PSYCH 2C03 EXAM STUDY GUIDE | MCMASTER UNIVERSITY SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026/2027
individualist self - ANS ✔✔defined in terms of personal traits, center of own universe
collectivist self - ANS ✔✔defined in terms of relationships with others, priority is group
self-serving attributional bias (SSAB) - ANS ✔✔internal attributions for successes and external
attributions for failures
unrealistically positive self-views - ANS ✔✔high self-ratings on subjective traits (not physical traits) like
driving ability and humor
unrealistic optimism - ANS ✔✔thinking good things happen to good people and vice versa
illusory control - ANS ✔✔think you are so great you can control things you technically can't control
basking in reflected glory - ANS ✔✔associating with successful others to boost SE
downward social comparisons - ANS ✔✔looking down at someone else, inferring positive distinctiveness
upward social comparisons - ANS ✔✔looking up at someone else who is better than us, infers negative
distinctiveness
attribution - ANS ✔✔a quick explanation
fundamental attribution error (FAE) - ANS ✔✔tendency to overfocus on someone's disposition and not
their situation
correspondence bias - ANS ✔✔bias in which we believe our personality corresponds with our behaviour
impression formation - ANS ✔✔get an impression of someone by simply watching how they behave,
without considering other factors in their situation
actor observer bias (AOB) - ANS ✔✔seeing someone behave in a certain way and assuming it's their
personality, not their situation (ex. studying; wow she must be smart, when she has a test)
point of view - ANS ✔✔important for making a fair judgment; to see the whole picture
POV on own behaviour - ANS ✔✔when focusing on ourselves (in a mirror), we tend to act more morally
and think dispositionally about self
two-factor theory of emotion - ANS ✔✔you get arousal and your need is to explain the arousal; we
almost always attribute it to an available emotion in our situation
, dissonance theory (DT) - ANS ✔✔we can use behaviour to predict (change) attitudes
dissonance reduction - ANS ✔✔choosing some option in cognition that is easily distortable so you feel
better about yourself and your behaviour matches your thoughts
dissonance - ANS ✔✔uncomfortable state where your self-concept is at odds with your behaviour;
psychological inconsistency
two methods of dissonance reduction - ANS ✔✔attitude change and motivated-reasoning bias
attitude change - ANS ✔✔changing attitude to explain why you put yourself through severe initiation
and realized the group sucks; bc you can't change behaviour
motivated-reasoning bias - ANS ✔✔consciously thinking through behaviour, but using thinking strategies
to justify bad behaviours to make self feel better (ex. smokers)
physiological discomfort - ANS ✔✔heightened arousal as a "red flag"; tells us our SE may be harmed
social facilitation - ANS ✔✔happens when people are working alone, but in the presence of an audience;
dominant responses are enhanced (whether good or bad)
social loafing - ANS ✔✔working together in a group towards some goal (people tend to slack more than
on own)
Yerkes Dodson Law - ANS ✔✔as arousal increases, performance increases to optimal level, at which
point increasing arousal decreases performance (inverted U)
complex, new tasks - ANS ✔✔optimal arousal level is much lower (graph peaks sooner)
simple, well-learned tasks - ANS ✔✔optimal arousal level is much higher (graph peaks later)
evaluation apprehensions - ANS ✔✔as you're being watched, you're aware that someone is judging you,
and this affects your performance
competition - ANS ✔✔being competitive may cause you to perform better on a task; more focus on
beating someone else
diffusion of evaluation - ANS ✔✔happens in a group when people cannot be identified (work wise) and
single person effort goes down
social compensation - ANS ✔✔when working with someone who will try hard, you tend to loaf... when
working with someone who loafs, you will try hard
parental investment theory - ANS ✔✔women are choosy; eggs are expensive and men are opportunists
(sperm are cheap)
women want - ANS ✔✔resources, status, protection, commitment and attractiveness
PSYCHOLOGY EXAM REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026/2027
individualist self - ANS ✔✔defined in terms of personal traits, center of own universe
collectivist self - ANS ✔✔defined in terms of relationships with others, priority is group
self-serving attributional bias (SSAB) - ANS ✔✔internal attributions for successes and external
attributions for failures
unrealistically positive self-views - ANS ✔✔high self-ratings on subjective traits (not physical traits) like
driving ability and humor
unrealistic optimism - ANS ✔✔thinking good things happen to good people and vice versa
illusory control - ANS ✔✔think you are so great you can control things you technically can't control
basking in reflected glory - ANS ✔✔associating with successful others to boost SE
downward social comparisons - ANS ✔✔looking down at someone else, inferring positive distinctiveness
upward social comparisons - ANS ✔✔looking up at someone else who is better than us, infers negative
distinctiveness
attribution - ANS ✔✔a quick explanation
fundamental attribution error (FAE) - ANS ✔✔tendency to overfocus on someone's disposition and not
their situation
correspondence bias - ANS ✔✔bias in which we believe our personality corresponds with our behaviour
impression formation - ANS ✔✔get an impression of someone by simply watching how they behave,
without considering other factors in their situation
actor observer bias (AOB) - ANS ✔✔seeing someone behave in a certain way and assuming it's their
personality, not their situation (ex. studying; wow she must be smart, when she has a test)
point of view - ANS ✔✔important for making a fair judgment; to see the whole picture
POV on own behaviour - ANS ✔✔when focusing on ourselves (in a mirror), we tend to act more morally
and think dispositionally about self
two-factor theory of emotion - ANS ✔✔you get arousal and your need is to explain the arousal; we
almost always attribute it to an available emotion in our situation
, dissonance theory (DT) - ANS ✔✔we can use behaviour to predict (change) attitudes
dissonance reduction - ANS ✔✔choosing some option in cognition that is easily distortable so you feel
better about yourself and your behaviour matches your thoughts
dissonance - ANS ✔✔uncomfortable state where your self-concept is at odds with your behaviour;
psychological inconsistency
two methods of dissonance reduction - ANS ✔✔attitude change and motivated-reasoning bias
attitude change - ANS ✔✔changing attitude to explain why you put yourself through severe initiation
and realized the group sucks; bc you can't change behaviour
motivated-reasoning bias - ANS ✔✔consciously thinking through behaviour, but using thinking strategies
to justify bad behaviours to make self feel better (ex. smokers)
physiological discomfort - ANS ✔✔heightened arousal as a "red flag"; tells us our SE may be harmed
social facilitation - ANS ✔✔happens when people are working alone, but in the presence of an audience;
dominant responses are enhanced (whether good or bad)
social loafing - ANS ✔✔working together in a group towards some goal (people tend to slack more than
on own)
Yerkes Dodson Law - ANS ✔✔as arousal increases, performance increases to optimal level, at which
point increasing arousal decreases performance (inverted U)
complex, new tasks - ANS ✔✔optimal arousal level is much lower (graph peaks sooner)
simple, well-learned tasks - ANS ✔✔optimal arousal level is much higher (graph peaks later)
evaluation apprehensions - ANS ✔✔as you're being watched, you're aware that someone is judging you,
and this affects your performance
competition - ANS ✔✔being competitive may cause you to perform better on a task; more focus on
beating someone else
diffusion of evaluation - ANS ✔✔happens in a group when people cannot be identified (work wise) and
single person effort goes down
social compensation - ANS ✔✔when working with someone who will try hard, you tend to loaf... when
working with someone who loafs, you will try hard
parental investment theory - ANS ✔✔women are choosy; eggs are expensive and men are opportunists
(sperm are cheap)
women want - ANS ✔✔resources, status, protection, commitment and attractiveness
