Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems Third Edition Test Bank

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Chapter 2:Social Psychological TheoryMultiple Choice1.Which of the following is NOT one of the steps in the scientific process?a.creating specific hypothesesb.observationc.theory developmentd.registering the research studyAns: DCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Easy2.The first step of the scientific process is______.a.creating a hypothesisb.developing a theoryc.observationd.designing a research studyAns: CCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Easy3.For social psychologists, the observation stage of the scientific process may consist ofa.reviewing existing research evidence and a single vivid incident from everyday lifeb.reviewing existing research evidence and deduction testingc.induction testing and deduction testingd.induction testing and a single vivid incident from everyday lifeAns: ACognitive Domain:ComprehensionAnswerLocation: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level:Easy4.A(n)______is a set of interrelated hypotheses concerning a particular phenomenon.a.psychological lawb.theoryc.observationd.operational definitionAns: BCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Easy5.______is the process of moving from the specific to the general.a.Deduction

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b.Reasoningc.Inductiond.Theory developmentAns: CCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Medium6.The majority of social psychological theories are constructed bya.inferring general principles from observing specific instancesb.modifying already existing theories in psychologyc.developing specific concepts from general principlesd.mixing theoriesAns: ACognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Easy7.Which of the following statements is false?a.Hypotheses are not a critical component of theories.b.A hypothesis can be developed through deduction.c.A hypothesis can be tested through interventions.d.A hypothesis is a prediction about the relationship between variables.Ans: ACognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Easy8.In the scientific process, what step comes after hypothesis development?a.statistical analysisb.hypothesis testingc.modifying the theoryd.screeningAns: BCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Easy9.Which of the following is NOT a function of a theory?a.to guide interventionb.to provide organizationc.to aid in educationd.to give direction in researchAns: CCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Functions of Social Psychological Theories

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Difficulty Level: Easy10.One function of a theory is to provide organization. This function is most related to the______component of the scientific process.a.theory developmentb.hypothesis testingc.observationd.creating specific hypothesesAns: CCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Functions of Social Psychological TheoriesDifficulty Level: Easy11.One function of a theory is to provide direction. This function is most related to the______component of the scientific process.a.creating a research studyb.hypothesis testingc.theory developmentd.observationAns: BCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Functions of Social Psychological TheoriesDifficulty Level: Medium12.One function of a theory is to guide intervention. This function is most related to______.a.observationb.creating hypothesesc.applicationd.objectivityAns: CCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Functions of Social Psychological TheoriesDifficulty Level: Easy13.Social psychological theories differ from each other in terms of______.a.scope and rangeb.range and relevancec.relevance and generalizabilityd.generalizability and scopeAns: ACognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Characteristics of Social PsychologicalTheoriesDifficulty Level: Medium

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14.The______of a theory refers to the number of different human behaviors that the theoryattempts to explain.a.rangeb.scopec.parsimonyd.depthAns: BCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Characteristics of Social PsychologicalTheoriesDifficulty Level: Medium15.Many social psychological theories attempt to explain one way of thinking or behaving thatis relevant in a number of different situations. One example is cognitive dissonance theory. Thistheory is a______theory.a.grandb.mid-levelc.minid.parsimoniousAns: BCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Characteristics of Social PsychologicalTheoriesDifficulty Level: Medium16.______theories attempt to explain a particular human behavior when faced with a particularset of circumstances.a.Broadb.Social psychologicalc.Mid-leveld.MiniAns: DCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Characteristics of Social PsychologicalTheoriesDifficulty Level: Easy17.The______of a theory refers to whether the theory predicts the behavior of only a specificgroup of people or all human beings.a.parsimonyb.rangec.scoped.depthAns: BCognitive Domain: Knowledge

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Answer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Characteristics of Social PsychologicalTheoriesDifficulty Level: Easy18.Testability refers to the idea that a good theory is capable of being______.a.studiedb.quantifiedc.disprovedd.publishedAns: CCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Characteristics of Social PsychologicalTheoriesDifficulty Level: Easy19.______refers to the idea that a theory should use the fewest possible number of propositionsto explain the phenomenon in question.a.Parsimonyb.Frugalityc.Testabilityd.ScopeAns: ACognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory in Social Psychology—Characteristics of Social PsychologicalTheoriesDifficulty Level: Medium20.Central to cognitive dissonance theory is the idea that human beings are motivated tomaintain______among their cognitions.a.accuracyb.reasonablenessc.comfortd.consistencyAns: DCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Easy21.______is said to exist when two cognitions are psychologically inconsistent with each other.a.Belief hypocrisyb.A subjective normc.Cognitive dissonanced.Cognition changeAns: CCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—Description

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Difficulty Level: Medium22.A key element of cognitive dissonance theory is the proposition that people will reducedissonance in the______way possible.a.easiestb.fastestc.most logicald.most socially acceptableAns: ACognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Medium23.In terms of the functions of a theory, cognitive dissonance theory is one of the best socialpsychological theories with regard toa.organizing what psychologists know about human consistencyb.providing direction for researchc.developing interventionsd.providing insight into reactions to natural disasters such as earthquakesAns: BCognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DirectionDifficulty Level: Hard24.According to cognitive dissonance theory, which of the following is NOT an example of apotential dissonance situation?a.insufficient justificationb.postdecisional dissonancec.effort justificationd.behavioral intentionAns: DCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DirectionDifficulty Level: Hard25.Postdecisional dissonance is said to occura.after you realize you have made a bad decisionb.when you had to choose between two attractive alternativesc.when you are unable to make up your mind about somethingd.if you make a decision without weighing the factsAns: BCognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DirectionDifficulty Level: Medium

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26.You have decided to buy a new car and narrow your choice down to two equally attractivealternatives. You finally decide on one, but when you get home you start to worry about whetheryou made the best decision. According to Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory, what will youmost likely do?a.Go back to the car dealership,and get the other car instead.b.Try to distract yourself from the conflicting thoughts.c.Ask a trusted friend forheropinion.d.Decide that the car you chose was clearly the better of the two.Ans: DCognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DirectionDifficulty Level: Medium27.Salespeople who employ the low-ball technique are taking advantage of the implications of______.a.postdecisional dissonanceb.insufficient justificationc.effort justificationd.bad tasteAns: ACognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DirectionDifficulty Level: Medium28.In a situation in which you have put a high degree of effort into attaining a goalthatyou thencome to feel may not have been worth allofthe effort, according to cognitive dissonance theory,you are most likely toa.reevaluate the amount of effort you put in,and judge it to be less than it really wasb.reevaluate the goal you attained,and convince yourself it was,in fact,worth itc.decide to put less effort into attaining goals in the futured.decide to put in no effort intoyour next activityAns: BCognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DirectionDifficulty Level: Hard29.In a situation where you tell a lie with very little external justification, according to cognitivedissonance theory you are most likely toa.feel guilty because lying is wrongb.apologize and tell the truth to reduce feelings of guiltc.tell the truth the next time you are in a similar situation to make up for lying in the pastd.convince yourself you weren’t really lying by changing your opinion regarding what you didlie aboutAns: DCognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—Direction

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Difficulty Level: Easy30.Elliot Aronson modified Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory in his proposal of self-consistency dissonance theory. The main idea of Aronson’s modification isa.some people’s personalities cause them to be reliably consistent or inconsistentb.some people are prone to higher degrees of dissonance than others in certain situationsc.people experience dissonance when they act in ways they see as reflecting poorly onthemselvesd.some people do not experience dissonance at allAns: CCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—DirectionDifficulty Level: Medium31.With regard to research on cognitive dissonance theory, it isNOTtrue that research hasshown thata.there are differences in people’s levels of preference for consistencyb.there are cultural differences in beliefs about the importance of attitude–behavior consistencyc.even people with a low preference for consistency have been found to change their attitudes tomatch their behaviorsd.only people with low self-esteem alter their attitudes to match their behaviorsAns: DCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance Theory—Summing Up Cognitive Dissonance TheoryDifficulty Level: Medium32.In the theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior,behavioral intentionreferstoa.what a person thinks will be the likely outcome of a behaviorb.a person’s attitude toward a certain behavior and subjective normsc.whether or not someone intends to engage in a certain behaviord.attitude strengthAns: CCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory of Planned Behavior—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Easy33.In the theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior,subjective normsrefer toa.what a person thinks will be the likely outcome of a behaviorb.a person’s belief about what others would think about the behaviorc.whether the person subjectively feels positive or negative about the behaviord.the extent to which people believe other people often engage in the behaviorAns: BCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory of Planned Behavior—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Easy

