Deck 17: Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life: Balancing Optimism and Pessimism

Question 1

The optimism-pessimism self-assessment inventory in Chapter 17 ("Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life")did NOT allow a respondent to receive a score on his or her anticipated ______.

A) romantic relationships
B) medical health
C) academic performance
D) job

Answer 1

academic performance

Question 2

"I received a good mark because I got lucky on this one exam" is NOT an example of a(n)______ attribution.

A) external
B) internal
C) unstable
D) specific

Answer 2

internal

Question 3

Which of the following is not true of Lomas's (2015)work on well-being and interventions in the social environment?

A) The microsystem level focuses on a person's immediate social environment, such as school or work.
B) At the microsystem level, positive outcomes can be promoted by such things as positive parenting programs and positive workplace programs.
C) The exosystems level focuses on the interaction of microsystems.
D) At the exosystem level, well-being can be promoted by community-based programs, such as healthy-eating and crime prevention initiatives.

Answer 3

The exosystems level focuses on the interaction of microsystems.

Question 4

In the field of positive psychology,self-help techniques that are aimed at helping people to upgrade their well-being are referred to as ______.

A) positive psychology coaching
B) life strategies coaching
C) behavioral retraining
D) well-being boosting

Question 5

According to Seligman's theory,attributions about the causes of events are categorized in terms of three dimensions.Which is NOT one of the dimensions?

A) stable/unstable
B) flexible/rigid
C) global/specific
D) internal/external

Question 6

Chapter 17 ("Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life")reviews the benefits of optimistic thinking in several areas of life.Benefits were NOT considered with respect to

A) rates of divorce in middle-age couples
B) availability of social support among friends
C) women's biological response to fertility treatment
D) amount of money earned in a profession

Question 7

The authors of Chapter 17 ("Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life")use the term ______ to pertain to the study of the relevance of social psychology to understanding positive well-being.

A) positive psychology
B) practical social psychology
C) remedial social psychology
D) positive social psychology

Question 8

The authors of Chapter 17 ("Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life")emphasize two theories regarding the processes underlying optimism and pessimism.Which is one of the theories?

A) Seligman's (2008) learned helplessness theory
B) Carver and Scheier's (2009) expectancy theory
C) Bandura's social learning theory
D) theory of planned behavior

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT a level at which an intervention was addressed in Lomas's (2015)work?

A) the microsystem level
B) the macrosystem level
C) the mesosystem level
D) the metrosystem level

Question 10

Which set of attributions best characterizes the car driver optimist who has just gotten into an accident with his car sliding into a ditch?

A) internal, stable, global
B) internal, unstable, global
C) external, unstable, specific
D) external, stable, specific

Question 11

The authors of Chapter 17 ("Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life")emphasize which two concepts,in particular,as central to understanding the roles of optimism and pessimism in people's lives?

A) goal-related thinking and self-fulfilling prophecy
B) outcome expectancies and self-fulfilling prophecy
C) outcome expectancies and goal-directed thinking
D) goal-directed thinking and goal-directed behavior

Question 12

Aspinwall and Taylor's (1992)research with university students provided evidence that optimism leads students to engage in effective coping strategies that,in turn,contribute to

A) better school performance and higher career aspirations
B) lower dropout rates and higher career aspirations
C) better school performance and better psychological adjustment
D) lower dropout rates and better psychological adjustment

Question 13

Which set of attributions best characterizes the car driver pessimist who has just gotten into an accident with his car sliding into a ditch?

A) internal, stable, global
B) internal, stable, specific
C) external, unstable, specific
D) external, stable, global

Question 14

Barry becomes very upset when the high school nurse informs him that his body mass index shows that he borders on being obese.Barry explains to the nurse that the reason for being overweight is that he has grown up in a home in which meals routinely consist of very large portions of high calorie foods.Barry's explanation entails which set of attributions?

A) internal, stable, global
B) internal, unstable, specific
C) external, unstable, global
D) external, stable, specific

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT true about what Krueger and Funder (2004)noted about social psychology research?

A) The majority of the most seminal (most important) studies in social psychology focus on positive phenomena.
B) Social psychological research is likely to lead us to believe that the power of the situation typically leads people to engage in negative, less-than-ideal behavior.
C) Some of the most seminal (most important) studies in social psychology focus on negative phenomena.
D) The seemingly irrational behavior often elicited in social psychological research settings, may, over the long-term, produce adaptive and effective social behavior.

