The Need To Justify Our Actions Answer Key Part 1

CHAPTER 6 THE NEED TO JUSTIFY OUR ACTIONS: THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF DISSONANCE REDUCTION _____________________________________________________ Multiple Choice Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1. Members of the Heaven’s Gate cult, who “knew” there was a spaceship following the Hale-Bopp comet, returned a perfectly good telescope they had purchased because they failed to see the spaceship they “knew” was there. Such behaviors demonstrate that a. cult leaders go to great lengths to brainwash their members. b. people will often go to extreme lengths to justify their actions or beliefs. c. pleasant, smart, reasonable people are seldom drawn to cults. d. scientists, like many of us, are fascinated with the macabre, gruesome aspects of life. Answer: B 2. According to the authors of your text, one of the most powerful determinants of human behavior stems from our need to a. acquire as much social power as possible. b. forge strong connections with other people. c. preserve and maintain a relatively favorable view of ourselves. d. behave in rational, logical, reasonable ways. Answer: C 3. When people act contrary to their self-perceptions as reasonable and sensible people, they experience a feeling known as ________. a. defensive attribution b. low self-esteem c. affective ambivalence d. cognitive dissonance Answer: D 4. Hai has been taking expensive beta-carotene supplements for years because he believes they will reduce his risk of cancer. Hai has just learned that a well-controlled study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine showed that beta-carotene supplements do not reduce cancer risk. Hai is probably experiencing a. cognitive dissonance. b. self-affirmation. c. the rationalization trap. d. self-discrepancy. Answer: A 5. George thinks of himself as an honest person until his brother reminds him that he’s been known to keep extra change given to him by a cashier and to stock his home office for a sideline business with supplies taken from his job. George is now probably feeling a sense of discomfort known as a. misattribution of arousal. b. self-serving bias. c. cognitive dissonance d. anxiety. Answer: C 6. Cognitive dissonance always a. leads to a change in behavior. b. produces discomfort. c. leads to the rationalization trap. d. makes people produce new cognitions. Answer: B 7. Susan carefully rinses her mouth with an unpleasant-tasting mouthwash every day. One day, Susan reads an article reporting credible dental research that suggests that mouthwash is completely ineffective and that mouthwash may even be related to tooth decay. The discomfort that Susan experiences in response to this article is called a. insufficient justification. b. cognitive dissonance. c. self-discrepancy. d. self-justification. Answer: B 8. Of the following, how are individuals most likely to reduce cognitive dissonance? a. By pretending they did not perform a particular behavior. b. By reducing their total number of cognitions. c. By adding new cognitions that are consistent with their behavior. d. By decreasing their arousal. Answer: C 9. “Live fast and die young, that’s what I always say,” Rosie pronounces, as she stuffs down three more Ding-Dong snack cakes and opens another pint of high-fat ice cream. Rosie knows that her diet is unhealthy and harmful, of course. To reduce her dissonance, Rosie is a. changing her behavior to bring it in line with her cognitions. b. changing a problem cognition to make it more consonant with her behavior. c. adding a cognition that is consonant with her problem behavior. d. engaging in self-affirmation to combat cognitive dissonance. Answer: C 10. The most typical ways of reducing dissonance include all of the following except a. forgetting about our past statements that contradict our behavior. b. changing our behavior to bring it into line with dissonant cognitions. c. justifying our behavior by changing dissonant cognitions. d. justifying our behavior by adding new cognitions. Answer: A 11. You’ve recently learned that eating avocados, which you love, is bad for your health. To reduce the dissonance you experience after reading this news, you would most likely a. question the validity of the research and the integrity of the scientists. b. consume a larger quantity of avocados. c. tell all of your friends about the findings. d. reread the article more carefully. Answer: A 12. A tobacco grower says, “I’m not the only one growing it. If I stop, someone else will be there.” Assuming that the man was experiencing dissonance from the fact that he was making his living from a crop that is bad for people’s health, he appears to be reducing this dissonance by a. changing his behavior. b. changing his cognitions. c. adding new cognitions. d. self-affirmation in an unrelated domain. Answer: C 13. “There’s no way I’d give up drinking! I’d just be stressed out all the time” says Lilly, as she sips her third martini of the evening. Lilly’s comments about her drinking habit are an example of using ________ to reduce cognitive dissonance. a. minimized shift b. justification c. behavior change d. cognitive change Answer: B 14. Talia loves animals but still eats meat. When she experiences dissonance about the contradiction, she tells herself that she also volunteers her time at an animal shelter. This manner of reducing dissonance involves a. self-affirmation b. priming c. self-handicapping d. growth mindset Answer: A 15. Emile just ditched a friend at a party to spend time with a pretty woman. Emile feels uncomfortable but he tells himself it’s because the woman is so hot and not because he treated his friend badly. The way he’s feeling is dissonance, but he tells himself it’s sexual attraction. This describes which of the following? a. self-affirmation b. self-esteem c. misattribution of arousal d. priming Answer: C 16. When people receive bad news—perhaps that they did not get a dream job they applied and interviewed for— what tends to happen? a. People usually feel worse than they expect they were going to. b. People tend to feel about as bad as they thought they would. c. People realize they really weren’t qualified for the job anyway. d. People usually put a spin on the news that makes them feel better. Answer: D 17. The authors of your text explain that people tend to overestimate how bad they will feel if a negative event were to happen to them. This tendency is called a. the rationalization trap. b. cognitive dissonance. c. self-affirmation. d. the impact bias. Answer: D 18. Rudy thinks that if he ever got kicked off the football team he would be depressed for months, and that his life would lose all meaning. In actuality, his response would probably not be this severe or prolonged. What is Rudy demonstrating? a. the impact bias b. self-affirmation c. lowballing d. effort justification Answer: A 19. People tend to fall subject to the impact bias (and not understand that they will usually successfully reduce cognitive dissonance) because reducing cognitive dissonance is a. a painful process. b. controlled and conscious. c. largely unconscious. d. quick and effortful. Answer: C 20. Because dissonance reduction processes are mostly unconscious, people a. tend to use them as coping strategies. b. often will overestimate how badly negative feedback may affect them. c. usually will put a lot of effort into reducing cognitive dissonance. d. must change their behaviors, not their thoughts, to reduce feelings of dissonance. Answer: B 21. Jay just found out that he was not accepted into his dream college. Based on information from the authors of your text about impact bias, which of the following best reflects how Jay will react? a. He will become severely depressed. b. He will not go to college at all unless he can get admitted into his dream school. c. He will get over it rather quickly. d. It actually will not bother him in the least. Answer: C 22. In a classic experiment, researchers (Aronson & Mettee, 1968) gave positive false feedback to some students, negative false feedback to some students, and no feedback to others. They were interested in seeing whether a boost to self-esteem would affect the likelihood of cheating. In this experiment, what is the independent variable? a. type of feedback b. cheating c. self-esteem d. the students Answer: A 23. Misaki feels terrible after just failing an exam in Spanish class. Now, in chemistry class, her lab partner just left the answers to the homework open on her desk while she steps into the hall to take a phone call. How is Misaki likely to behave? a. She’s likely to look at the answers and copy them down for herself. b. She’s likely to look away from the answers and do her own work. c. She’s likely to point out one of her partner’s math mistakes. d. She’s likely to tell the instructor that the answers are available. Answer: A 24. Social psychologists had African American students do carefully constructed self-affirming writing assignments regarding their good qualities outside of school. If this approach was to work for you with a group of students who were in danger of being academically dismissed, how would it affect them? a. They would have higher self-esteem but no improvement to academic performance. b. They would have higher self-esteem and improvement in their academic performance. c. They would have lower self-esteem but no improvement to academic performance. d. They would have lower self-esteem and improvement in their academic performance. Answer: B 25. According to information presented in this chapter, researchers exposed people who were strongly in favor of segregation and strongly opposed to segregation to both plausible and silly arguments in favor of both sides of the issue. If those people were responding in a purely rational or logical way, they would be most likely to remember a. plausible arguments on both sides of the issue. b. improbable or unconvincing arguments on both sides of the issue. c. silly or unconvincing arguments on their side of the issue. d. silly or unconvincing arguments on the other side of the issue. Answer: A 26. According to information presented in this chapter, researchers exposed people who were strongly in favor of segregation and strongly opposed to segregation to both plausible and silly arguments in favor of both sides of the issue. They found that people tended to best recall a. all arguments equally well. b. rational arguments of the opposing side best. c. rational arguments of their side and silly arguments of the opposite side the best. d. all arguments from the opposing side better than those of their own side. Answer: C 27. Imagine you really enjoy lying out in the sun to get a deep, dark tan. If you heard arguments both for and against tanning, you would probably remember ________ arguments for tanning, and ________ arguments against tanning. a. long; short b. short; long c. plausible; implausible d. implausible; plausible Answer: C 28. Who would be least likely to remember sound and well-founded arguments against smoking? a. a person who has finally quit smoking after repeated attempts b. a person who keeps trying to quit smoking without success c. a person who has no desire to quit smoking d. a person who has never smoked Answer: C 29. According to information presented in this chapter, researchers provided participants with both plausible and silly persuasive arguments both in favor of and against racial segregation, and then tested participants’ memory for those persuasive arguments. Their results suggested that a. Northerners were more rational than Southerners. b. prejudiced participants were less rational than nonprejudiced participants. c. something as “objective” as memory can be distorted for self-serving reasons. d. people recall plausible arguments and ignore the implausible ones. Answer: C 30. A person who supports gay marriage listens to a televised debate between two politicians on either side of the issue. According to dissonance theory, this person is likely to remember a. the best arguments on each side of the issue, regardless of who presented them. b. only the arguments presented by the person who was for gay marriage. c. only the arguments presented by the person who was against gay marriage. d. the most plausible arguments in favor of gay marriage and the most implausible arguments against it. Answer: D 31. When people try to maintain their self-esteem and reduce cognitive dissonance, they may resort to maladaptive thinking known as a. heuristics. b. schemas. c. norms. d. rationalizing. Answer: D 32. Scott