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34.Ajzen (1985) decided to extend the theory of reasonedaction by introducing which of thefollowing variables?a.subjectivenormsb.behavioralcontrolc.behavioralintentiond.attitudeAns: BCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory of Planned Behavior—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Easy35.Imagine that you take out the garbage at home because you believe your parents think youshould be taking out the garbage, and doing this chore will help you secure the use of the familycar on Friday. According to the theory of planned behavior, in this example,your perception ofyour parents’ thoughts represents______.a.behavioral intentionb.attitudec.subjective normd.volitional controlAns: CCognitive Domain:ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory of Planned Behavior—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Medium36.In the theory of planned behavior, volitional control refers toa.the amount of influence a person thinkshe or she hasover a behaviorb.the degree to which a person believeshe or shecan modifyhis or herpast behaviorc.whether the person believesshe or hecan control the attitudes of other peopled.the person’s perception of the likely outcome of the behaviorAns: ACognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory of Planned Behavior—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Easy37.The theory of planned behavior allowed researchers to better understand conflicting resultsfrom prior research. This served which function of a theory?a.descriptionb.organizationc.directiond.interventionAns: BCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory of Planned Behavior—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Medium

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38.The theory of planned behavior allows researchers to better understand why some peopledownload music illegally and then figure out ways to curb that behavior. This serves whichfunction of a theory?a.descriptionb.organizationc.directiond.interventionAns: DCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory ofPlanned Behavior—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Medium39.The theory of planned behavior suggested new relationships among phenomena such asbehavioral control and behavioral intentions. This served which function of a theory?a.descriptionb.organizationc.directiond.interventionAns: CCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory of Planned Behavior—DescriptionDifficulty Level: Medium40.Ajzen (1985) developed the theory of planned behavior based on his analysis of experimentsthat tested which of the following theories?a.the theory of subjective normsb.the theory of reasoned actionc.social cognitive theoryd.stages of change modelAns: BCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory of Planned Behavior—OrganizationDifficulty Level: EasyTrueorFalse1.At the core of Festinger’s(1975) dissonance theory is the idea that humans are motivated tomaintain consistency among their cognitions as psychological inconsistency makes peopleuncomfortable.Ans: TCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance TheoryDifficulty Level: Easy2.Social psychological theories differ based on specific characteristics;these include scope,reliability, testability, and durability.

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Ans: FCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory in Social PsychologyDifficulty Level: Medium3.The cognitive dissonance theory and the theory of planned behavior are minitheories thatattempt to explain one way of thinking or behaving that is relevant in a number of differentsituations.Ans: FCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance TheoryDifficulty Level: Medium4.Aronson updated Festinger’s theory of dissonance by suggesting that dissonance may arisefrom any situation in which there is an inconsistency between self-concept and awareness ofone’s behavior.Ans: TCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance TheoryDifficulty Level: Medium5.The scientific process consists of a series of steps. The second step, theory development,involves the process of moving from the specific to the general, known as deduction.Ans: FCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Easy6.The theory of planned behavior was developed based on the theory of reasoned action.Ans: TCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory of Planned BehaviorDifficulty Level: Easy7.The theory of reasoned action is concerned with four key features: subjective norms,behavioral intention, attitude,andnorms and effort justification.Ans: FCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory of Planned BehaviorDifficulty Level: Easy8.The scientific process involves a continuing cycle of observation, theory development,deduction of hypotheses, and hypothesis testing.Ans: TCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: The Scientific Process

