Multiple Choice Questions

1. Tajfel (1978) proposed that a group is

  1. a set of people who feel that they are a group
  2. a set of people who outsiders see as a group
  3. a set of people with a common goal
  4. a set of people with shared beliefs

Answer: A

2. An unreasonable or unfair dislike of something, or more usually, someone, typically because they belong to a specific race, religion or group, is referred to as

  1. stereotyping
  2. prejudice
  3. scapegoating
  4. discrimination

Answer: B

3. An oversimplified, generalized impression of someone or something is referred to as

  1. a stereotype
  2. prejudice
  3. a scapegoat
  4. discrimination

Answer: A

4. The consideration or treatment of others based on general factors (e.g. their race, religion or some other grouping), rather than on individual merit, is termed

  1. a stereotype
  2. prejudice
  3. scapegoating
  4. discrimination

Answer: D

5. Someone who is (often unfairly) made to take the blame for something is referred to as

  1. a scapegoat
  2. prejudiced
  3. discriminated
  4. stereotyped

Answer: A

6. A stance in which an individual believes that their own race/ethnic group (or aspects of it, e.g. its culture) is superior to those of other groups is termed

  1. ethnocentrism
  2. egocentrism
  3. ethnicentrism
  4. existentialism

Answer: A

7. The ‘FAH’ refers to a tendency whereby individuals frustrated in pursuit of their goals become aggressive. ‘FAH’ stands for

  1. frustration–aggression hypothesis
  2. frustration-aggravating hypothesis
  3. frustration–anger hypothesis
  4. frustration–antagonism hypothesis

Answer: A

8. The social learning theory was put forward by

  1. Bandura (1977)
  2. Freud (1939)
  3. Tajfel (1978)
  4. Allport (1954)

Answer: A

9. Goals that different groups share but that can only be achieved by those groups working together are called

  1. superordinate goals
  2. subdominant goals
  3. subsidiary goals
  4. subliminal goals

Answer: A

10. According to the social identity theory, which one of our many social identities we adopt depends on:

  1. an individual’s mood
  2. social influences
  3. the context
  4. situational factors

Answer: C

11. The early theorist who saw prejudice as resulting from inflexible and faulty cognitive processing was

  1. Duckitt (1954)
  2. Allport (1954)
  3. Bandura (1954)
  4. Sherif (1954)

Answer: B

12. Which authors investigated the accuracy of eye-witness testimony accounts?

  1. Steele and Aronson (1995)
  2. Boon and Davies (1987)
  3. Blake and Mouton (1961)
  4. Ferguson and Kelley (1964)

Answer: B

13. The concept of ethnocentrism was introduced by

  1. Sumner (1906)
  2. Sommers (1906)
  3. Summer (1906)
  4. Sollman (1906)

Answer: A

14. The restraint required to limit the expression of aggression, in line with the norms of society, is the basis of theories from which school of thought?

  1. Freudian
  2. gestaltism
  3. humanistic
  4. social learning theory

Answer: A

15. The frustration–aggression hypothesis (FAH) was developed by

  1. Dollard et al. (1939)
  2. Deschamps and Doise (1978)
  3. Boon and Davies (1987)
  4. Hovland and Sears (1940)

Answer: A

16. A healthy and restorative outpouring of built-up emotional energy is termed

  1. catharsis
  2. cataclysm
  3. catabolism
  4. catachresis

Answer: A

17. The main finding of Hovland and Sears’ (1940) study was

  1. a positive correlation between the number of lynchings of black people and the price of cotton
  2. a small, but not significant, relationship between the number of lynchings of black people and the price of cotton
  3. no relationship between the number of lynchings of black people and the price of cotton
  4. a negative correlation between the number of lynchings of black people and the price of cotton

Answer: D

18. Bandura (1977) saw the expression of aggression as

  1. a healthy outpouring of energy
  2. a calming outpouring of energy
  3. encouraging of future aggressive acts
  4. likely to increase frustration

Answer: C

19. Adorno et al.’s (1950) post-World War II publication, which sought to understand the psychological dynamics involved in anti-Semitism and wider ethnocentrism, was entitled

  1. The Authoritarian Personality
  2. The Potential for Fascism
  3. Authoritarianism
  4. The Widening Circle of Covariation

Answer: A

20. In Adorno et al.’s (1950) study of ethnocentrism, ethnocentrism was found to be related to the extent to which the person ‘liked things as they are’, which was termed

  1. political and economic conservatism
  2. ethnocentric traditionalism
  3. traditionalist conservatism
  4. social conservatism

Answer: A

21. Altemeyer (1998) devised an instrument, termed the

  1. Right Wing Authoritarianism Scale
  2. The Authoritarian Personality Scale
  3. The Traditionalist Personality Scale
  4. The Ethnocentrism Scale

Answer: A

22. Perrin (2005) found that authoritarian values and behaviour may increase in response to

  1. changes in social context, such as unemployment
  2. external threats, such as terrorism
  3. childhood experiences
  4. between-group conflict

Answer: B

23. Sherif (1966) saw the psychological processes behind discrimination and prejudice of out-groups as following on from

  1. inter-group relations
  2. material relations
  3. conflict of beliefs
  4. conformity

Answer: B

24. Which of the following was NOT an experimental stage under the first two studies of Sherif et al. (1966) on inter-group relations?

  1. friendship development
  2. group formation
  3. introduction of superordinate goals
  4. inter-group competition

Answer: C

25. In his theory of inter-group conflict, Sherif (1966) saw discrimination and prejudice of out-groups as mainly due to

  1. competition for scarce resources
  2. differing group values
  3. extreme ideologies
  4. group idealization

Answer: A

26. Blake and Mouton (1961) replicated Sherif et al.’s (1966) findings in which group of people?

  1. school children
  2. lecturers
  3. business executives
  4. medical professionals

Answer: C

27. Which of the following is NOT one of the four conditions suggested under Allport’s (1954) initial contact hypothesis for contact between groups to be encouraged?

  1. equal social conditions
  2. support of authorities within the group of contact
  3. common goals between the groups
  4. similar group size

Answer: D

28. Amir contributed to Allport’s contact hypothesis, adding the condition for contact between groups to be

  1. rewarding
  2. close
  3. for a sustained period
  4. equal

Answer: A

29. The concept of superordinate goals derives from

  1. group conflict theory
  2. behavioural conflict theory
  3. realistic conflict theory
  4. social conflict theory

Answer: C

30. Which of the following is NOT listed as a predictor of collective action in van Zomeren, Postmes and Spears’ social identity model of collective action (SIMCA)?

  1. perceived injustice
  2. perceived efficacy
  3. a sense of social identity
  4. a sense of superiority

Answer: D