believes very strongly that saccharine is an unsafe sugar substitute that may even cause cancer. Even though Scott is diabetic, and thus should be using sugar substitutes, he often opts for sugar-laden foods and drinks to avoid saccharine. “I’ll just exercise more later; the sugar isn’t a big deal. I’m really being healthier by avoiding saccharine,” he thinks to himself. Scott’s behavior and thoughts are examples of ________ in the face of cognitive dissonance. a. harmonizing b. rationalizing c. patronizing d. denial Answer: B 33. What is the broad message or theme about the processes of self-justification and the need to enhance self-esteem? Humans are a. basically self-protective, and self-justification has good outcomes for individuals and society. b. creative in their attempts to justify their actions and maintain self-esteem. c. corrupted by high self-esteem. d. seldom motivated to see themselves accurately. Answer: B 34. All of the following processes except ________ are motivated by the need to preserve or maintain self-esteem. a. changing one’s attitude in the direction of one’s behavior b. distancing oneself from a close other who outdoes one in a domain one cares about c. making upward social comparisons d. blaming the victim Answer: C 35. According to the authors of your text, people experience dissonance a. every time they make a decision. b. when they know they did the wrong thing. c. when their goals do not match what society expects of them. d. they make biased decisions. Answer: A 36. According to the authors of your text, after carefully making a decision, what is likely to happen? a. You will focus on the negative aspects of the choice you made. b. You will experience dissonance for several days. c. You will start to think more and more about the good qualities of your decision. d. You will begin to regret all the time you put into making your decision. Answer: C 37. According to the authors, every time we make a decision, we experience some amount of dissonance. Why? a. After people invest effort, they are motivated to second-guess themselves. b. The rejected alternative is seldom completely positive. c. The chosen alternative is seldom completely positive. d. People seldom seek out objective information before decision-making. Answer: C 38. ________ refers to the dissonance aroused after we have chosen between two or more alternatives. a. Justification of effort b. Postdecision dissonance c. Insufficient justification d. Decisional regret Answer: B 39. Chloe debated for a long time about whether to take a psychology or a sociology course, both of which looked interesting. She finally chose the psychology course. Now, because she is experiencing ________, she raves about the psychology course to her friends. a. insufficient justification b. postdecision dissonance c. a justification of effort d. a threat to self-evaluation maintenance Answer: B 40. Ying just purchased a rather expensive wristwatch. She had debated for weeks about the merits of two different styles before making her final decision. It’s now likely that Ying will a. continue to check the newspaper to monitor sales for the watch she opted not to buy. b. emphasize all of the positive aspects of the chosen watch. c. wish that she purchased the other watch. d. return the chosen watch and exchange it for the other watch. Answer: B 41. Someone reminds you to be appropriately grateful for the gifts you receive. Were a dissonance theorist to remind you to be thankful, he or she would be giving you advice on how to a. avoid cognitive dissonance. b. avoid things that might be costly. c. prevent consonance in your cognitions. d. prevent insufficient justification. Answer: A 42. Recall that Brehm (1956) asked women to rate the desirability of a number of appliances and then allowed them to choose one of those appliances as a gift. Twenty minutes later, all women re-rated the same appliances, including the one they chose. Women tended to rate the alternatives they rejected lower than they had originally, and to rate their chosen appliance more positively. These results suggest that people a. seldom collect enough information before making decisions. b. reduce dissonance by overestimating differences between chosen and unchosen alternatives. c. are more likely to experience cognitive dissonance when decisions are irrevocable. d. experience more dissonance when their decisions implicate their self-concepts as rational and reasonable. Answer: B 43. Recall that Brehm (1956) asked women to rate the desirability of a number of appliances, and then allowed them to choose one of those appliances as a gift. Twenty minutes later, all women re-rated the same appliances, including the one they chose. According to his findings, which of the following (fictitious) participants would rate the toaster lower than she had originally? a. June, who chose the waffle iron instead b. Donna, who felt pressured to select the iron c. Maude, who rated the toaster lowest at the outset d. Edith, who loves toast and jelly, and chose the toaster Answer: A 44. Maria is on a limited budget, and can only afford one compact disk (CD). She really likes two in particular: Frank Sinatra’s Greatest Hits and the soundtrack from the musical Wicked. When she gets home and listens to the Frank Sinatra CD, she cannot imagine why she ever considered the Wicked CD. This is because a. Maria has to justify buying a CD, given her limited budget. b. Frank Sinatra music reminds Maria of her childhood. c. Maria was motivated to reduce her postdecision dissonance. d. Maria wasn’t sure about the store’s return policy. Answer: C 45. Why do people often experience postdecision dissonance? a. They are motivated to believe in a just world. b. Almost every alternative has both an upside and a downside, and people feel uncomfortable. c. People fear that indecision will be evaluated negatively by others. d. It’s easier to value an option we’ve chosen than to disparage an option we’ve rejected. Answer: B 46. Anita spent two months trying to decide whether to buy a PC or a Macintosh. She finally decided on a Mac. Now, Anita most likely a. wishes she’d bought the IBM. b. is certain she made the right decision. c. still thinks IBMs and Macs are equally good computers. d. tries to convince all her friends to buy IBMs. Answer: B