d. They have been disproven by sociologists.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 3
Page(s) in Text: 8, 15
Topic: Comprehensive (The Power of the Situation; Where Construals Come From: Basic Human Motives)
Skill: CONCEPTUAL
Essay
179. What does social psychology have in common with folk wisdom? How does social psychology differ from folk wisdom?
Answer: Both ask and answer questions about human social behavior. They seek to explain why it is that people think or feel or behave as they do. Compared to social psychology, folk wisdom is often oversimplified in its explanations, is replete with incompatible contradictory explanations, and often blames individuals for their plights. Social psychology is a science that relies on such empirical methods as experimentation.
Difficulty: 2
Page(s) in Text: 3-5
Topic: What Is Social Psychology?
Skill: CONCEPTUAL
180. Explain what the role of common sense is (and is not) in social psychology.
Answer: Common sense can be used as a springboard for formulating new research ideas. Common sense is not a substitute for using the scientific method because it is filled with contradictions and is subject to biases in thinking.
Difficulty: 2
Page(s) in Text: 3-5
Topic: What Is Social Psychology?
Skill: CONCEPTUAL
181. Few would disagree that human aggression is a very pressing social problem that leads to violent criminal acts, and that it is important to understand the causes of aggression before we can intervene to reduce it. How would a social psychologist approach this phenomenon? How would a social psychologist’s approach differ from the approach of a personality psychologist or a sociologist?
Answer: First, like a personality psychologist, a social psychologist would focus on the individual, instead of on larger structural variables like socioeconomic status or the availability of handguns. Unlike a personality psychologist, however, a social psychologist would be more likely to focus on specific social situations or on people’s construals of those specific situations. Social psychologists put far less emphasis on enduring personality characteristics or traits, and are more interested in how people are like one another in those situations. This approach also differs from a sociologist’s approach. Sociologists--unlike social psychologists--tend to focus not on the individual, but on larger segments of society. Still, like social psychologists--and unlike personality psychologists--sociologists would consider how people in different groups are different from one another when it comes to aggressive behaviors.
Difficulty: 2
Page(s) in Text: 6-7
Topic: What Is Social Psychology?
Skill: APPLICATION
182. Suppose that in a restaurant, a waiter grows impatient with a customer, rolls his eyes, taps his pencil impatiently on his order book, and finally snaps, “I haven’t got all day, you know.” Compare and contrast how a personality psychologist and a social psychologist would attempt to explain such behavior.
Answer: Both personality and social psychologists would use an individual level of analysis rather than a larger, broader level that focuses on economic, political, or historical forces. Personality psychologists, however, would focus on the kinds of characteristics in which people differ; for example, they would focus on enduring characteristics like the hostility or impulsivity of the waiter. In contrast, although social psychologists would also focus on the individual, they would attend to ways in which the waiter is like other people; for example, social psychologists might turn their attention to the waiter’s situation and in particular, his construal of the situation with the customer.