on how to encourage hotel guests to reuse their towels suggests that the most effective message is one that

A)does not include normative information
B)includes both descriptive and injunctive normative information
C)includes descriptive normative information
D)includes injunctive normative information.

Question 49

Research on the use of prompts to encourage sustainable behavior suggests that the more _______ a prompt is, the more effective it will be.

A)demanding
B)emphatic
C)specific
D)creative

Question 50

Prompts are most effective when they are

A)polite, specific, and well-placed
B)vivid, demanding, and novel
C)direct, informative, and frequent
D)general, inclusive, and colorful

Question 51

Researchers in California compared the effectiveness of instructions and modeling to encourage water conservation in campus showers. They found that

A)A sign with instructions was just as effective as the sign accompanied by a confederate modeling the behavior.
B)Compliance with instructions on the sign increased singificantly with one confederate modeling the behavior, and increased even more when two confederates did so.
C)Compliance with instructions on the sign declined when confederates were already exhibiting the behavior.
D)No one paid attention to the sign with instructions, but participants did imitate the behavior modeled by the confederates.

Question 52

Which of the following is an example of an intrinsic reinforcer?

A)money
B)social recognition
C)personal satisfaction
D)praise

Question 53

Which of the following is false about intrinsic reinforcers and environmentally responsible behavior?

A)It is difficult to behaviorally engineer intrinsic reinforcers.
B)People are more likely to maintain environmentally responsible behaviors when the reinforcers are intrinsic rather than extrinsic.
C)Both intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcers increase environmentally responsible behaviors but in different ways.
D)Incentives and feedback are effective intrinsic reinforcers of environmentally responsible behavior.

Question 54

How can people's desire to be, and appear, consistent be harnessed to promote sustainable behavior?

Question 55

People's behavior is greatly influenced by external forces.

Question 56

For most people, intentionally violating a social norm feels intimidating.

Question 57

Individuals need to experience behavioral consequences first-hand in order to be influenced by them.

Question 58

Researchers have found that people may be more receptive to messages about environmental issues when they come from familiar local figures rather than nationally recognized scientists

Question 59

People tend to feel threatened and defensive when they think others are trying to influence them.

Question 60

Adding more information to a persuasive message is a guaranteed way to make it more persuasive.

Question 61

Persuasive messages are most influential when they are specifically tailored to the intended audience.

Question 62

In general, people prefer to be, and appear, consistent rather than inconsistent.

Question 63

People are innately driven to seek social approval.

Question 64

In industrialized cultures, relative social status is largely established and expressed through material possessions.

Question 65

In industiralized cultures, conservation behaviors are generally perceived as low status behaviors.

Question 66

In general, social status concerns suppress ecologically sustainable behaviors.

Question 67

People are more likely to imitate the behaviors of distant celebrities than of more immediate reference groups, such as family members.

Question 68

We are most likely to follow the example set by other people's behavior when we are feeling comfortable and at ease in a familiar situation.

Question 69

Most people overestimate the extent to which their behavior is subject to social influence.

Question 70

People tend to assume the causes of behavior are internal things like attitudes, values, and personality.

Question 71

Behaviorist B.F. Skinner was one of the first psychologists to address the relationship between ecological problems and human behavior.

Question 72

People are unlikely to behave in ways not supported by the situation.

Question 73

Negative reinforcers decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Question 74

Skinner found that punishment is generally more effective than reinforcement in shaping behavior.

Question 75

A punisher is always a punisher and a reinforcer is always a reinforcer.

Question 76

Whether a consequence is experienced as punishing or rewarding depends on the individual person's interpretation.

Question 77

B. F. Skinner believed that efforts to encourage environmentally responsible behavior should employ scare tactics and threats of punishing consequences.

Question 78

Rewards and punishers work best when they occur in close proximity with the behavior.

Question 79

Social dilemmas pit self-interest against what is best for the greater good.

Question 80

People will forgo immediate personal reinforcers for longer term group goals if they identify with the group and feel responsible toward it.