Chapter 9 Review Questions

26. Four psychology students working on a group project together are trying to figure out how they should avoid groupthink when making decisions about their project. Which of these ideas would be least helpful? a. Bonding by going to see a movie together before starting the project. b. Assigning each group member to be responsible for a different chapter in their textbook so that they cover all the details. c. Having a student who is not in the group review the project. d. Designating a leader to oversee the project, one who is nondirective and encourages people to give honest feedback.

a. Bonding by going to see a movie together before starting the project.

29. Which of the following is true about research on leadership? a. Female leaders are more likely than male leaders to be put in precarious, high-risk positions where it is difficult to succeed. b. The best leaders are just born that way. c. People in all cultures value the same traits in leaders. d. If a woman succeeds in becoming a leader of an organization and acts in an agentic way, she is evaluated in the same way that male leaders are.

a. Female leaders are more likely than male leaders to be put in precarious, high-risk positions where it is difficult to succeed.

21. Why are groups often homogenous (comprised of members who are alike in age, sex, beliefs, and opinions)? a. People who are already similar to each tend to be drawn to joining the same groups. b. Evolutionary pressures caused people with similar genes to join groups and people with dissimilar genes to avoid each other. c. Groups are more productive when they are homogenous. d. Social loafing prevents us from seeking out new people and experiences.

a. People who are already similar to each tend to be drawn to joining the same groups.

13. Walt, Jesse, Mike, and Gus are business partners trying to decide whether they should invest in a risky new direction for their company. Jesse gets the feeling that his partners are leaning toward the risky option. In order to convince his partners that he is a valued member of the company and a "good" group member, Jesse speaks up in strong, public terms in favor of the risky decision, and he leaves the meeting even more convinced than he was before that they should take the risk. Jesse's personal shift in the risky direction illustrates the ______ explanation for group polarization. a. Social comparison b. Counterattitudinal c. Persuasive arguments d. Social facilitation

a. Social comparison

3. Group cohesiveness is particularly important for a group when a. The group has formed for primary social reasons. b. The group's primary objective is problem-solving. c. The group is diverse in terms of gender but not when it is diverse in terms of race. d. Financial decision making is involved.

a. The group has formed for primary social reasons.

11. Which of the following is not an example of process loss? a. Transactive memory b. Group polarization c. Failure to share uniquely held information d. Groupthink

a. Transactive memory

2. One reason people joins groups is to a. Avoid having to deal with normative social influence. b. Accomplish objectives that are more difficult or impossible to accomplish alone. c. Decrease their cohesiveness d. Avoid well-defined social roles.

b. Accomplish objectives that are more difficult or impossible to accomplish alone.

17. Consider the prisoner's dilemma. You will receive the worst possible outcome for yourself as an individual if you a. Are cooperative and so if your partner. b. Are cooperative but your partner is selfish. c. Are selfish and so is your partner d. Are selfish but your partner is cooperative

b. Are cooperative but your partner is selfish.

18. Two fishing companies, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw use the same body of water to catch fish. Both companies are considering building dams that would allow them to cut off the water supply and prevent the other company from fishing. Research on the power of threats indicates that if both companies build a dam and gain the ability to prevent the other from fishing, a. Conflict will decrease because each side has equal threat capacity. b. Conflict will increase because each side has equal threat capacity. c. Conflict will increase slightly, but not as much as it would if only one side built a dam and had threat capacity. d. Conflict will increase, but only if communication between the two companies is prevented.

b. Conflict will increase because each side has equal threat capacity.

10. Individuals experiencing deindividuation a. Feel increasingly accountable for their actions. b. Exhibit greater conformity to specific group norms. c. Are less likely to engage in destructive or immoral behavior. d. Are unlikely to experience this feeling online, as deindividuation is much less common in virtual environments.

b. Exhibit greater conformity to specific group norms.

4. From an evolutionary perspective, groups a. Are more productive when they have two or three members as opposed to when they are larger. b. Help fulfill a basic human need to affiliate and belong with others. c. Often lead to immoral behavior, such as that observed among abusive prison guards. d. Are better able than individuals to avoid the influence of social norms.

b. Help fulfill a basic human need to affiliate and belong with others.

14. Research on personality type and leadership indicates that a. The great person theory is the best explanation for leadership success. b. People of all different personality types can become successful leaders. c. The most successful U.S. presidents (as rated by historians) tended to share major personality traits, such as extraversion, openness to new experience, and empathy. d. Most successful leaders embrace agentic traits but avoid communal traits

b. People of all different personality types can become successful leaders.

22. Group cohesiveness is best defined as a. Shared expectations in a group about how people are supposed to behave. b. Qualities that bind members together and promote liking between members. c. Expectations about the roles and behaviors of men and women. d. The tendency for people to do better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks in the presence of others.

b. Qualities that bind members together and promote liking between members.

