BAPSY Social Psychology 3

Question 1

Robert Cialdini's principle of 'scarcity' as a tool of influence works primarily because:

Accepted Answer

People desire things more when they are less available

Answer

Scarcity triggers psychological reactance — the perception that freedom to obtain something is threatened increases its desirability.

Question 2

The 'foot-in-the-door' technique achieves compliance with a large request by first securing agreement to:

Accepted Answer

A small, reasonable request

Answer

Agreeing to a small initial request shifts self-perception toward seeing oneself as cooperative, increasing compliance with larger follow-up requests.

Question 3

Leon Festinger's concept of social comparison theory proposes that we evaluate our opinions and abilities by comparing ourselves to:

Accepted Answer

Similar others

Answer

Festinger argued that in the absence of objective criteria, people turn to similar others as a benchmark for self-evaluation.

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of the 'door-in-the-face' compliance technique?

Accepted Answer

Asking someone to volunteer 40 hours per week, then settling for 2 hours

Answer

Door-in-the-face works by making a large request first, then retreating to a smaller target request that seems reasonable by comparison.

Question 5

Stereotype threat, as described by Claude Steele, refers to the risk of:

Accepted Answer

Confirming a negative stereotype about one's group through performance

Answer

Stereotype threat occurs when awareness of a negative group stereotype creates anxiety that impairs performance on tasks relevant to that stereotype.

BAPSY - Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Practice Test

BAPSY - Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Practice Test

BAPSY Social Psychology 3