Question 1

Maria is on a limited budget,and can only afford one compact disk (CD).She really likes two in particular: Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits and the soundtrack from the musical Wicked.When she gets home and listens to the Frank Sinatra CD,she cannot imagine why she ever considered the Wicked CD.This is because

Accepted Answer

A) Maria has to justify buying a CD,given her limited budget. 
B) Frank Sinatra music reminds Maria of her childhood. 
C) Maria was motivated to reduce her post-decision dissonance. 
D) Maria wasn't sure about the store's return policy.

Question 2

In an experiment by Takaku (2006)on road rage,when drivers went through a driving simulation in which they accidentally cut off another driver,then were cut off themselves,they were less likely to

Accepted Answer

A) let the offense go and relax. 
B) forgive the other driver. 
C) keep a safe driving distance. 
D) resort to road rage.

Question 3

All of the following processes except ____ are motivated by the need to preserve or maintain self- esteem.

Accepted Answer

A) changing one's attitude in the direction of one's behavior 
B) distancing oneself from a close other who outdoes one in a domain one cares about 
C) making upward social comparisons 
D) blaming the victim

Question 4

Research has revealed that not all inconsistent cognitions are equally upsetting.Those inconsistencies that are most powerful and upsetting involve

Accepted Answer

A) a threat to one's self-esteem. 
B) inconsistencies between experiences and expectations. 
C) inconsistencies among powerful attitudes. 
D) the validation of one's negative self-image.

Question 5

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 6

____ refers to the dissonance aroused after we have chosen between two or more alternatives.

Accepted Answer

A) Justification of effort 
B) Post-decision dissonance 
C) Insufficient justification 
D) Decisional regret

Question 7

Lisa and Marcie have a really tough exam in anthropology.Both women are considering cheating on the exam.Based on what you read about cognitive dissonance,Lisa,who ____,is likely to later report that all cheaters should be punished severely,and Marcie,who ____,is likely to report that cheating really is no big deal because there are no victims.

Accepted Answer

A) cheated; did not cheat 
B) cheated; cheated 
C) did not cheat; cheated 
D) did not cheat; did not cheat

Question 8

The Ben Franklin effect is named for an incident in which Ben Franklin

Accepted Answer

A) reported liking King George III of England after the Boston Tea Party. 
B) asked a favor of someone who had treated him coldly,and gained an ally. 
C) charmed several unsuspecting young ladies in his town. 
D) advised the president to create dissonance as a means of persuasion.

Question 9

In experiments conducted by Leippe and Eisenstadt (1994,1998),when white participants experienced dissonance after writing essays in favor of doubling scholarship funds for minority students,how did many of them relieve the dissonance?

Accepted Answer

A) by showing support of racist organizations 
B) by showing lower prejudicial attitudes 
C) by later telling the experimenter they didn't really believe in what they'd written 
D) by seeking to befriend and date minorities

Question 10

Why does self-persuasion work better than being lectured by other people to behave in a certain way?

Accepted Answer

A) Self-persuasion is based on implicit attitudes. 
B) Self-persuasion takes place internally and involves convincing yourself of something. 
C) Self-persuasion is automatic. 
D) Self-persuasion is usually an effortful and conscious process that takes time.

Question 11

The authors of your text explain that people tend to overestimate how bad they will feel if a negative event were to happen to them.This tendency is called

Accepted Answer

A) the rationalization trap. 
B) cognitive dissonance. 
C) self-affirmation. 
D) the impact bias.

Question 12

As Nina lights up her fifteenth cigarette of the day,she glances at the Surgeon General's warning on the package and shrugs,thinking "Eh,cancer is for old people,and not only do I have good genes,the research on cigarettes causing cancer is inconclusive." It is unlikely that Nina will change her behavior and quit smoking unless

Accepted Answer

A) she gets out of the self-justification cycle. 
B) she is diagnosed with cancer herself. 
C) a close family member is diagnosed with lung cancer. 
D) she can no longer add cognitions.

Question 13

The fact that there is research demonstrating that other animals experience dissonance-and that it has a biological basis-suggests that cognitive dissonance may have (in part)a(n) ____ explanation.

Accepted Answer

A) cultural 
B) personality 
C) ethnographic 
D) evolutionary

Question 14

Yale researcher Cohen (1962)paid some students relatively little and others relatively more to write an essay that contradicted their true beliefs about the New Haven police.Results of his experiment demonstrated that

Accepted Answer

A) students who were paid little were more willing to ride along with the police. 
B) the greater the external justification,the greater the shift in participants' attitudes toward the police. 
C) the size of the incentive changed students' attitudes only if they privately liked the police. 
D) in the absence of large incentives,students changed their attitudes about the police.

Question 15

Why would people be less likely to engage in dissonance-reducing behaviors in a collectivist culture?

Accepted Answer

A) because they would be focused on group harmony rather than self-justification 
B) because they would not experience dissonance 
C) because they would focus only on self-justification 
D) because they would not be able to change their behavior or add cognitions

Question 16

"There's no way I'd give up drinking! I'd just be stressed out all the time" says Lilly,as she sips her third martini of the evening.Lilly's comments about her drinking habit are an example of using to ____ reduce cognitive dissonance.

Accepted Answer

A) minimized shift 
B) justification 
C) behavior change 
D) cognitive change

Question 17

Carla has just written out a check for $13,999 to pay for her new car.Although the salesperson had initially accepted her check,she is now told that there was a mistake and that the final total should really be $14,250.Carla writes another check for $251 to cover the difference so that she can drive out with her new car.Carla has just fallen prey to a questionable sales practice called

Accepted Answer

A) "lowballing." 
B) "bait-and-switch." 
C) the "dissonance game." 
D) "keep 'em guessing."

Question 18

Megan is always reminding her son Andrew not to talk with his mouth full.One morning,Andrew reminds her not to talk with her mouth full.This situation most resembles ____.

Accepted Answer

A) the Ben Franklin effect 
B) cognitive dissonance 
C) the hypocrisy paradigm 
D) effort justification

Question 19

Assume that you were a participant in the experiment conducted by Leon Festinger and J.Merrill Carlsmith (1959)in which participants were paid either a large or small sum of money to tell an innocent stranger that the boring,tedious task you had just completed was really enjoyable and very interesting.Further assume that you were paid a large amount of money to tell the stranger that lie.In this situation,you would be most likely to

Accepted Answer

A) convince yourself that the boring task was actually more interesting than you had previously thought. 
B) maintain your original assessment of the task as dull and boring. 
C) convince yourself that the stranger deserved to be lied to. 
D) ask to complete the task again,given that you had high internal justification for doing so.

Question 20

The researchers Jones and Kohler (1959)exposed people who were strongly in favor of segregation and strongly opposed to segregation to both plausible and silly arguments in favor of both sides of the issue.They found that people tended to best recall

Accepted Answer

A) all arguments equally well. 
B) rational arguments of the opposing side best. 
C) rational arguments of their side and silly arguments of the opposite side the best. 
D) all arguments from the opposing side better than those of their own side.

Exam 6: The Need to Justify Our Actions: the Costs and Benefits of Dissonance Reduction

In an experiment by Takaku (2006) on road rage,when drivers went through a driving simulation in which they accidentally cut off another driver,then were cut off themselves,they were less likely to