Candidate Number
966C8
THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
MSc EXAMINATION 2015
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
SAMPLE PAPER
___________________________________________________________________
DO NOT TURN OVER UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO
BY THE CHIEF INVIGILATOR
INSTRUCTIONS
Answer all parts of Section A and TWO further questions from Section B
Section A carries 20% and Section B carries 80% of the marks
Do not remove the question paper, answer sheet or answer book, used or unused,
from the examination room; they will be collected before you may leave.
Time allowed: 2 hours
SECTION A
The answers to this section, one to each question, should be marked on the answer
sheet provided.
[20 multiple choice questions each with four alternatives]
SECTION B
Answer TWO questions from this section from this section in the answer books
provided. Please use a separate answer book for each question.
[8 choices of essay question]
966C8
Social Psychology SAMPLE PAPER
SECTION A
One answer to each question should be marked on the answer sheet provided
1. Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons scenario is concerned with a problem of:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Ambivalent attitudes
Finite resources
Multiple identities
Collective guilt
2. In the Snyder and Swann (1978) behavioural confirmation study, did the
'labelling perceivers' in fact:
a) Act more aggressively towards the target who was expected to be
aggressive
b) Act less aggressively towards the target who was expected to be
aggressive
c) Expect the labelled target to achieve higher IQ gains
d) Expect the labelled target to achieve no IQ gains
3.
In Festinger and Carlsmith’s (1959) study on induced compliance, which
participants rated the experimental tasks as the most interesting in the
postexperimental interviews?
a) Participants who had been offered $1 to describe the task in negative
terms
b) Participants who had been offered $20 to describe the task in negative
terms
c) Participants who had been offered $1 to describe the task in positive
terms
d) Participants who had been offered $20 to describe the task in positive
terms
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966C8
4.
Social Psychology SAMPLE PAPER
The theory of planned behaviour is based on ideas developed from which of
the following?
a)
b)
c)
d)
5.
Which of the following makes heuristic processing of a message more likely?
a)
b)
c)
d)
6.
Good knowledge of the subject area
A clear message
Low personal interest
High need for cognition
What has, according to an eminent social psychologist, been ‘treated like a
rude bastard relative at a family gathering’?
a)
b)
c)
d)
7.
Attribution theory
Subjective expected utility theory
Cognitive dissonance theory
Self-affirmation theory
Downward comparison
Impression management
Civility
Stereotyping
You decide to train for a marathon, and for a month you force yourself to get
up at 6am every day to go running. At the end of the month, you notice that
you have also been more successful recently at resisting the temptation to eat
junk food. How would the strength model explain this?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Succeeding at a goal has increased your self-efficacy
Practicing self-control has increased your self-control resources
Forming a goal has increased your motivation to overcome obstacles
Similar goals facilitate each other
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966C8
8.
Social Psychology SAMPLE PAPER
You leave your wallet in a taxi. The next day, the driver calls you and offers to
bring it back, and tells you he will only bring it back if you give him a £15
reward. What does Andrade and Ariely’s 2009 study on the ultimatum game
predict about your response?
a)
b)
c)
d)
9.
Which of the following claims was made by Taylor and Brown (1994)?
a)
b)
c)
d)
10.
You will be more likely to reject the taxi driver’s offer if you are angry
The taxi driver will be more likely to withdraw his offer if you are angry
You will be more likely to accept the taxi driver’s offer if you are angry
The taxi driver will be more likely to ask for a larger reward if you are
angry
Positive illusions are necessary for mental health
Positive illusions foster happiness and growth
All positive illusions are a good thing
Positive illusions can sometimes cure people of illnesses
Below are three strongly-held views over which source condition (minority or
majority) elicits the highest cognitive scrutiny of a message. But which one
have studies shown to be correct?
a) Superior message processing is associated with a minority
b) Superior message processing is associated with a majority
c) Both a majority and minority can lead to superior message processing
under different conditions
d) None of these
11.
According to Moscovici (1980) the influence of rigid minorities is most likely to
be on attitudes that are:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Direct and publicly expressed
Indirect and publicly expressed
Direct and privately expressed
Indirect and privately expressed
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966C8
12.
