Deck 8: Attitudes and Behavior

Question 1

According to the theory of planned behavior, which factors would contribute to someone being able to get their college degree?

Answer 1

According to the theory of planned behavior, people need to feel that they have personal control over their behavior in order for their attitudes and intentions to predict how they behave. In addition, it is helpful if social norms support a particular behavior. This theory would suggest that a person will be most likely to get their college degree if the student feels she is in control of her outcomes (e.g., if she studies hard, she will succeed in her classes), and if the social norm is to do well in college. For example, a student may have come from a long line of college graduates who also expect her to graduate for college.

Question 2

In a study by Lord and his colleagues (1984), participants were asked if they would show a new student around campus. The participants were led to believe that this student was gay. In which condition did the participants' attitudes toward homosexuals predict their willingness to show this student around?

A) When the visiting student seemed like the ""typical"" gay man.
B) When the visiting student was not like the ""typical"" gay man.
C) When the participants were prejudiced against homosexuals.
D) When the participants were not prejudiced against homosexuals.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Whose behavior is predicted to be most in line with their attitudes?

A) Sydney, who is asked to think about whether a new jacket would go with the rest of her wardrobe.
B) Sam, who is asked to sign a petition to save a rare bird, which isn't something he has thought a lot about before.
C) Simon, who is asked where he wants to have dinner while he's thinking about which car to buy.
D) Selena, who has thought a lot about who she wants to vote for before she heads to the polls.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Snyder and Swann (1976) conducted a study in which participants served as mock jurors in a sex-discrimination trial. The participants who were given a few minutes to bring to mind their thoughts about affirmative action were more likely to reach verdicts consistent with their attitudes. This study provides evidence for which factor thought to increase the extent to which attitudes predict behavior?

A) Attitude accessibility
B) Implicit attitudes
C) Automatic attitudes
D) Dissonant attitudes

Question 5

Which of the following people will be more likely to behave in ways that reflect their attitudes?

A) Leroy, who has every intention of losing weight.
B) Sasha, who wants to lose weight by next year.
C) Gary, who says that if he works out consistently for a week, he will buy himself some low-fat ice cream as a treat.
D) Noel who intends to join a weight loss support group.

Question 6

According to the theory of reasoned action, ________ are the most important determinant of behavior.

A) attitudes
B) intentions
C) feelings
D) social norms

Question 7

As described in the text, our attitudes can guide our behavior without much thought. Research in this domain has shown all but which of the following?

A) People who hold highly-accessible attitudes about a particular snack food are more likely to behave in ways that are consistent with their attitudes.
B) A favorable attitude about ice cream brings to mind all of its positive qualities.
C) Compared to those with different political views, people see the faces of their own political candidate as more trustworthy.
D) Thirsty people see a bottle of water as being further away than do people who are not thirsty.

Question 8

The 1934 study by LaPierre in which he and a Chinese couple attempted to eat at a number of restaurants and stay at a number of hotels across the United States showed that:

A) The majority of restaurants and hotels refused them service when they visited.
B) The majority of restaurants and hotels accepted their reservations when they wrote and asked for accommodations.
C) The attitudes of the restaurant and hotel managers did not match their behaviors.
D) All of the above

Question 9

Fazio and colleagues (1977), examined when engaging in attitude-discrepant behavior will lead to attitude change. They proposed that self-perception processes will result in attitude change when ________, whereas attitude change will be a result of dissonance reduction strategies when ________.

A) behaviors are forced and the attitude is relatively trivial; behaviors are forced and the attitude is important.
B) behaviors are forced and the attitude is important; behaviors are forced and the attitude is relatively trivial.
C) behaviors are freely chosen and the attitude is relatively trivial; behaviors are freely chosen and the attitude is important.
D) behaviors are freely chosen and the attitude is important; behaviors are freely chosen and the attitude is relatively trivial.

Question 10

Research examining the relation between culture and the experience of cognitive dissonance has shown that, when choosing between two fairly equally rated alternatives:

A) Individuals from individualistic cultures resolve dissonance by rating the chosen alternative more positively.
B) Individuals from collectivistic cultures resolve dissonance by rating the chosen alternative more positively.
C) Individuals from individualistic cultures resolve dissonance by rating the chosen alternative more positively only when they have been subtly primed with relationships.
D) All of the above

Question 11

Anna missed her curfew by 3 hours and she feels bad that she let her parents down. To make herself feel better, she thinks of what a good student she is. This process of reflecting upon an important self-identity to reduce dissonance is known as:

A) Trivializing the behavior
B) Self-affirmation
C) Attitude change
D) Trivializing the attitude-discrepant behavior

Question 12

The ________ effect is the change in behavior that occurs to reduce the dissonance caused by freely choosing to publicly advocate a behavior that one does not actually perform oneself.

