Social Influence and Persuasion
Exam Solutions
Course Introduction
This course explores the psychological principles and real-world applications of social influence and persuasion. Students will examine foundational theories of attitude change, conformity, compliance, and obedience, while considering the impact of culture, group dynamics, and media on human behavior. Through analysis of classic studies and contemporary research, the course emphasizes the mechanisms by which individuals and groups shape beliefs and actions. Practical components include evaluating persuasive messages and developing strategies for ethical persuasion in personal, professional, and societal contexts.
Recommended Textbook
Social Psychology and Human Nature Comprehensive Edition 3rd Edition by Roy F. Baumeister
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
19 Chapters
2695 Verified Questions
2695 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/296
Page 2
Chapter 1: The Mission and the Method
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
215 Verified Questions
215 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4918
Sample Questions
Q1) Dr. Gem studies individual differences in introversion (a trait similar to shyness). Dr. Gem is MOST likely a _____ psychologist.
A) social
B) personality
C) clinical
D) developmental
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following would a basic researcher MOST LIKELY study?
A) A theory that explains the causes of aggression
B) The plight of welfare mothers
C) Why people don't wear seat belts
D) How to get people to conserve electric power
Answer: A
Q3) Which of the following branches of psychology is MOST closely affiliated with social psychology?
A) Developmental psychology
B) Clinical psychology
C) Personality psychology
D) Biological psychology
Answer: C
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 3
Chapter 2: Culture and Nature
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
180 Verified Questions
180 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4919
Sample Questions
Q1) Money's relationship with human biology is BEST described as ____.
A) a financial "instinct"
B) one that is programmed into our DNA
C) an innately desirable commodity
D) a development that is too recent to have directly shaped human nature biologically
Answer: D
Q2) Jim's therapist concluded that there was "a lot going on in his psyche last week." What did his therapist mean by this?
A) Jim had a busy week last week.
B) Jim had a lot on his mind last week.
C) Jim had a lot going on last week in terms of his interpersonal relationships.
D) Jim had a poor sense of reality last week (in terms of who he was, where he was, what the date was, and so forth).
Answer: B
Q3) The two systems in the duplex mind are called the ____________________ system and the ____________________ system.
Answer: automatic deliberate,deliberate automatic
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 4
Chapter 3: The Self
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
180 Verified Questions
180 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4920
Sample Questions
Q1) Pamela is in a study where she has to rate how desirable each person in her class is to her as a friendship partner. Pamela is in a study that probably tests ____________________ theory.
Answer: sociometer
Q2) Research suggests that if you really want to change your self-concept, you should ____.
A) be sure to stay in a stable social environment
B) either change your social environment or enlist support for your self-concept change from those in your existing social network
C) temporarily isolate yourself from social contexts as much as possible
D) try out numerous different personalities one at a time, in order to see which "fits" best
Answer: B
Q3) Who is MOST likely to have unprotected sex?
A) Markesha, who has low self-esteem
B) Leigh Anne, who has moderate self-esteem
C) Jeanne, who has high self-esteem
D) They are all equally likely to have unprotected sex.
Answer: C
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 5
Chapter 4: Choices and Actions: The Self in Control
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
185 Verified Questions
185 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4921
Sample Questions
Q1) Research on the planning fallacy indicates that we tend to ____ when making predictions about ourselves and we tend to ____ when making predictions about other people.
A) be overly optimistic; be overly optimistic also
B) be overly optimistic; be realistic
C) be overly optimistic; be overly pessimistic
D) be realistic; be overly pessimistic
Q2) Research findings suggesting that people become less prosocial when induced to reject their belief in free will most likely indicate that ____.
A) free will really does exist
B) absolute free will does exist, but relative free will does not
C) relative free will does exist, but absolute free will does not
D) the belief in free will affects people's willingness to behave prosocially
Q3) When people are making choices between two options that differ both qualitatively and quantitatively, they tend to focus on ____.
A) quantitative differences primarily
B) qualitative differences primarily
C) both quantitative and qualitative differences
D) what their friends will think
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 6
Chapter 5: Social Cognition
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
177 Verified Questions
177 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4922
Sample Questions
Q1) Yogurt that is "low fat" can be described as "95% fat free" or as "5% fatty." That is, it can be ____ in different ways.
A) framed
B) primed
C) scripted
D) simulated
Q2) Once a dieter has slipped up and indulged at the Dairy Queen, he or she is likely to engage in ____________________.
Q3) Suppose that Greg and Marsha both apply for a prestigious scholarship program, and both get rejected. Greg finds out that his application was flat out rejected (he never had a chance), while Marsha finds out that she was the first runner up (she nearly won). Who is likely to be more disappointed? Why?
A) Greg-because of the simulation heuristic
B) Greg-because of the confirmation bias
C) Marsha-because of the simulation heuristic
D) Marsha-because of the confirmation bias
Q4) The state of having too much information to make a decision or remain informed about a topic is known as ____________________.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 7
Chapter 6: Emotion and Affect
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
191 Verified Questions
191 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4923
Sample Questions
Q1) According to the textbook, an affect is ____.
A) a feeling state that is not linked to a particular event
B) a largely automatic response that something is good or bad
C) a conscious evaluative reaction to some event
D) a judgment containing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components
Q2) Researcher Paul Ekman and his colleagues have suggested that there are six basic emotions. Which of the following is NOT one of these?
A) Disgust
B) Jealousy
C) Surprise
D) Sadness
Q3) Bechara et al. (1997) conducted a study in which they allowed participants to draw from various decks of cards. For some decks, the cards generally signaled a "win" of a small amount of money. Other decks dealt with larger amounts but you could win or lose money. In this study, the people who lacked emotion tended to ____.
A) choose only from the decks with larger sums
B) choose only from the decks with small wins
C) go back to the same deck over and over
D) behave similarly to those who were capable of emotion
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 8
Chapter 7: Attitudes, Beliefs and Consistency
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
185 Verified Questions
185 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4924
Sample Questions
Q1) The need to feel that one is thinking and behaving in consistent ways is ____.
A) probably innate-rooted in our biological nature
B) probably culture-bound-important in some cultures but not in others
C) probably a matter of self-presentation only; inconsistencies seem only to be troubling when others know about them
D) enormously varied from one person to the next; not everyone feels this need, and-among those who do-some people feel it much more strongly than others
Q2) Early research on classical conditioning was performed with dogs. In certain variations of this research, experimenters repeatedly presented dogs with meat powder just after ringing a bell. The dogs (who would naturally salivate after being exposed to meat powder) learned to associate the bell with the meat powder, and began to salivate as soon as they heard the bell. In this research, the bell served as a(n) ____.
A) unconditioned stimulus that became a conditioned stimulus
B) conditioned stimulus that became an unconditioned stimulus
C) neutral stimulus that became a conditioned stimulus
D) unconditioned stimulus that became a neutral stimulus
Q3) If you want to cope better with tragedy, you should engage in ____________________comparisons with others.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
9
Chapter 8: Social Influence and Persuasion
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
183 Verified Questions
183 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4925
Sample Questions
Q1) Well-educated and analytical people (as opposed to poorly-educated and non-educated people) are more responsive to arguments based on logic and reason.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How can a person defend against social influence techniques based on reciprocation?
A) The person should state their position publicly.
B) The person should be aware when a "favor" is really a trick, and not feel obligated to repay the so-called favor.
C) The person should try to calm down.
D) The person should try to pause and eliminate distractions.
Q3) Research suggests that there are two main things that make a source credible:
A) trustworthiness and likeability
B) likeability and expertise
C) expertise and trustworthiness
D) similarity and expertise
Q4) Describe the major results from Hovland's research program on persuasion.
Q5) Compare and contrast normative and informational social influence.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 10
Chapter 9: Prosocial Behavior: Doing Whats Best for Others
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
184 Verified Questions
184 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4926
Sample Questions
Q1) Who is most likely to be trusted?
A) Jason, who believes in God
B) Ella, who is an atheist
C) Rainey, who has poor self control
D) Damian, who loves to play pranks
Q2) Even though there are certain codes of behavior (both legal and moral) that people are supposed to follow during wartime, it is often the case that these codes are horrifically ignored or broken (e.g., there are lootings, mass rapes, killings of babies and children, etc.). In other words, it seems as though once certain rules and laws are broken (once people are even in war), ____ can become completely unraveled very easily.
A) belief in a just world
B) kin selection
C) reciprocity
D) rule of law
Q3) In which size group will conformity be highest?
