Chapter 11 Review Questions

1. Which of the following is true? a. People with high scores on tests of altruism are not that much more likely to help out another person than people with low scores. b. People with high scores on tests of altruism are much more likely to help another person than people with low scores. c. If a person has an altruistic personality, then they are quite likely to overcome situational pressures preventing them from helping someone. d. The genes for an altruistic personality have been identified by evolutionary psychologists.

a. People with high scores on tests of altruism are not that much more likely to help out another person than people with low scores.

12. Which of the following is not a way in which evolutionary theory explains prosocial behavior? a. Social exchange b. Kin selection c. The reciprocity norm d. Group selection

a. Social exchange

23. Evolutionary psychology would have the most trouble explaining which of the following incidents? a. When Jane was in a building that caught on fire, she let everyone else exit before her, even though she didn't know them. b. Bob risks his life to save his nephew who was drowning. c. Nancy runs in front of a moving car to keep her daughter from being hit. d. When Kareem was put in the unfortunate situation of saving his cousin or his son in a boating accident, he chose to save his son.

a. When Jane was in a building that caught on fire, she let everyone else exit before her, even though she didn't know them.

19. Meghan lives in a single room in a college dormitory. Late one night, she hears a scream coming from just outside her dorm. She is pretty sure that the person needs help because the person yelled, "help me! I think I broke my leg!" Meghan goes back to sleep, only to find out the next day that the person was on the ground for 45 minutes before someone helped. Which of the following best explains why Meghan didn't help? a. Informational influence b. A diffusion of responsibility c. She didn't interpret it as an emergency d. Pluralistic ignorance

b. A diffusion of responsibility

2. _______ is most likely to dive into a pond to save a drowning child, whereas ______ is most likely to do errands for an elderly neighbor every week. a. A woman; a man b. A man; a woman c. An East Asian citizen; a Western citizen d. A Western citizen; an East Asian citizen

b. A man; a woman

21. It's a busy day at the motor vehicles office and many people are waiting for their turn. As one man gets up to leave, he accidentally drops a folder he was carrying, and papers go everywhere. Which person is least likely to help him pick up the papers? a. Meghan, who was just thinking about times in her past when she acted in uninhibited ways. b. Joe, who is taking social psychology and heard a lecture about Latane and Darley's decision tree earlier in the week. c. Michael, who is feeling guilty because he should be home helping his roommates clean their apartment. d. Maggie, who is very religious but doesn't know the man who dropped the papers.

d. Maggie, who is very religious but doesn't know the man who dropped the papers.

16. Luke listened to a lecture in his history class that he found very confusing, but at the end of the class when the professor asked whether there was anything students didn't understand, Luke didn't raise his hand. Because no other hands were raised, Luke assumed that other students had understood the material and that he just didn't pay enough attention. In fact, many students hadn't understood the material and were in the same situation as Luke. This is an example of a. Empathy-altruism hypothesis b. Reciprocity norm c. Social exchange d. Pluralistic ignorance

d. Pluralistic ignorance

3. In which city are people most likely to help a blind person cross a street? a. New York, USA b. Amsterdam, Netherlands c. Budapest, Hungary d. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

d. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

11. Which of the following people would be most admired by his or her peers? a. Victoria volunteers at a hospital because she thinks it will look good on her college applications. b. Kevin works at a soup kitchen each week as part of a mandatory community service requirement at his job. c. Jun failed to help in an emergency because he thought someone else had already called 911. d. Shamika volunteers at a shelter for homeless families because she really likes working with kids.

d. Shamika volunteers at a shelter for homeless families because she really likes working with kids.

6. Which of the following is not part of the bystander intervention decision tree? a. Having an altruistic personality b. Interpreting an event as an emergency c. Assuming responsibility d. Knowing the appropriate form of assistance

a. Having an altruistic personality

20. Which of the following is true about prosocial behavior? a. How often people have moved from one place to other influences how helpful they are. b. There is no effect of personality on prosocial behavior. c. Being in a bad mood decreases prosocial behavior. d. Being in a good mood decreases prosocial behavior

a. How often people have moved from one place to other influences how helpful they are.

18. Which of the following is true? a. Listen to song lyrics with prosocial lyrics makes people more helpful. b. If we want someone to say yes when we ask for a date, it doesn't really work to have him or her listen to a song with romantic lyrics. c. Playing prosocial video games has no effect on how helpful people will be. d. Playing violent video games makes people more helpful.

a. Listen to song lyrics with prosocial lyrics makes people more helpful.

4. Which person is least likely to help a blind person cross the street? a. Marco, who is having a normal day and is in a neutral mood. b. Silvi, who just got an A on a paper and is thus in a good mood. c. Olivia, who just got a D on a paper and is thus feeling sad. d. Brandon, who just cheated on his girlfriend and is thus feeling guilty.

a. Marco, who is having a normal day and is in a neutral mood.