A) effort justification
B) post-decisional regret
C) insufficient justification
D) hypocrisy

Question 13

A researcher is studying condom use among college students. In which condition of this study will students be most likely to engage in safe-sex in the future?

A) Participants were asked to tell a group of high school students about the dangers of unprotected sex and then later were asked to list all of the times they had engaged in unprotected sex themselves.
B) Participants were asked to write down all of the times they had engaged in unprotected sex.
C) Participants wore white lab coats and were then asked to think about all of the times they had engaged in unprotected sex.
D) All of the above

Question 14

Research by Bastian and colleagues (2012) shows that meat-eaters are less likely to attribute a ""mind"" to animals in order to alleviate the dissonance caused by eating meat products. This increased tendency to agree with statements such as ""animals don't think and feel pain"" in order to justify meat-eating is an example of:

A) Minimizing the perceptions of free choice
B) Adding cognitions
C) Subtracting cognitions
D) All of the above

Question 15

Which of the following provides the best explanation for the lack of attitude-behavior consistency found in the classic study by LaPierre?

A) The attitudes of the hotel and restaurant managers were not accessible.
B) The hotel and restaurant managers were forced to provide accommodations to everyone as long as they had the space.
C) The couple did not fit the widely held stereotype of Chinese people.
D) The implicit attitudes of the hotel and restaurant managers did not match their explicit attitudes.

Question 16

Studies, such as the soda taste test conducted by Karpinski et al. (2005), shows that people's _______ attitudes are good predictors of less controllable behaviors and that people's _______ attitudes are good predictors of their more deliberate behaviors.

A) explicit; implicit
B) implicit; explicit
C) accessible; compatible
D) compatible; accessible

Question 17

_________ proposes that attitudes, social norms, and perceived control combine to influence behavior.

A) Cognitive dissonance theory
B) The theory of reasoned action
C) The theory of planned behavior
D) Effort-justification theory

Question 18

While studying for this test, you are put in charge of teaching your fellow students about the classic study 1934 by LaPiere in which he and a Chinese couple attempted to find accommodations at various restaurants and hotels around the U.S. What did LaPiere do, what did he find, and what might explain his results?

Question 19

Briefly describe two conditions that must be met that will increase the extent to which attitudes guide behaviors.

Question 20

Imagine that one of your friends wants to stop procrastinating. Explain how you could use the theory of reasoned action to help your friend. In your intervention, you should also describe how your friend could utilize implementation intentions.

Question 21

According to both self-perception theory and the theory of cognitive dissonance, why do our attitudes change after we behave in ways that are inconsistent with previous attitudes? Are these two theories mutually exclusive or are they both correct? Explain.

Question 22

You are doing a study on texting and driving among high school students. Explain how you could use the hypocrisy effect to make these students safer drivers.

Question 23

There are a variety of ways that people can reduce the uncomfortable tension caused by dissonance. Briefly describe one destructive way of coping with dissonance and one more constructive way of coping with dissonance. Describe one study to illustrate each way of coping with dissonance.

Question 24

Explain how you could use effort justification to encourage a group of college students to enjoy exercising. Alternatively, what might be another way that you could use cognitive dissonance to create persistent attitudes?

Question 25

A) Briefly describe the classic cognitive dissonance study by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) B) What are the 4 steps that must be present in order to experience cognitive dissonance? C) Explain how those 4 factors may have influenced the results of the classic cognitive dissonance study by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) D) How did insufficient justification play a role in these findings?

Question 26

Mr. Nike wants to market a new brand of shoes. Help Mr. Nike use the foot-in-the-door effect to sell his shoes and explain to him why this effect is so successful. In your explanation, you should include a description of a relevant study.

Question 27

According to self-perception theory, where do your attitudes come from and in which situations will our attitudes develop in this way?

Question 28

You are a budding magician who enjoys using the secrets of social psychology to wow your audience. Explain how you could get a group of randomly selected people from your audience to like a particular painting more than another painting without trying to persuade them with words. Hint: it's all about muscle memory.

Question 29

Every evening, before Melena sits down to watch the evening news, she prepares a big bowl of cookies and cream ice cream to watch in front of the television. Some evenings, she will be halfway through her bowl and not even remember scooping the ice cream. This behavior of Melena's is a good example of ________.

