EPPP Social and Multicultural Bases of Behavior 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behavior is known as:
- Self-serving bias
- Fundamental attribution error (Correct answer)
- Actor-observer effect
- Confirmation bias
Correct answer: Fundamental attribution error
The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to over-attribute others' behavior to their character or disposition rather than to situational factors.
Question 2: When a person experiences psychological discomfort from holding two conflicting beliefs simultaneously, the resulting tension is best described as:
- Cognitive dissonance (Correct answer)
- Psychological reactance
- Cognitive appraisal
- Social comparison
Correct answer: Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance, as described by Festinger, occurs when contradictory cognitions are held simultaneously, creating motivational pressure to reduce the inconsistency.
Question 3: In Asch's line judgment experiments, participants who conformed to clearly incorrect group answers demonstrated the powerful influence of:
- Informational social influence
- Normative social influence (Correct answer)
- Minority influence
- Social facilitation
Correct answer: Normative social influence
Asch's conformity experiments showed normative social influence, where individuals conformed to avoid rejection and maintain group acceptance even when the group was clearly wrong.
Question 4: Which phenomenon occurs when a cohesive group prioritizes consensus over critical evaluation, leading to poor decision-making?
- Social loafing
- Deindividuation
- Groupthink (Correct answer)
- Social facilitation
Correct answer: Groupthink
Groupthink, identified by Janis, occurs when cohesiveness and pressure for conformity override realistic appraisal of alternatives, resulting in flawed collective decisions.
Question 5: A psychologist holds negative attitudes toward members of a particular ethnic group but does not act on those attitudes in clinical practice. This BEST represents:
- Discrimination without prejudice
- Prejudice without discrimination (Correct answer)
- Both prejudice and discrimination
- Implicit bias only
Correct answer: Prejudice without discrimination
Prejudice refers to negative internal attitudes toward a group, while discrimination involves differential behavior; one can hold prejudiced attitudes without engaging in discriminatory actions.
Question 6: Stereotype threat, as described by Steele and Aronson, most directly impairs academic performance by:
- Reducing intrinsic motivation to complete academic tasks
- Creating anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype about one's group (Correct answer)
- Increasing reliance on stereotypical thinking patterns
- Diminishing access to educational resources
Correct answer: Creating anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype about one's group
Stereotype threat occurs when individuals fear confirming a negative group stereotype, generating performance-interfering anxiety and cognitive load.
Question 7: According to Festinger's social comparison theory, people are most likely to compare themselves to others who are:
- Substantially more successful than themselves
- Substantially less successful than themselves
- Similar to themselves (Correct answer)
- Members of an outgroup
Correct answer: Similar to themselves
Festinger's social comparison theory posits that people evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to similar others when objective standards are unavailable.
EPPP Social and Multicultural Bases of Behavior 1
The tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behavior is known as: