CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Social psychologists do not generally
a. work in settings outside of an academic context.
b. consider the effects of external, nonsocial factors on behavior.
c. study phenomena about which commonsense beliefs are held.
d. pay more attention to group behavior than the behavior of individuals within groups.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
2. Which of the following questions would a social psychologist be most likely to study?
a. Are crime rates different among people of higher versus lower socioeconomic status?
b. What risk factors contribute to the onset of schizophrenia?
c. Is there a link between playing violent video games and engaging in aggressive behavior?
d. Do citizens in countries with democratic governments report greater life satisfaction than
citizens in countries with autocratic governments?
ANS: C REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
3. Social psychology is all of the following except
a. a science addressing a diverse array of topics.
b. the study of how people think, feel, and behave.
c. a compilation of anecdotal observations and case studies.
d. an approach applying the scientific method of systematic observation, description, and
measurement.
ANS: C REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
4. Social psychology is primarily concerned with the ways in which
a. group factors contribute to the functioning of social institutions.
b. unconscious forces influence conscious motivations and desires.
c. specific personality characteristics predict behavior across situations.
d. individuals think, feel, and behave with regard to others.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
5. Social psychology differs from history and philosophy in its
a. attention to the scientific method.
b. concern with human behavior.
c. greater focus on cultural influences.
d. more narrow and refined bandwidth of interest.
ANS: A REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
6. Which of the following is not considered an important part of the scientific method?
a. Systematic observation
b. Variable definition
, c. Intuition
d. Measurement
ANS: C REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
7. Anita wants to spend her career studying the factors that predict whether the members of a
couple are satisfied with their marriage. If she chooses to do so as a social psychologist, it is
likely that her pursuit will
a. focus more on people’s thoughts than on their actual behavior.
b. emphasize the importance of different personality types, such as “fun-loving” and “open to
new experiences.”
c. examine couples rather than individuals as the unit of analysis.
d. include systematic observation and measurement of couples.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
8. Mariano is interested in how the diversity of a group affects its performance. If Mariano is a
social psychologist, it is unlikely that he will
a. conduct experiments that compare diverse and non-diverse groups.
b. focus more on the details of recent Supreme Court rulings regarding affirmative action
than examining the actual behavior of groups.
c. be interested in the thoughts as well as behaviors of people within those groups.
d. expect the perceived influence of diversity among the members of the groups to be as
influential as the actual changes in performance caused by diverse demographics.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
9. Which of the following is a central part of the definition of social psychology?
a. It uses historical events as its primary source of data.
b. It assumes that thoughts and behaviors are influenced by other people.
c. It focuses more on the behavior of groups than on that of individuals.
d. It emphasizes the solitary nature of human behavior.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
10. Which of the following statements about social psychology is false?
a. A goal of social psychology is to develop general principles that describe human behavior.
b. An assumption of social psychology is that only social factors influence human behavior.
c. Social psychology relies on the scientific method to learn about human behavior.
d. Social psychology is concerned with the way in which the imagined presence of others
influences individuals.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
11. A social psychologist would be least likely to conduct a study examining the effect of
a. sleep on concentration ability.
b. temperature on highway shootings.
c. political attitudes on friendship formation.
d. academic performance on self-esteem.
, ANS: A REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
12. Sarunas is a social psychologist. Of the following studies, he is probably most interested in
reading about one demonstrating the effects of
a. attitude similarity on interpersonal attraction.
b. immigration patterns on stock market activity.
c. distraction on attention to a visual display.
d. narcotic substances on neurotransmitter activity in the brain.
ANS: A REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
13. Courses in social psychology are often required for students majoring in which of the
following fields?
a. Education
b. Journalism
c. Business
d. All of these
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
14. The study conducted by Walton and Cohen (2011) on the impact of insecurity on academic
performance focuses on
a. the influence of information on the temporary nature of belonging uncertainty on
academic performance in male versus female students.
b. gender differences in academic performance.
c. racial differences in academic performance.
d. the influence of information on the temporary nature of belonging uncertainty on
academic performance in African-American versus Caucasian students.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 2
KEY: Factual
15. The results of the “belongingness uncertainty” study conducted by Walton and Cohen
(2011) indicate that
a. knowing that initial insecurity as a university freshman is normal and temporary improved
academic performance through the end of the freshman year for African-American and
Caucasian students, but not beyond that year.
b. knowing that initial insecurity as a university freshman is normal and temporary improved
, academic performance through the end of the freshman year for African-American
students, but not beyond that year.
c. knowing that initial insecurity as a university freshman is normal and temporary improved
academic performance through the senior year for both African-American and Caucasian
students.
d. knowing that initial insecurity as a university freshman is normal and temporary improved
academic performance through the senior year for African-American students.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
16. Extrapolating from the Walton and Cohen (2011) study of belongingness uncertainty and
academic performance, knowing that feeling insecure at the outset of one’s freshman year is
normal and temporary should help
a. all students perform better throughout all the years of college.
b. African-American, but not Caucasian, students perform better throughout all the years of
college.
c. all students perform better during their freshman year, but not much beyond that.
d. African-American, but not Caucasian, students perform better during their freshman year,
but not much beyond that.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
17. How did Walton and Cohen (2011) explain the failure of information on belongingness
uncertainty to help Caucasian students improve academic performance, as compared to
their African-American counterparts?
a. Caucasian students don’t experience belongingness uncertainty at all.
b. Caucasian students have less persistent experience of belongingness uncertainty.
c. Caucasian students have more persistent experience of belongingness uncertainty.
d. Caucasian students did not listen to or process the message on belongingness uncertainty.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
18. Bianca is African American, and she is a new university student. She is feeling quite nervous
about being part of a university. Based on research by Walton and Cohen (2011), what can
you tell her that will help her succeed?
a. Study hard--it pays off!
b. Get involved so you will have social support.
c. Feeling nervous about school is normal and temporary.
d. Be very organized so that you will be able to do everything on time.
ANS: C REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
19. Which student will be helped most by being given information on how normal it is to feel
stress and uncertainty during their freshman year?
a. Jacey, an African-American female.
b. Jorey, a Caucasian female.
c. Liam, a Caucasian male.
d. Xiao-Ping, a Chinese-American female.
ANS: A REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Social psychologists do not generally
a. work in settings outside of an academic context.
b. consider the effects of external, nonsocial factors on behavior.
c. study phenomena about which commonsense beliefs are held.
d. pay more attention to group behavior than the behavior of individuals within groups.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
2. Which of the following questions would a social psychologist be most likely to study?
a. Are crime rates different among people of higher versus lower socioeconomic status?
b. What risk factors contribute to the onset of schizophrenia?
c. Is there a link between playing violent video games and engaging in aggressive behavior?
d. Do citizens in countries with democratic governments report greater life satisfaction than
citizens in countries with autocratic governments?
ANS: C REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
3. Social psychology is all of the following except
a. a science addressing a diverse array of topics.
b. the study of how people think, feel, and behave.
c. a compilation of anecdotal observations and case studies.
d. an approach applying the scientific method of systematic observation, description, and
measurement.
ANS: C REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
4. Social psychology is primarily concerned with the ways in which
a. group factors contribute to the functioning of social institutions.
b. unconscious forces influence conscious motivations and desires.
c. specific personality characteristics predict behavior across situations.
d. individuals think, feel, and behave with regard to others.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
5. Social psychology differs from history and philosophy in its
a. attention to the scientific method.
b. concern with human behavior.
c. greater focus on cultural influences.
d. more narrow and refined bandwidth of interest.
ANS: A REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
6. Which of the following is not considered an important part of the scientific method?
a. Systematic observation
b. Variable definition
, c. Intuition
d. Measurement
ANS: C REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
7. Anita wants to spend her career studying the factors that predict whether the members of a
couple are satisfied with their marriage. If she chooses to do so as a social psychologist, it is
likely that her pursuit will
a. focus more on people’s thoughts than on their actual behavior.
b. emphasize the importance of different personality types, such as “fun-loving” and “open to
new experiences.”
c. examine couples rather than individuals as the unit of analysis.
d. include systematic observation and measurement of couples.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
8. Mariano is interested in how the diversity of a group affects its performance. If Mariano is a
social psychologist, it is unlikely that he will
a. conduct experiments that compare diverse and non-diverse groups.
b. focus more on the details of recent Supreme Court rulings regarding affirmative action
than examining the actual behavior of groups.
c. be interested in the thoughts as well as behaviors of people within those groups.
d. expect the perceived influence of diversity among the members of the groups to be as
influential as the actual changes in performance caused by diverse demographics.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
9. Which of the following is a central part of the definition of social psychology?
a. It uses historical events as its primary source of data.
b. It assumes that thoughts and behaviors are influenced by other people.
c. It focuses more on the behavior of groups than on that of individuals.
d. It emphasizes the solitary nature of human behavior.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
10. Which of the following statements about social psychology is false?
a. A goal of social psychology is to develop general principles that describe human behavior.
b. An assumption of social psychology is that only social factors influence human behavior.
c. Social psychology relies on the scientific method to learn about human behavior.
d. Social psychology is concerned with the way in which the imagined presence of others
influences individuals.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
11. A social psychologist would be least likely to conduct a study examining the effect of
a. sleep on concentration ability.
b. temperature on highway shootings.
c. political attitudes on friendship formation.
d. academic performance on self-esteem.
, ANS: A REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
12. Sarunas is a social psychologist. Of the following studies, he is probably most interested in
reading about one demonstrating the effects of
a. attitude similarity on interpersonal attraction.
b. immigration patterns on stock market activity.
c. distraction on attention to a visual display.
d. narcotic substances on neurotransmitter activity in the brain.
ANS: A REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
13. Courses in social psychology are often required for students majoring in which of the
following fields?
a. Education
b. Journalism
c. Business
d. All of these
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
14. The study conducted by Walton and Cohen (2011) on the impact of insecurity on academic
performance focuses on
a. the influence of information on the temporary nature of belonging uncertainty on
academic performance in male versus female students.
b. gender differences in academic performance.
c. racial differences in academic performance.
d. the influence of information on the temporary nature of belonging uncertainty on
academic performance in African-American versus Caucasian students.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 2
KEY: Factual
15. The results of the “belongingness uncertainty” study conducted by Walton and Cohen
(2011) indicate that
a. knowing that initial insecurity as a university freshman is normal and temporary improved
academic performance through the end of the freshman year for African-American and
Caucasian students, but not beyond that year.
b. knowing that initial insecurity as a university freshman is normal and temporary improved
, academic performance through the end of the freshman year for African-American
students, but not beyond that year.
c. knowing that initial insecurity as a university freshman is normal and temporary improved
academic performance through the senior year for both African-American and Caucasian
students.
d. knowing that initial insecurity as a university freshman is normal and temporary improved
academic performance through the senior year for African-American students.
ANS: D REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
16. Extrapolating from the Walton and Cohen (2011) study of belongingness uncertainty and
academic performance, knowing that feeling insecure at the outset of one’s freshman year is
normal and temporary should help
a. all students perform better throughout all the years of college.
b. African-American, but not Caucasian, students perform better throughout all the years of
college.
c. all students perform better during their freshman year, but not much beyond that.
d. African-American, but not Caucasian, students perform better during their freshman year,
but not much beyond that.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
17. How did Walton and Cohen (2011) explain the failure of information on belongingness
uncertainty to help Caucasian students improve academic performance, as compared to
their African-American counterparts?
a. Caucasian students don’t experience belongingness uncertainty at all.
b. Caucasian students have less persistent experience of belongingness uncertainty.
c. Caucasian students have more persistent experience of belongingness uncertainty.
d. Caucasian students did not listen to or process the message on belongingness uncertainty.
ANS: B REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Conceptual
18. Bianca is African American, and she is a new university student. She is feeling quite nervous
about being part of a university. Based on research by Walton and Cohen (2011), what can
you tell her that will help her succeed?
a. Study hard--it pays off!
b. Get involved so you will have social support.
c. Feeling nervous about school is normal and temporary.
d. Be very organized so that you will be able to do everything on time.
ANS: C REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
19. Which student will be helped most by being given information on how normal it is to feel
stress and uncertainty during their freshman year?
a. Jacey, an African-American female.
b. Jorey, a Caucasian female.
c. Liam, a Caucasian male.
d. Xiao-Ping, a Chinese-American female.
ANS: A REF: What Is Social Psychology? OBJ: 1