A) Explicit thinking
B) Cognitive dissonance
C) Attitude compatibility
D) A habit

Question 30

The text describes overeaters who believe that obesity is due to hormonal factors, smokers who attribute their behavior to addiction, and drivers who believe that being in a car wreck is a matter of fate. According to the theory of planned behavior, these people lack the personal ________ to change their behavior.

A) motivation
B) willpower
C) control
D) support

Question 31

Students are asked to write essays on the legalization of marijuana. Whose change in attitude should be the longest lasting?

A) Ira, who was told to write an essay that went against his true beliefs.
B) Barb, who was told to write an essay that was consistent with her true beliefs.
C) Nicole, who was given a choice to write an essay that went against her true beliefs.
D) Jack, who was given a choice to write an essay that was consistent with her true beliefs.

Question 32

In a classic study of dissonance, Brehm (1956) asked women to evaluate various appliances and then gave them one to take home. What did the results show?

A) Women who were able to take home whichever appliance they wished, later rated it much higher than they had originally.
B) Women who were just given an appliance to take home (and didn't have a choice), later rated it much lower than they had originally.
C) Women who were asked to select between two equally desirable appliances later rated the one that they selected much higher than they had originally.
D) Women who were asked to select between two equally desirable appliances later rated the one that they selected much lower than they had originally.

Question 33

According to research on effort justification, who is expected to enjoy their experience more?

A) Participants who were asked to work on a difficult task for an unpleasant experimenter compared to those who performed the same task for a pleasant experimenter.
B) Parents who are aware of how much it costs to have children, versus parents who are unaware.
C) Dieters who have to drive further to their weight loss meetings compared to those who only need to drive a short distance.
D) All of the above

Question 34

Participants in a study by Wells and Petty (1980) were asked to test out some headphones while simulating the movements of jogging (moving their head up or down) or bike riding (moving their head side to side) While engaging in these movements, participants listened to a message that either advocated increasing tuition or decreasing tuition. The results showed that:

A) Participants who simulated jogging were more likely to disagree with the message.
B) Participants who simulated bike riding were more likely to disagree with the message.
C) Regardless of movement type, participants who were in better shape were more likely to agree with the message.
D) Regardless of movement type, participants who interacted with an attractive experimenter were more likely to agree with the message.

Question 35

According to research by Lieberman (1956), if a teacher would like her students to be more respectful and understanding of her role, what should she do to change their attitudes?

A) Have them write a paper about why students should respect their teachers.
B) Have them interview teachers about their jobs.
C) Have them write on the board 100 times "I will respect my teacher."
D) Have them take turns teaching a class for a day.

Question 36

People's behavior toward homosexuals will be more in line with their attitudes if the person with whom they interact fits their stereotype.

Question 37

Compared to people who think about their present behavior, people who intend to behave in a certain way in the future are more likely to behave that way.

Question 38

Republican candidates are perceived to be more trustworthy-looking by Republicans than by Democrats.

Question 39

Some people may drink to alleviate the tension caused by cognitive dissonance.

Question 40

Attitude change produced by dissonance reduction can be long lasting.

Question 41

People often come to love what they have suffered for.

Question 42

When people are paid $1 to lie to someone else, they actually come to believe the lie that they have told.

Question 43

Actions are most likely to change attitudes when people have the motivation and ability to think about their situation.

Question 44

If you ask people to do you a small favor first, they will be more likely to do a larger favor for you later.

Question 45

According to self-perception theory, people who are forced to behave in a particular way will eventually come to infer their attitudes from their behavior.

Question 46

People who pull items toward them are more likely to prefer those items than items that they push away from themselves.

Question 47

If you are trying to convince someone to try an exotic food that they've never eaten before, what should you do?

A) Put the food on a plate that is out of their reach, so they have to pull it toward them.
B) Talk to them about trying the food while you're out for a jog.
C) Show them a variety of food pictures on the computer and have them use the mouse to point out the food you want them to try.
D) All of the above

Question 48

According to _________, people infer their attitudes and beliefs from their actions.

A) cognitive dissonance theory
B) the foot-in-the-door effect
C) self-perception theory
D) insufficient justification theory

Question 49

Which of the following is the best example of self-perception theory?

A) Maria has a lot of purple clothes, so she assumes that she must like the color purple.
B) When Larry is told by his mother that he used to love listening to heavy metal he reacted against what his mother said and started listening to classical music.
C) Janelle was told by her boss that she needs to be friendly to the customers, so now she thinks of herself as a friendly person.
D) Susan loves chocolate, so she ate a candy bar during her break.