Social Psychology SAMPLE PAPER
At what age do children reach an understanding of pride?
a)
b)
c)
d)
3-4
5-6
7-9
10-12
13. Self-categorisation theory suggests that social category salience is a function of:
a)
b)
c)
d)
14.
Fit x perceiver readiness
Perceiver readiness x accessibility
Identification x normative fit
Identification x comparative fit
Being in a good mood does not reduce our_______, but reduces
our________.
a) Motivation to do hard cognitive work, incentive for doing hard cognitive
work
b) Incentive to do hard cognitive work, motivation for doing hard cognitive
work
c) Motivation to do hard cognitive work, capacity for doing hard cognitive
work
d) Capacity to do hard cognitive work, motivation for doing hard cognitive
work
15.
Which stereotype-participant combination is likely to result in the weakest
rebound effect?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Skinheads stereotype; High prejudice participant
Gay stereotype; Low prejudice participant
Skinheads stereotype; Low prejudice participant
Gay stereotype; High prejudice participant
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966C8
16.
Social Psychology SAMPLE PAPER
According to social identity theory, which of the following strategies is LEAST
likely to improve relations between social groups in an intergroup contact
situation?
a)
b)
c)
d)
17.
Providing information about similarities between groups
Providing information about differences between groups
Acknowledging participants’ group memberships
Recategorising participants into a common group
According to Hofstede’s findings, which of the following nations has the least
individualistic culture?
a) USA
b) Japan
c) China
d) Panama
18.
In Friesen’s (1972) study of display rules, what was observed when
participants of different nationalities watched a film about bodily mutilation on
their own?
a) US participants showed facial expressions of disgust, but Japanese
participants did not
b) Japanese participants showed facial expressions of disgust, but US
participants did not
c) Both US and Japanese participants showed facial expressions of
disgust
d) Neither US nor Japanese participants showed facial expressions of
disgust
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966C8
Social Psychology SAMPLE PAPER
19. According to Inglehart and Baker (2000), how are people’s values likely to
change as their country shifts from a manufacturing to a service economy?
a) There will be a shift from survival towards self-expression values
b) There will be a shift from self-expression towards survival values
c) There will be a shift from traditional towards secular-rational values
d) There will be a shift from survival towards secular-rational values
20. Sam is negotiating a business contract with two companies, one in Japan and
one in America. She is frustrated by their slow replies, and wonders whether
to express her anger. What does previous research suggest about the effects
of expressing anger in negotiations in these two cultures?
a) Expressions of anger induce larger concessions from negotiators in
both Western and East Asian cultures
b) Expressions of anger induce smaller concessions from negotiators in
Western cultures, but larger concessions from negotiators in East Asian
cultures
c) Expressions of anger induce smaller concessions from negotiators in
East Asian cultures, but larger concessions from negotiators in Western
cultures
d) Expressions of anger induce smaller concessions from negotiators in
both Western and East Asian cultures
7
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966C8
Social Psychology SAMPLE PAPER
Two answers from the following section should be written in the
answer books provided.
SECTION B
21.
Critically discuss the role of the fundamental attribution error in social
psychology.
22.
When might attitudes be expected to predict behaviour and when might they
not?
23.
Discuss some of the reasons why people might fail at self-regulation, and
consider how these might be overcome.
24.
What is self-esteem, and why do people ‘need’ it? Critically evaluate the
evidence for at least two theoretical perspectives.
25.
Discuss the extent to which subsequent research supports Moscovici’s (1980)
claim that minority and majority influence are qualitatively distinct processes.
26.
What contributions has the social cognition approach made to our
understanding of prejudice? How have these been useful?.
27.
Explain the difference between ‘imposed etic’ and ‘derived etic’ approaches in
psychological research into culture. Why does this difference matter?
28.
Explain why an emotional experience might be expressed and perceived
differently across cultures?
End of Paper
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966C8 Social Psychology SAMPLE PAPER
Answers to Section A questions:
Question number
Answer
1
b
2
a
3
c
4
b
5
c
6
b
7
b
8
a
9
b
10
c
11
d
12
c
13
a
14
d
15
b
16
a
17
d
18
c
19
a
20
c