BAPSY Social and Behavioral Psychology 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'cognitive dissonance' as proposed by Leon Festinger?
- Psychological discomfort arising from holding contradictory beliefs or behaving contrary to one's beliefs (Correct answer)
- The tendency to seek out information that confirms existing beliefs
- Conflict between the id and superego
- Anxiety caused by unresolved social comparisons
Correct answer: Psychological discomfort arising from holding contradictory beliefs or behaving contrary to one's beliefs
Cognitive dissonance motivates attitude change or rationalization to restore psychological consistency between beliefs and behaviors.
Question 2: Tajfel and Turner's Social Identity Theory argues that in-group favoritism primarily stems from:
- The need for a positive social identity through group membership (Correct answer)
- Genuine resource competition between groups
- Innate tribalism encoded in human genetics
- Learned stereotypes transmitted culturally
Correct answer: The need for a positive social identity through group membership
People favor in-groups because group membership contributes to self-esteem; elevating the in-group elevates one's own social identity.
Question 3: Which research method involves systematically manipulating one variable while keeping all others constant to establish causality?
- Controlled experiment (Correct answer)
- Naturalistic observation
- Correlational study
- Case study
Correct answer: Controlled experiment
Only controlled experiments with random assignment allow researchers to infer that the independent variable caused changes in the dependent variable.
Question 4: The 'contact hypothesis' suggests that prejudice between groups can be reduced when contact occurs under which conditions?
- Equal status, common goals, institutional support, and cooperative interaction (Correct answer)
- High frequency of contact regardless of context
- Supervised interaction by an authority figure
- Competitive tasks that showcase group differences
Correct answer: Equal status, common goals, institutional support, and cooperative interaction
Gordon Allport specified that mere contact is insufficient; prejudice reduction requires equal-status cooperation toward shared goals with institutional backing.
Question 5: Which phenomenon occurs when the presence of others improves performance on well-learned tasks but impairs performance on complex or novel tasks?
- Social facilitation (Correct answer)
- Social loafing
- Evaluation apprehension
- Choking under pressure
Correct answer: Social facilitation
Zajonc explained social facilitation through arousal: arousal enhances the dominant (most practiced) response, helping on easy tasks but hurting on hard ones.
Question 6: In Sherif's Robbers Cave experiment, intergroup conflict was most effectively reduced through:
- Superordinate goals requiring cooperation between the rival groups (Correct answer)
- Enforced separation until tensions subsided
- Recreational contact such as shared meals and movies
- Punishment of aggressive behavior by camp counselors
Correct answer: Superordinate goals requiring cooperation between the rival groups
Only tasks that required both groups to work together — such as repairing the water supply — successfully reduced hostility.
Question 7: Which term refers to the tendency for attitudes formed through direct experience to be stronger predictors of behavior than attitudes formed indirectly?
- Attitude-behavior consistency
- Direct experience effect (Correct answer)
- Behavioral intention model
- Central route processing
Correct answer: Direct experience effect
Attitudes based on direct experience are more accessible, held with greater certainty, and thus more strongly linked to actual behavior.
BAPSY Social and Behavioral Psychology 4
Which of the following best describes the concept of 'cognitive dissonance' as proposed by Leon Festinger?