Question 1

A mother is trying to get her child to behave in the store and to stop running around, yelling, and grabbing things off the shelves. According to cognitive dissonance theory, if she wants to stop the child's behavior immediately for the time being, she should use a __________, but if she wants to more permanently change the behavior, she should use a __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   bribe; punishment
B)   small reward; large punishment
C)   large punishment; small punishment
D)   large punishment; large reward C

Question 2

It is not uncommon for cultures to dehumanize their enemies. What explains why, for example, a Vietnam veteran might dehumanize the Vietnamese or a Nazi might dehumanize the Jews?

Accepted Answer

A)   Because they are very prejudiced
B)   Because there is historical conflict between the groups
C)   To alleviate guilt for harming innocent people during the war
D)   To remain patriotic C

Question 3

According to the authors of your text, what is one way people can begin to learn from their mistakes?

Accepted Answer

A)   By adding new cognitions to justify their actions
B)   By changing their behavior in response to dissonance
C)   By recognizing the tendency to justify our actions
D)   By using denial and rationalization to cope with distress C

Question 4

People in collectivist cultures are most likely to experience dissonance when __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   their behavior is justified though not moral
B)   their behavior shames or disappoints others
C)   their behavior is moral but not justified
D)   their behavior is immoral and not justified

Question 5

According to dissonance theorists, the practice of threatening mild punishment works because it arouses __________ cognitive dissonance and therefore causes __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   little; a change in attitude toward the forbidden act
B)   no; little if any frustration
C)   much; a change in attitude toward the forbidden act
D)   much; avoidance of the punishment

Question 6

When unscrupulous salespeople use lowballing as a means of selling cars, they take advantage of buyers' illusions that their decision to buy a particular car was __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   freely chosen
B)   irrevocable
C)   easy to make
D)   coerced

Question 7

In a study referred to in the text (Peterson, Haynes, & Olson, 2008), smokers were asked to create an anti-smoking video to be shown to high school students, invoking dissonance in the smokers. To alleviate the dissonance they would then experience, what were these smokers more likely to do?

Accepted Answer

A)   Actually intend to quit smoking
B)   Take care of their existing health problems, except for smoking
C)   Lose weight
D)   Begin exercising

Question 8

When people state publicly an opinion that is at odds with their own private attitudes, they are engaging in __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   dissonance reduction
B)   justification of effort
C)   counterattitudinal advocacy
D)   seeking external justifications

Question 9

Triandis (1995) and others have argued that dissonance-reducing behaviors may be less prevalent on the surface in societies in which __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   there is less industrialization
B)   the climate is tropical
C)   the needs of the group matter more than the individual
D)   there is a monarch in a position of real power

Question 10

The Pattersons bought their TV from a store with a thirty-day return policy, and the Stevensons bought the same TV from a different store with a policy that "All Sales Are Final!" Based on what the text reports about cognitive dissonance, which family is more likely to be satisfied with their TV?

Accepted Answer

A)   The Pattersons
B)   The Stevensons
C)   They will be equally happy
D)   The Pattersons, but only if they paid less than the Stevensons

Question 11

According to your text, people can also reduce dissonance by focusing on and affirming their competence at some other dimension unrelated to the threat. This is known as __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   cognitive dissonance theory
B)   the hypocrisy theory
C)   self-justification theory
D)   self-affirmation theory

Question 12

According to the authors of your text, what is one major danger of engaging in self-justification strategies?

Accepted Answer

A)   We experience cognitive dissonance.
B)   We will have lower self-esteem.
C)   We can end up becoming prejudiced.
D)   We can fail to learn from our mistakes.

Question 13

Which of the following people is using an internal justification to reduce dissonance?

Accepted Answer

A)   Betty, who points to the fact that she was coerced into an undesirable behavior
B)   Colin, who identifies a large reward as the cause of his behavior
C)   Terri, who changes her attitude to bring it in line with an undesirable behavior
D)   Jessie, who reconciles herself to the discomfort that dissonance produces

Question 14

According to the authors of your text, when the Bush administration received evidence that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq-after they had already invested troops and money in the war-the administration engaged in __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   a conspiracy to hide the truth from the media
B)   self-justification to make the war a reasonable course of action
C)   an increase in the number of stereotypes about patriots
D)   the political scandal of the twenty-first century

Question 15

Ken participates in a psychology study where he has to make statements that are contrary to his thoughts and values. Then the researchers remind him of this inconsistency. Ken has participated in which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A)   A cognitive dissonance effect
B)   A justification of effort
C)   A rationalization induction
D)   A hypocrisy induction

Question 16

Recall that Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) paid participants either $1 or $20 to tell another person that a boring, tedious task was really fun and interesting. The results of their experiment demonstrated that __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   minimal external justification can lead to attitude change
B)   when people experience dissonance, they work to justify their effort
C)   the decision to engage in attitude-discrepant acts must be voluntary
D)   people often refuse to say in public what they privately believe

Question 17

Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy once wrote, "We do not love people so much for the good they have done us as for the good we have done them." This quote is most closely related to the concept of __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   postdecision dissonance
B)   self-verification.
C)   esteem enhancement
D)   the Ben Franklin effect

Question 18

The author of your text presents that idea that much of human thinking is not rational, but rationalizing. What does your author mean by rationalizing thought?

Accepted Answer

The answer of The author of your text presents that...

Question 19

People are unlikely to change their attitudes after saying something they don't truly believe if there is __________ for the lie.

Accepted Answer

A)   insufficient justification
B)   external justification
C)   postdecision regret
D)   insufficient rationalization

Question 20

If a person goes through a demanding process involving lots of effort and hard work to achieve a goal, what would cognitive dissonance suggest that person will think about the experience afterwards?

Accepted Answer

A)   "I loved all of that work; it's really fun to pull all-nighters and not sleep!"
B)   "I really liked being so stressed out, especially when I ended up sick because of it."
C)   "Going through all of that effort was worth it!"
D)   "It's fun to have bad things happen to you when you are trying to attain a goal."

Exam 6: Cognitive Dissonance and the Need to Protect Our Self-Esteem