13. Amy is walking across campus and sees someone on her hands and keeps looking for a ring that slipped off her finger. Under which of the following conditions is Amy least likely to help the person look for the right, according to the empathy-altruism hypothesis? a. Amy feels empathy toward the person, so she will probably stop and help the stranger look for the ring, regardless of whether it is in her self-interest to do so. b. Amy feels empathy toward the person, but she doesn't think she has much to gain by helping, so she decides not to help the person look for the ring. c. Amy doesn't feel empathy toward the person but recognizes her as a TA in her English class. Amy really wants to get a good grade in that class, so she decides not to help her TA look for the ring. d. Amy doesn't feel empathy toward the person and doesn't think she has much to gain by helping, so she decides not to help the person look for the ring.

b. Amy feels empathy toward the person, but she doesn't think she has much to gain by helping, so she decides not to help the person look for the ring.

9. Which of the following is true? a. People are always grateful for offers to help them. b. As a result of learning about the social psychology of prosocial behavior, you may be more likely to help someone in need in the future. c. If someone doesn't want to help others there isn't much we can do to change that. d. Hearing a lecture about prosocial behavior and bystander intervention isn't likely to change how people act in a real emergency.

b. As a result of learning about the social psychology of prosocial behavior, you may be more likely to help someone in need in the future.

24. According to social exchange theory, which of the following people is most likely ot give money to a homeless person? a. Erin, who feels empathy for the homeless person. b. Bill, who wants to impress his date by helping the homeless person. c. Jack, who is related to the homeless person. d. Kate, who has a genetic predisposition for helping people.

b. Bill, who wants to impress his date by helping the homeless person.

7. Suppose that Jinyi sends a tweet asking for someone to help her move a couch into her apartment. Under which of these conditions is one of her followers mostly likely to agree to help? a. Jinyi has a very large number of followers. b. Jinyi just began tweeting and has only a few followers c. Jinyi lives in a very large city. d. Jinyi grew up in the United States.

b. Jinyi just began tweeting and has only a few followers

15. Frank has recently graduated from college and moved from New York City back to the small town in Ohio where he grew up. He now finds that he is much more inclined to engage in prosocial behavior. What is the most likely reason for this change? a. Growing up in a small town caused him to internalize altruistic values. b. The change in his immediate surroundings change his likelihood of helping. c. College students are less likely to help because they are more susceptible to the bystander effect. d. Frank is more likely to engage in negative-state relief when he is in the small town.

b. The change in his immediate surroundings change his likelihood of helping.

14. Research on prosocial behavior finds that religious people: a. Help others more than nonreligious people do in virtually all ways. b. Show more compassion toward needy strangers than do nonreligious people. c. Are more likely to help than other people are if the person in need of shares their beliefs but are not more likely to help strangers. d. Actually help others less than do nonreligious people.

c. Are more likely to help than other people are if the person in need of shares their beliefs but are not more likely to help strangers.

17. Which of the following is not a reason why being in a good mood tends to increase prosocial behavior? a. Good moods make us view situations more positively, and thus we are more likely to give people the benefit of the doubt. b. Helping prolongs good moods. c. Good moods make us pay more attention to the possible rewards for helping. d. Good moods increase how much attention we pay to ourselves, which makes us more likely to act according to our values.

c. Good moods make us pay more attention to the possible rewards for helping.

22. Which of the following is the best example of altruistic behavior? a. Julie puts a dollar in the church collection basket because everyone else donates. b. Robert volunteers at his son's school to help out his class. c. Jawal anonymously donates $100 to a homeless shelter. d. Mary helps her husband with the dishes with the hope that he will cook dinner more often.

c. Jawal anonymously donates $100 to a homeless shelter

5. Which of the following people is most likely to agree to help clean up a park in a large city? a. Brian, who just moved to the city. b. Rachel who grew up in a small town. c. Jiaying, who has lived in that city her entire life d. David, who just played a violent video game.

c. Jiaying, who has lived in that city her entire life

10. A company is considering offering its employees the opportunity to do community service. Which of the following would you recommend they do, based on research in social psychology? a. Make the community service mandatory. b. Offer incentives for doing the community service such as extra vacation days. c. Make sure that people feel that doing the community service is voluntary d. Assign people to different community agencies.

c. Make sure that people feel that doing the community service is voluntary

8. Which of the following people is least likely to help someone who dropped a folder of papers on her way to class? a. Julia, who just listened to Michael Jackson's song Heal the World b. Owen, who just played the videogame Lemmings. c. Chanel, who just listened to the Beatles song Help. d. Ben, who just played the video game Tetris.

d. Ben, who just played the video game Tetris.

25. According to Batson's empathy-altruism theory, which of the following people is most likely to vie money to a homeless person. a. Erin, who feels empathy for the homeless person. b. Bill, who wants to impress his date by helping the homeless person. c. Jack, who is related to the homeless person. d. Both Erin and Bill.

d. Both Erin and Bill.