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Difficulty Level: Easy9.Direct tests of the theory of planned behavior confirm the predictive value of perceivedbehavioral control on intentions and goal attainmentbut suggest that the theory is morepredictive for some types of behavioral intentions than others.Ans: TCognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory of Planned BehaviorDifficulty Level: Easy10.Socialpsychological theory servesmany functions, three of which include organization,application,and scope.Ans: FCognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Function of Social Psychological TheoryDifficulty Level: EasyEssay Questions1.Name and describe the four steps involved in the scientific process.Ans:1.Observation—As noted in the text, the observation stage might consist of a single vividincident from everyday life, a systematic program of descriptive data gathering, a review ofexisting research evidence, or the analysis of intervention outcomes.2.Theory Development—Following observation is theory development. Through the process ofinduction (moving from the general to the specific), interrelated hypotheses or propositions abouta phenomenon are derived.3.Specific Hypotheses—This step takes place through a process called deduction, during whichspecific hypotheses are derived from general hypotheses. (The aim of this is to attempt to specifythe relationship between two phenomena.)4.Hypothesis Testing—The fourth step is hypothesis testing. To test hypotheses, socialpsychologists often rely of a variety of strategies, including conducting research and carrying outinterventions. The results (observations) of such research may provide support for the hypothesisand thus for the theory from which it was derived. Observations that do not support thehypothesis may lead to modifications of the original theory or to the development of a new one.Applied social psychologists may be interested in the application aspect of the knowledgegained. As highlighted in the text,intervention strategies derived from theory and researchresults lead to further observations, to the modification of existing theories or the construction ofnew ones, to the testing of hypotheses derived from these theories, and to new possibilities forapplication.Cognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: The Scientific ProcessDifficulty Level: Easy

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2.Social psychological theories,such as the theory of planned behavior or cognitive dissonancetheory,serve particular functions. Name and describe the three functions of a theory.Ans:1.Providing organization—The first function of a theory is to provideorganization.Organization refers to the systematic arrangement of observations that demonstrate theirrelationship to one another.2.Providing direction—The second function of theory is to provide direction. Direction refers toguidance as to where research efforts should be focused.Social psychological theories maysuggest possible previously unconsidered relationships between observed phenomena and mayprovide stimulation and guidance for further hypothesis testing and the possible alteration of thetheory or even the generation of new theories.3.Providing guidance for the development of interventions—The third function of a theory,which is related most directly to application, is to guide intervention. Intervention refers to theattempt to bring about a change in the world.Theories in social psychology provide prescriptionsfor the solutions to social and practical problems.Cognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Theory in Social PsychologyDifficulty Level: Easy3.Cognitive dissonance theory is a well-cited social psychological theory. Describe,in detail,what this theory purports,and give an example of a situation in which cognitive dissonance mayresult.Ans:•The cognitive dissonance theory purports that humans are motivated to maintainconsistency among their cognitions. Cognitive dissonance refers to the discomfort that ariseswhen two cognitions are psychologically inconsistent with one another (for example, when one’sactions and one’s attitudes do not match). As a result of the discomfort that arises, Festingerproposed that people try to reduce the dissonance experienced in the easiest way possible. Anexample of a situationthatcould lead to dissonanceis the following:• Gary works for the Humane Society for Animals and considers himself to be an animal lover.On his way home from work after a long and exhaustive day, he kicked a cat that got in his way.In this situation, his attitude as an animal lover doesn’t match up with his behavior of kicking aninnocent animal. As a result, Gary is expected to experience discomfort over his actions and tryto reduce the discomfort by either changing his attitude, justifying his behavior,or blaming theoccurrence on the cat.Cognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance TheoryDifficulty Level: Easy4.Festinger (1957) derived a number of intriguing hypotheses from cognitive dissonance theory.One dissonance-producing situation is effort justification. There are two others that havereceived a lot ofacademic attention. List the other two,and explain all three.Ans:1.Post-decisional dissonance. With post-decisional dissonance, dissonance almost alwaysexists after a decision has been made between two or more alternatives.2.Effort justification. With effort justification, dissonance almost always exists when a personengages in an unpleasant activity to obtain some desirable outcome.