Question 16

Which of the following is true?

A) The ecosystem level is promoted by initiatives that sustain the planet.
B) The microsystem concerns overarching institutional patterns, such as economics and politics.
C) The exosystem level focuses on social structures, such as community or mass media.
D) The macrosystem level focuses on a person's immediate social environment, such as school or work.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT true of positive psychology?

A) It focuses on optimal human functioning and the positive side of life more generally.
B) It includes the study of how social phenomena, such as institutions, help to promote positive outcomes.
C) It focuses on how well-being can be promoted through interventions at various levels of the social environment.
D) It focuses on how well-being can be promoted through testing at a specific level of the built environment.

Question 18

Which is true with regard to the optimism-pessimism self-assessment inventory in Chapter 17 ("Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life")?

A) Moderate optimism is signified by a score in the 50-75 range.
B) The inventory is inclusive in terms of the domains that are covered.
C) Some degree of measurement validity was established in its development.
D) Respondents can learn if their profile is a mixed one or not.

Question 19

Which set of attributions best characterizes the optimist who has just been awarded her company's organizational citizenship award?

A) external, unstable, specific
B) internal, unstable, global
C) internal, stable, global
D) external, stable, specific

Question 20

In his learned optimism theory,Seligman (2011)emphasizes which factor in explaining whether or not a person becomes an optimist?

A) thinking patterns regarding future events that are displayed by significant role models
B) reinforcement value of negative and positive events experienced
C) habitual ways of explaining why events occur in one's life
D) thinking patterns regarding current events that are displayed by significant role models

Question 21

Defensive pessimism

A) is a cognitive strategy that always results in worse performance compared with optimism
B) is a cognitive strategy involving thinking optimistically in easy situations and pessimistically in difficult situations
C) is a cognitive strategy that can result in better performance compared with optimism
D) involves setting high expectations so as to have an excuse for failure

Question 22

Someone whose relationship is very important to you surprises you by informing you that your relationship just is not as rewarding and pleasant as it used to be and then,a few days later,announces that the relationship is over.In dealing with this very disappointing event,which explanation on your part for what happened would likely prove most damaging to your positive well-being?

A) The other person is being a jerk and is largely at fault.
B) Some ill-advised comments that you made led to what happened.
C) In retrospect, the original decision to become close to this individual was a bad one.
D) You are not as much fun as the other person, and the imbalance led to a loss of interest in you.

Question 23

Seligman's learned optimism theory classifies attributions along three dimensions: internal/external,stable/unstable,and global/specific.

Question 24

External attributions occur when individuals attribute events to things that are outside of themselves and often out of their control,such as luck or other people.

Question 25

Research suggests that having excessively high levels of optimism

A) is beneficial for romantic relationships
B) can be detrimental to psychological and physical health
C) is beneficial for psychological health only
D) is beneficial for physical health only

Question 26

Which is true?

A) Pathway thinking is when the individual knows the single best route to reach the desired goal.
B) Agency thinking entails a combination of two factors: strong willpower, on the one hand, and strong commitment to achieve the desired goal, on the other hand.
C) People who score above average on both pathway thinking and agency thinking are said to have low levels of hope.
D) People who score high on agency thinking are very strongly committed to achieving goals that they see as being important.

Question 27

Chang et al. (2001)investigated the tendency for Easterners and Westerners to show optimistic and pessimistic biases.What was NOT found? Compared with others,

A) Easterners believed that it was less likely that bad things would happen to them
B) Westerners believed that it was less likely that bad things would happen to them
C) Westerners believed that it was more likely that good things would happen to them
D) Easterners believed that it was less likely that good things would happen to them

Question 28

In attribution retraining,which attribution for a good grade on an assignment should be targeted for change?

A) luck
B) hard work
C) ability
D) effort

Question 29

In addition to the theme of positive personality traits,Hart and Sasso (2011)identified three themes that define the content of the field of positive psychology.Which below is NOT a theme?

A) objective happiness and positive life circumstances
B) subjective happiness and life satisfaction
C) the developmental process of self-actualization and personal growth
D) resilience and positive coping under conditions of adversity

Question 30

Which is NOT one of the four broad themes that Hart and Sasso (2011)identify as defining the subject matter of positive psychology?

