The Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change
Student Resources
Chapter 7: Behavioral Influences on Attitudes
1. In Regan and Fazio (1977)’s “puzzle” experiment, it was found that participants who had formed attitudes based on ______ predictors of the actual amount of time that they played with the puzzles.
- direct experience with the objects subsequently reported attitudes that were good
- written information subsequently reported attitudes that were strong
- direct experience with the objects subsequently reported attitudes that were weak
- none of these
Answer: A
2. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
- Attitudes based on direct experience are stronger predictors of subsequent behavior than attitudes based on indirect experience.
- We may incorporate negative experiences into our attitudes more quickly and strongly than positive experiences.
- Avoidance behavior causes us to learn less about an attitude object than approach behavior.
- Avoidance behavior yields more information since it is associated with self-preservation.
Answer: D
3. According to self-perception theory (Bem, 1965, 1972), ______.
- when internal cues are weak or ambiguous, the person deduces his/her attitude by observing their own behavior and the situation that produced it
- the favorability of which a person perceives themselves impact their moods, hence their attitude
- whenever a person pays attention to their own beliefs, their attitude is stronger
- whenever a person makes their self-worth salient, attitude strength is diminished
Answer: A
4. According to Albarracín and Wyer (2000), ______.
- the mere belief in having performed a behavior is not sufficient to shape attitudes
- the mere belief in having performed a behavior is sufficient to shape attitudes
- subsequent behavior was not consistent with the alleged prior action
- participants reported attitudes that were inconsistent with the alleged past behavior
Answer: B
5. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
- Self-perception theory indicates that we use our actions and the environment in which the actions occur to “guess” our attitudes.
- Self-perception is more likely for weaker attitudes, even when we merely believe that we have performed a particular behavior.
- Self-perception explains the effective use of small commitments to elicit greater compliance with requests.
- Self-perception does not explain the over-justification effect (Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett, 1973).
Answer: D
6. Effort justification considers how ______.
- hardship can influence attitudes
- new members’ performance of embarrassing rituals as a precursor to joining actually increases their liking for a group and helps the group’s long-term success
- cognitive dissonance makes new members more amenable to group demands and more committed to the group
- all of these
Answer: D
7. Axsom and Cooper’s (1985) experiment on effort justification for overweight participants showed that ______.
- neuropsychological arousal was associated with greater weight loss
- emotional sensitivity was associated with greater weight loss
- people may not only adjust their attitudes to justify their behavior – the behavior related to the attitude also changes
- participants dieted and exercised less effectively, because the cognitive tasks had nothing to do with losing weight
Answer: C
8. Post-decision spread occurs when ______.
- over time, participants grew to like a chosen item much less than the unchosen item
- the difference in preference grow larger after one item had been selected over the other
- there is no effect of dissonance
- all of these
Answer: B
9. The spreading apart of choice alternatives depends on a number of moderators, NOT including ______.
- reversibility of the decision
- behavioral approach sensitivity
- need for affect
- body posture
Answer: C
10. Counter-attitudinal advocacy depicts that ______.
- larger rewards help to explain participants’ dissonant cognitions about their behavior than smaller rewards
- the presence of higher justification for an unfavorable behavior leads to more favorable attitudes
- participants wish to look like people who act differently from how they feel
- we can ignore the social consequences of attitude expression when explaining the effects of counter-attitudinal behavior
Answer: A
11. Which of the following statements is correct?
- Subjective reports of anger following a hypocrisy induction predict the amount of behavior change.
- Behavior change is increased after people are given an opportunity to misattribute their arousal to another variable.
- Contemplating our own hypocrisy can cause subsequent behavior or attitude change.
- all of these
Answer: C
12. What is the most prevalent explanation for the weighting bias in use of positive and negative information in attitude formation?
- Avoiding negative events protects us better from exposure to dangerous situations.
- Avoiding positive events protects us better from inflated expectations
- Approaching negative events enables us to better develop resilience
- Approaching positive events stimulates the brain’s reward centres.
Answer: A