A) 2
B) 5
C) 12
D) 25
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 11
Chapter 10: Aggression and Antisocial Behavior
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
184 Verified Questions
184 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4927
Sample Questions
Q1) The main difference between the hostile perception bias and the hostile attribution bias is that the former concerns ____ while the latter concerns ____.
A) events external to you as well as events that occur to you; just events that occur to you
B) emotions; cognitions
C) sensory experiences; interpretations of information
D) what might happen in the future; what has already happened
Q2) According to ____, human motivational forces, such as sex and aggression, are based on instincts.
A) Richard Nisbett
B) Walter Mischel
C) Sigmund Freud
D) Albert Bandura
Q3) Research indicates that violence is most associated with ____.
A) extremely low self-esteem levels
B) slightly low self-esteem levels
C) neither high self-esteem nor low self-esteem
D) grandiose, inflated opinions of oneself
Q4) What are the characteristics of people who frequently swear?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 12
Chapter 11: Attraction and Exclusion
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
188 Verified Questions
188 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4928
Sample Questions
Q1) Among men, which of the following is least associated with high levels of testosterone?
A) Unstable marriage
B) Disinterest in staying at home and caring for children
C) High sex drive
D) High incidence of depression
Q2) Which of the following is an example of the bad apple effect?
A) Denny has always been a bit deviant. Since he has been deviant at many times and in many situations, he is likely to be deviant many more times and in many more situations in the future as well.
B) Tanya experiences social rejection by her peers. As a result, she begins to shoplift and vandalize buildings.
C) Fifth-grader Ursula began playing pranks on her teacher about a month ago-throwing things at him when his back was turned and making derogatory jokes at his expense. Now, the class is in mayhem because gradually, everyone else in the class began copying her.
D) Edwin is eight, and he experiences social rejection by his peers. As a result, he learns to socially reject other children as soon as he meets them.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 13
Chapter 12: Close Relationships: Passion, Intimacy, and Sexuality
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
178 Verified Questions
178 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4929
Sample Questions
Q1) In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, intimacy refers to ____.
A) behaviors that are sexual in nature
B) feelings of closeness, mutual understanding, and concern
C) an emotional state characterized by high bodily arousal
D) sexual monogamy
Q2) If Alexis engages in a distress-maintaining style of attribution when explaining her husband Tim's behavior, then she will make ____ attributions for Tim's achievements and ____ attributions for Tim's failures.
A) internal, internal
B) internal, external
C) external, internal
D) external, external
Q3) While exchange relationships are based on a norm of ____, communal relationships are based on a norm of ____.
A) reciprocity; mutual concern
B) mutual concern; deference
C) mutual concern; reciprocity
D) deference; reciprocity
Q4) Is sex better within the context of marriage or when one is single?
Q5) Regarding yourself as a good person "as is" is known as
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 15
Chapter 13: Prejudice and Intergroup Relations
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
176 Verified Questions
176 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4930
Sample Questions
Q1) The human mind seems naturally inclined to ____.
A) think about each object in a group separately
B) sort objects into groups
C) constantly shift their opinions on which objects belong in which groups
D) spend a large amount of cognitive effort on forming impressions of objects
Q2) In the ABCs of intergroup relationships, ____ can best be thought of as a behavior.
A) stereotyping
B) racism
C) discrimination
D) prejudice
Q3) Researchers Plant and Devine have identified two basic motives that people have for overcoming prejudice. These can be classified as ____.
A) internal and external
B) implicit and explicit
C) ingroup-driven and outgroup-driven
D) enhancement-based and consistency-based
Q4) Stereotypes are generally quite inaccurate.
A)True
B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 16
Chapter 14: Groups
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
179 Verified Questions
179 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4931
Sample Questions
Q1) The three characteristics of dangerous leaders discussed in your text include: indifference toward the suffering of people, ____________________, and a grandiose sense of national entitlement.
Q2) At what status level do we see a person adapting to any situation the most?
A) extremely low status
B) low status
C) moderate status
D) high status
Q3) Suppose that David has a lot of power at his job, and Michael doesn't. Research suggests that David is more likely to ____.
A) express positive emotions at work
B) focus attention on situations that involve punishment rather than reward
C) think about how he can be of service to others when he meets new people
D) rely on the deliberate, controlled mind rather than the automatic mind
Q4) Level of accountability is the single biggest factor in predicting aggression associated with deindividuation.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In general, how does the presence of an audience affect task performance?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 17
Chapter 15: Applying Social Psychology to Consumer Behavior
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
22 Verified Questions
22 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4917
Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose that Pat is a married person who goes online once a week to look at pornographic websites and chat with others about the sites they view. What does research suggest about how most people view this?
A) Most people would say that this constitutes a betrayal.
B) Most people would say that this does not constitute a betrayal.
C) Most people would say that this constitutes a betrayal if Pat is a woman, but not if Pat is a man.
D) People would disagree about whether or not this constitutes a betrayal-regardless of whether or not Pat is a woman or a man.
Q2) People tend to buy more expensive wine when a restaurant offers valet parking as opposed to when it doesn't. This is an example of consumers being influenced via ____. A) unconscious thought processes
B) central route processing
C) what Maslow would call physiological needs
D) polychronic activity
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
18
Chapter 16: Applying Social Psychology to Health
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
22 Verified Questions
22 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4916
Sample Questions
Q1) How does stress relate to homeostasis?
A) Stress is the upsetting of homeostasis.
B) Stress is the exacerbation, or worsening, of homeostasis.
C) Stress leads to homeostasis.
D) Stress is caused by homeostasis.
Q2) Health psychology is an interdisciplinary subspecialty of psychology best described as dedicated to ____.
A) promoting health
B) promoting and maintaining health
C) preventing illness
D) promoting and maintaining health, and preventing and treating illness
Q3) The general adaptation syndrome, discussed in the text, is a model for understanding ____.
A) how people react to immediate dangers or threats
B) how people respond to stressors
C) how people respond to lifestyle changes
D) how people cope with long-term illness or disease
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 19
Chapter 17: Applying Social Psychology to the Workplace
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
22 Verified Questions
22 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4915
Sample Questions
Q1) The process by which members become absorbed into the culture of the organization is ____.
A) organizational climate
B) organizational culture
C) organizational socialization
D) workforce planning
Q2) You are taking a test for a job application as a brick layer. The test requires you to answer questions about science fiction literature. This test lacks ____.
A) reliability
B) validity
C) leadership
D) job analysis
Q3) Phil comes to work late, routinely misses meetings, and always uses the office copier for personal business. Phil is engaged in ____.
A) work withdrawal
B) affective commitment
C) quid pro quo harassment
D) mentoring
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 20
Chapter 18: Applying Social Psychology to the Law
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
22 Verified Questions
22 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4914
Sample Questions
Q1) The jury pool in the United States is known as a(n) ____.
A) venire
B) voir dire
C) implicit panel
D) challenger board
Q2) When criminal psychologists distinguish between system variables and estimator variables as two sources of inaccuracy in eyewitness reports and identifications, they are distinguishing between variables ____.
A) that are under the control of the criminal justice system versus those that are not
B) that are static versus those that are present only at the scene of the crime
C) that are relatively objective versus those that are subjective
D) that are based on memory versus those based on inference
Q3) When jurors have been exposed to pretrial publicity, they ____.
A) are somewhat more likely to deem the defendant guilty
B) are somewhat more likely to deem the defendant innocent
C) tend to think that they are biased by this exposure, even when they are not
D) are able to disregard any information to which they have been exposed once the trial begins
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 21
Chapter 19: Applying Social Psychology to the Environment
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
22 Verified Questions
22 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4913
Sample Questions
Q1) Of the following approaches to encouraging people to conserve water and energy, which has been most effective?
A) Education
B) Prompts
C) Simple reasoning
D) Having people make public commitments
Q2) The term ambient environment refers to the ____.
A) auditory environment (i.e., what we hear)
B) sensory environment in general (i.e., what we hear, see, feel, smell, etc.)
C) environment at a given instant in time
D) "vibe" or "mood" that one feels in one's environment
Q3) A teenager riding in the backseat of a car watches someone throw a match onto a hillside. The fire will not be detected by local authorities for several hours, at which point acres and acres of land will have been scorched. The teenager, having not reported what he saw to anyone, apparently fell into the social trap known as ____.
A) the individual good-collective bad trap
B) the one-person trap
C) the missing hero trap
D) the secret buddy trap
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 22