A) goodwill and altruistic concern
B) subjective happiness and life satisfaction
C) developmental processes of self-actualization and personal growth
D) resilience and positive coping under adverse conditions

Question 31

Gruman,Lumley,and Gonzalez-Morales (2016)suggested a number of ways of conceptualizing balance.Which of the following is NOT one of those ways?

A) balance as midrange
B) balance as stable constructs
C) balance as synthesis
D) balance as tempered view

Question 32

Self-fulfilling prophecy takes place when the way you imagine the future leads you to behave in a manner that causes the imagined future to come true.

Question 33

According to the chapter on optimism and pessimism (Chapter 17),which is true?

A) Measures of optimism and pessimism ironically tend not to be predictive of religious satisfaction.
B) An outcome expectancy refers to the process whereby one's expectation for the future leads him or her to behave in a way that increases the probability that what is expected will be realized.
C) There are methodological reasons why one should not conclude that the American-Japanese differences that were found in Chang et al.'s (2001) research on optimistic bias and pessimistic bias were caused by differences in culture.
D) Measures of pessimism predict religious attentiveness.

Question 34

The overall theme of Chapter 17 ("Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life")is that

A) optimism is always desirable
B) pessimism is always desirable
C) neither pessimism nor optimism is ever desirable
D) a balanced view of optimism and pessimism is desirable

Question 35

An attribution refers to giving credit for something good to someone from your in-group and laying blame for something bad on someone from your out-group.

Question 36

Global attributions are made when people believe that the cause of an event will be limited to that area of life.

Question 37

Research suggests that optimism and pessimism are

A) unrelated
B) two ends of a single continuum
C) distinct systems that exist on two independent poles
D) dominant in allocentric individuals

Question 38

Hart and Sasso (2011)identify four broad themes that define the subject matter of concern to positive psychology.What theme does optimism fall under?

A) resilience and positive coping under adverse conditions
B) character, strengths, and virtues
C) developmental process of self-actualization and personal growth
D) subjective happiness and life satisfaction

Question 39

Which is true? Synder describes agency thinking as

A) a blending of willpower and commitment
B) knowing what steps are needed to achieve one's goals
C) seeing many workable routes to one's problem
D) a blending of willpower and a sense of mastery

Question 40

Optimism is positively associated with ______ when people are exposed to ______ stressors and negatively associated with ______ when people are exposed to ______ stressors.

A) cellular immunity; easy; cellular immunity; difficult
B) depression; insurmountable; anxiety; sporadic
C) success; self-inflicted; success; externally based
D) interpersonal success; low-level; interpersonal success; high-level

Question 41

Describe the learned optimism theory by Seligman (2011).

Question 42

Explain what is meant by attribution retraining.

Question 43

Unstable attributions are made when people attribute events to things that are not likely to change (e.g.,level of intelligence or discriminatory practices).

Question 44

Balance as midrange suggests that the good life is often best achieved by manifesting high levels of positive constructs,as opposed to low levels.

Question 45

Differentiate between problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping.

Question 46

Attribution retraining interventions are coaching exercises that involve disputing pessimistic causal attributions (i.e.,maladaptive attributions)and replacing them with optimistic attributions (i.e.,adaptive attributions).

Question 47

Describe pathway thinking and agency thinking.

Question 48

Problem-focused coping involves behaviors and cognitions that do not directly address the source of stress; instead,they aim to reduce the individual's level of emotional distress.

Question 49

Differentiate between optimistic explanatory style and pessimistic explanatory style.

Question 50

Differentiate between internal and external attributions.

Question 51

Define hope,and identify the two ways of thinking that give rise to hope.

Question 52

Describe,in detail,what is meant by balance as tempered view and balance as contextual sensitivity.

Question 53

Describe what is meant by defensive pessimism.

Question 54

In Chapter 17 ("Applying Social Psychology to the Good Life"),Gruman,Lumley,and Gonzales-Morales (2016)presented a balance framework in relation to optimism and pessimism.Identify the four ways that the authors suggest balance be considered.

Question 55

Optimism has been found to facilitate social,psychological,and physical adjustment.