Question 50

When Micah was in college he joined a fraternity. Before being initiated, he underwent some pretty severe hazing. 25 years later, his son Ben joined the same fraternity but, due to new rules by the university, Ben did not undergo hazing. According to cognitive dissonance theory, who should enjoy being in the fraternity more and why?

A) Micah because he underwent hazing and had to justify what he went through.
B) Ben because he didn't undergo hazing and he has nothing to justify.
C) Ben because he helped the university to draft the anti-hazing rules.
D) Micah because, back in his day, the dues to join the fraternity were really low.

Question 51

Insufficient justification occurs when:

A) People have an external reason for their behavior.
B) People fear they will be punished if they don't behave in a certain way.
C) People do not have an external reason for their behavior.
D) People are asked to lie to others.

Question 52

The results of the cognitive dissonance study by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) showed that participants were most likely to recall a very boring task as actually being quite fun when:

A) They were paid $20 to lie to another participant.
B) They were paid $1 to lie to another participant.
C) They were paid $20 to tell the truth to another participant.
D) They were paid $1 to tell the truth to another participant.

Question 53

In which of the following situations will people be most likely to experience cognitive dissonance?

A) When people behave in ways that are consistent with their values.
B) When people experience physiological arousal that they attribute to the inconsistency between their attitudes and actions.
C) When people are forced to engage in a particular behavior.
D) When people experience physiological arousal that they attribute to a source that is unrelated to their attitudes or actions.

Question 54

It is very important to Mara that she take good care of herself and get enough exercise. Which of the following behaviors would be most likely to cause Mara to experience dissonance?

A) Mara's doctor encourages her to do some more low-impact exercises.
B) While Mara is at the gym she realizes that she has missed a lunch date with one of her friends.
C) Mara was late paying a bill, but she knew she wouldn't have to pay a fee.
D) Mara was feeling stressed at work so she went home and ate a pint of ice cream.

Question 55

________ is the unpleasant state that occurs when we realize that our important beliefs, attitudes or actions are inconsistent.

A) Cognitive dissonance
B) Post-decisional regret
C) Effort justification
D) Insufficient justification

Question 56

According to research on cheating, who should have the most favorable attitude toward this type of behavior?

A) Student A who has never cheated before.
B) Student B whose best friend cheats all the time.
C) Student C who has cheated many times before.
D) Student D who has only cheated once before.

Question 57

In which scenario will someone's actions be most likely to influence their attitudes?

A) When people have the motivation to think carefully.
B) When people's pre-existing attitudes are well-established.
C) When people are processing superficially.
D) When people's attitudes are important.

Question 58

How could you use the door-in-the-face technique to increase the number of people who wear their seatbelts?

A) Have people imagine wearing their seatbelts.
B) Have people watch a short video on the importance of wearing seatbelts.
C) Have people answer a few questions about their seatbelt use.
D) All of the above

Question 59

In the study by Freedman and Fraser (1966) in which a number of homeowners agreed to put a large ""Drive Safely"" sign in their front yard. Which of the following factors contributed to the agreement by the homeowners?

A) They felt forced to say 'yes' by the researchers.
B) After first agreeing to a related small request, the homeowners started to see themselves as the type of people who think safe driving is important.
C) After first agreeing to a related, but much larger request, the homeowners started to see themselves as the type of people who think safe driving is important.
D) The homeowners didn't want to be the only houses on the block without the sign.

Question 60

If the humane society wants to recruit local college students to volunteer at the animal shelter for 10-hours a week, how can they use the foot-in-the-door effect to help them recruit volunteers?

A) Invite groups of college students to stop by and play with the animals for one hour.
B) Initially ask students to volunteer for 40-hours per week, but then drop it down to 10-hours when they say no.
C) Flatter the students and tell them that they are so smart and that smart people like to work with animals.
D) Make the students feel guilty by showing them commercials of sad-looking animals.

Question 61

A representative from a cleaning company is going door-to-door asking homeowners to try small samples of their cleaning product. A few weeks later, they stop by to see if the same homeowners would like to buy larger quantities of their products. These representatives are using the __________.

A) door-in-the-face technique
B) foot-in-the-door technique
C) norm of reciprocity
D) effort justification effect

Question 62

A study in which the time participants spent completing a crossword puzzle was measured showed that people spent longer on the puzzle when:

A) The participants were strongly encouraged to complete the puzzle.
B) The participants were paid handsomely for completing the puzzle.
C) The participants were given the choice of whether or not to complete the puzzle.
D) The participants were given a choice between two word search topics.

Question 63

While attitudes tend to influence actions, our actions rarely influence our attitudes.