Question 1

Three of the controllable aspects of a person's life that can influence their happiness as discussed in your text are __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   satisfying relationships, financial wealth, and having children
B)   having children, pursuing a worthwhile goal, and helping others
C)   satisfying relationships, pursuing something you love, and helping others
D)   having many friends, monetary wealth, and being physical attractive C

Question 2

Kurt Lewin is quoted as saying, "There is nothing so practical as a good theory." This quote is best interpreted as meaning that __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   hypothesis testing is limited to the quality of the underlying theories
B)   to solve difficult social problems, one first needs to understand the underlying theory
C)   basic research is more important than application of the research
D)   social psychologists should focus on solving world problems B

Question 3

Which of the following anti-litter campaigns relies most on injunctive norms?

Accepted Answer

A)   highway signs that read "Keep America Beautiful"
B)   an ad with a picture of a crying Native American looking at a polluted landscape
C)   highway signs that read "Don't Mess with Texas!"
D)   television ads that show streets filled with garbage C

Question 4

Social psychologists are poised to help find solutions to applied psychological problems. Identify two reasons why.

Accepted Answer

A)   rich theories of human behavior and a long history of successful interventions
B)   a good track record of developing successful interventions and use of the experimental method
C)   rich theories of human behavior and knowledge of the experimental method
D)   use of many methods to study human behavior and advanced statistical knowledge

Question 5

Graham, Koo, and Wilson (2011) asked students to track the number of miles they avoided driving on a Web site. Those who were keeping track drove __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   more than those in a control group
B)   less only if they were also told how much money they had saved on gas
C)   less only if they were told about the savings in air pollution
D)   less, especially when given feedback about financial savings and reduction in air pollution

Question 6

Working toward a goal can lead to flow and make it difficult to think of anything but the goal. Research indicates that this increases people's __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   happiness
B)   self-reliance
C)   stress level
D)   self-image

Question 7

Your friend claims to be an animal lover but constantly wears fur and leather. How can you use the techniques designed by Aronson and his students (1992) to change your friend's behavior?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Your friend claims to be an animal...

Question 8

Implementation intentions are defined as people's specific plans about how they will __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   fulfill a goal
B)   limit environmental stressors
C)   limit social stressors
D)   fulfill descriptive norms

Question 9

Mr. Bernes owns several factories and is concerned with his employees wasting energy. Based on evidence presented in your text about competition and energy consumption, what should Mr. Bernes do?

Accepted Answer

A)   provide weekly feedback to his employees about how much energy their factory consumes
B)   train workers on how to conserve energy
C)   provide weekly comparative feedback about energy usage from several plants to employees
D)   make energy conservation mandatory-"or else"

Question 10

One way to encourage more people to recycle would be to institute curbside recycling. This includes providing free containers for sorting glass, paper, and aluminum, and increasing the number of recycling bins throughout a community. These strategies are likely to work, given Kurt Lewin's (1947) early assertion that __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   subjective perceptions are more important than objective reality
B)   big social changes can occur with the removal of small barriers.
C)   attitudes are powerful predictors of simple behaviors (like recycling) .
D)   human beings dislike cognitive inconsistency

Question 11

Based on what the authors of your text report, what is something to strive for in the future that would increase your happiness?

Accepted Answer

A)   a higher-paying job
B)   a new BMW
C)   a physically attractive spouse/romantic partner
D)   satisfying social relationships

Question 12

Research by Van Vugt and Samuelson (1999), in which water meters were installed in houses in one community, suggests that one way to resolve social dilemmas is to __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   decrease the availability of the resource
B)   increase the cost of the resource
C)   make it easier for people to monitor their own resource use
D)   make it easier for the city to monitor people's resource use

Question 13

Recall that Cialdini and his colleagues (1990) found that students were least likely to toss handbills to the floor when there was a piece of discarded watermelon rind on the floor, compared to experimental conditions in which the floor was completely free of litter or when handbills were already scattered on the floor. One single piece of watermelon rind significantly reduced littering because it served to remind participants of __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   descriptive norms
B)   injunctive norms
C)   littering as a social dilemma
D)   the time and money costs to remove litter

Question 14

Based on research by Cialdini and his colleagues (1990), Lola would be the LEAST likely to toss her lunch bag on the ground in a space that __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   does not contain any litter
B)   contains one piece of litter
C)   contains a light density of litter (fewer than two pieces per ten square feet) 
D)   contains a heavy density of litter (more than five pieces per ten square feet)

Question 15

Humans' rapid consumption of natural resources such as fossil fuels and difficulty finding places to put their garbage are symptoms of the underlying problem of __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   lack of awareness of environmental problems
B)   apathy about the environment
C)   overpopulation
D)   illiteracy and lack of education

Question 16

Under which of the following circumstances would descriptive norms work the best to reduce littering?

Accepted Answer

A)   A sign points to the nearest trash can.
B)   Most people in the area are picking up their trash.
C)   Everyone is cooperating to clean up after a party.
D)   A billboard with a celebrity on it reminds people not to litter.

Question 17

Kurt Lewin is considered to be the __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   founder of modern personality psychology
B)   greatest applied methodologist of the twentieth century
C)   founder of empirical social psychology
D)   father of professional psychology

Question 18

According to your text, the residents of Miami are already being affected by which environmental problem?

Accepted Answer

A)   global warming
B)   air pollution
C)   nuclear waste leakage
D)   overpopulation

Question 19

According to your text, the two reasons why helping others makes people feel happier are helping others __________.

Accepted Answer

A)   enhances social relationships and increases the chances of monetary gain
B)   enhances social relationships and enhances the person's self-esteem
C)   enhances the person's self-esteem and increases the chances of monetary gain
D)   increases the chances of monetary gain and increases the chances of finding a good mate

Question 20

People follow two types of social norms, __________ norms, which are people's perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disapproved of by others, and __________ norms, those that are people's perceptions of how people actually behave.

Accepted Answer

A)   descriptive; injunctive
B)   injunctive; descriptive
C)   behavioral; acceptable
D)   acceptable; behavioral

Exam 14: Using Social Psychology to Achieve a Sustainable and Happy Future