8. Your social psychology professor calls you up to the front of the classroom and asks you to answer a series of course-related questions out loud. Even though you feel the eyes of your classmates on you, you find the questions to be easy. According to the model of ______, you should perform ______ on these questions than you would have is you had been asked them in private, without an audience. a. Social facilitation; worse b. Social facilitation; better c. Social loafing; worse d. Social loafing; better

b. Social facilitation; better

28. Which of the following is most likely to lead to process loss in a committee? a. All members of the committee listen carefully to each other's opinions. b. The committee members are good friends and have known each other for years c. Individual committee members share information that others lack. d. The most competent member on any given topic feels free to speak up.

b. The committee members are good friends and have known each other for years

16. When it comes to social dilemmas, a. An individual who adopts a cooperative strategy will always be more profitable than one who is selfish. b. The most beneficial course of action for an individual will, if chosen by most people, be harmful to all in the long run. c. One always has to win, and one side always has to lose. d. Laboratory studies cannot be useful in understanding the escalation and persistence of group conflicts.

b. The most beneficial course of action for an individual will, if chosen by most people, be harmful to all in the long run.

6. The concept of social facilitation is so named so because of the idea that when the presence of others is arousing, a. This arousal facilitates better task performance b. Their arousal facilitates a well-learned, dominant response. c. Hard tasks are facilitated, but easy tasks are impeded. d. Deindividuation is facilitated.

b. Their arousal facilitates a well-learned, dominant response.

9. Which of the following individuals would you expect to be most likely to engage in social loafing? a. Serena, an American woman. b. Li, a Chinese woman. c. Andy, a British man d. Keri, a Japanese man.

c. Andy, a British man

20. According to Sigmund Freud, __________ is an inevitable by-product of civilization. a. Negotiation b. Cooperation c. Conflict d. Psychology

c. Conflict

12. One step that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of groupthink is a. Putting in place a strong, directive group leader b. Taking group votes aloud rather than relying on secret ballot or other anonymous methods. c. Creating subgroups that meet on their own first before reconvening and sharing the content of their discussions with the group at large. d. Emphasizing the importance of being unanimous

c. Creating subgroups that meet on their own first before reconvening and sharing the content of their discussions with the group at large.

5. With the redistricting of the school system, Coach Taylor's football team for the upcoming season is more diverse than usual, with kids from a wide range of backgrounds. Including socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, family status, sexual orientation, and even football experience. Research suggests which of the following conclusions regarding a diverse group such as this? a. His team will definitely win more games than will less diverse teams. b. His team will likely experience deficits in performance, creativity, and problem solving when compared to less diverse teams. c. His team is likely to experience threats to morale and group cohesion, but these challenges will probably lessen as the season goes on. d. His team will avoid relying on clear social roles.

c. His team is likely to experience threats to morale and group cohesion, but these challenges will probably lessen as the season goes on.

19. A(n) _____ solutions in an outcome to a negotiation in which each side concedes on issues that are unimportant to it but are important for the other side. a. Tit-for-tat. b. Transactive c. Integrative d. Communal

c. Integrative

24. The tendency to engage in social loafing is stronger in ________; it is also stronger in _______. a. Men than women; Asian cultures than Western cultures. b. Women than men; Asian cultures than Western cultures. c. Men than women; Western cultures than Asian cultures d. Women than men; Western cultures than Asian cultures.

c. Men than women; Western cultures than Asian cultures

27. Jim and Pam, a married couple, are buying a house and have narrowed their choice down to two options Jim remembers that one house had a beautiful kitchen; Pam, however, remembers that there were roaches in the broom closet. By sharing this information with each other, Pam and Jim are using ______ to avoid ________. a. Mindguards; groupthink b. Social roles; deindividuation c. Transactive memory; process loss d. Subgroups; group polarization

c. Transactive memory; process loss

25. On his way back from class, Sanjeev encounters an angry mob ready to storm the dining hall to demand better food. Sanjeev likes the food as it is and wants to stop the mob. What would be the most effective solution? a. Increasing group cohesiveness by inviting the entire mob to his house for tea. b. Passing out blue shirts for everyone to wear. c. Reducing process loss in the groups by making sure that its most expert members have the most influence. d. Finding a friend in the group, calling out her name, and talking to her loudly in front of everyone.

d. Finding a friend in the group, calling out her name, and talking to her loudly in front of everyone.

7. Which of the following is not an explanation for why the presence of others can be arousing? a. The presence of other people is distracting and causes conflict, as individuals have to decide what they should pay attention to. b. When other people are around, an individual has to be on alert in anticipation of what might happen next. c. When other people are around, individuals become more concerned about how they are evaluated. d. Having other people around makes an individual feel less accountable for his or her own actions.

d. Having other people around makes an individual feel less accountable for his or her own actions.

23. You are trying to decide whether to take a test in a lecture hall where you will be surrounded by lots of other people, or in a room by yourself. Assuming that you have studied well for the test and find the materials to be easy, you will perform best on the test in the _________ because it will result in _____. a. Room by yourself; social loafing b. Room by yourself; social facilitation c. Lecture hall; social loafing d. Lecture hall; social facilitation

d. Lecture hall; social facilitation

1. Which of the following is not an example of a group? a. Six students studying together for an exam. b. The 12-person cast of a musical theater production. c. A four-person work team collaborating on a project via Web conferencing. d. Seven commuters waiting together silently at a bus stop.

d. Seven commuters waiting together silently at a bus stop.

15. A ________ leader is one who sets clear, short-term goals and rewards people for meeting them. a. Contingent b. Transformational c. Communal d. Transactional

d. Transactional

30. When is communication most effective for resolving conflict? a. When people communicate through electronic means (e.g. over e-mail) b. When it is required c. When the stakes are high, and both sides of a conflict have the ability to issue threats d. When a mediator is used

d. When a mediator is used