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3.Insufficient justification. With insufficient justification, dissonance almost always exists aftera successful attempt has been made to elicit overt behavior that is at variance with privateopinion by offering a reward that is just sufficient to elicit the overt behavior.Cognitive Domain: KnowledgeAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance TheoryDifficulty Level: Hard5.The central premise of cognitive dissonance theory is that psychological inconsistency makespeople uncomfortable. The discomfort experienced is what is typically referred to asdissonance.Name two ways of reducing dissonance,and apply it to an example.Ans:The following are three primary ways of reducing dissonance:1.Change one or more of the dissonant cognitions.2.Add new cognitions to make existing cognitions consistent.3.Downplay importance of dissonant cognitions.In applying the example of Gary,who kicked a cat despite being a self-proclaimed animal lover,he could attempt to reduce the dissonance experienced by(1) changing one or more of thecognitions(i.e., “I never really liked cats anyway”),(2) addingnew cognitions to make existingcognitions consistent(i.e.,“The cat might have attacked me at a later point if I didn’t scare itaway” or,“The cat walked into me; I didn’t purposely kick the cat”),or(3) “It was just one cat; Istill care deeply about the lives of all animals.”Cognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance TheoryDifficulty Level: Hard6.The foundation for the theory of planned behavior is the theory of reasoned action, proposedby Fishbein and Ajzen in 1975. Using the theory of reasoned action as a starting point, explainhow this theory evolved into the theory of planned behavior.Ans:Fishbein and Ajzen,in 1975,coined the theory of reasoned action to explain and predict avariety of volitional behaviors. The theory of reasoned action states that people enact behaviorsbecause they intend to do so, although intentions can change over time as people take in newinformation. The theory of reasoned action focuses on the interplay between its three keyfeatures:behavioral intention, attitude,and norms. Ajzen (1985) decided to extend the theory ofreasoned action by introducing the variable of volitional control. Therefore, the theory ofplanned behavior builds upon the theory of reasoned action,as it encompasses the interplay offour features:behavioral intention, attitude, norms,and volitional control. Ajzen noted that manydifferent factors outside of a person’s control may influence whether or notshe or heattemptsabehavior. Therefore, volitional control, the amount of control a person believesshe or hehasover a behavior, andher or hisperception of the probability that there will be obstacles (controlbeliefs), as well asher or hisevaluation of how much of an impact will occur with facilitating orobstructing factors, will affect a person’s intentions to attempt a behavior.Cognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Theory of Planned BehaviorDifficulty Level: Medium7.Social psychological theories differ based on specific characteristics, these include scope,range, testability, and parsimony. Explain each characteristic in detail.

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Ans:1.Scope—As described in the text, the scope of a theory refers to the number of differenthuman behaviors that the theory attempts to explain. For example,socialpsychology has beeninfluenced by many different perspectives,such as the behaviorist perspective, psychoanalyticperspective,and phenomenological perspective.2.Range—Refers to whether a theorypredicts the behaviors of only a specific group of peopleor all humans.3.Testability—Testability refers to the idea that a good theory is capable of being refuted ordisproved.4.Parsimony—The term parsimony,in the context of psychological theories,has to do with areliance on the fewest possible propositions to explain the phenomenon in question. A theoryshould be parsimonious in that it should be easily explained.Cognitive Domain: ComprehensionAnswer Location: Theory in Social PsychologyDifficulty Level: Medium8.Aronson (1999) disagreed with aspects of Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory,which ledto the development of Aronson’s self-consistency dissonance theory. Describe this theory,andexplain how this differs from Festinger’s.Ans:Aronson’s self-consistency dissonance theory purports that situations evoke dissonancebecause of an inconsistency between self-concept and awareness of one’s behavior. According tothis theory, people experience dissonance when they behave in ways that they view as reflectingnegatively on themselves (that they are incompetent, immoral, irrational, etc.). This theorydiffers from Festinger’s approach to cognitive dissonance in that Festinger believes thatdissonance arrives only when two cognitions are psychologically inconsistent and contradicteach other. However, as mentioned earlier, Aronson believes that dissonance may arise from anysituation in which there is an inconsistency between self-concept and awareness of one’sbehavior. Aronson’s (1968, 1992) reinterpretation of cognitive dissonance always involves someform of self-justification.Cognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Cognitive Dissonance TheoryDifficulty Level: Hard9.One area where the theory of planned behavior has provided ample direction is behaviorsrelated to health and safety. Using the specific health-enhancing behavior of exercise, explainhow the four core features ofthetheory of planned behavior would be applied to explainsomeone’s decision to exercise.Ans:Subjective Norms → Everyone thinks I should exercise on a regular basis.Perceived Behavioral Control→ I have the ability to start and maintain an exercise regime.Attitude → Consistent exercise is good for my physical and psychological health.Behavioral Intention → I will start exercising.Attempt the behavior → I will go for a run and eventually join a running group.Cognitive Domain: ApplicationAnswer Location: Theory of Planned BehaviorDifficulty Level: Hard

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