Free Social Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. 1 & 2
• B. 3 & 4
• C. 1 & 3
• D. 2 & 4

Explanation: Unhappy couples often respond to conflict with retaliation and negative reciprocity, in which one hostile response produces another.

• A. People will engage in high levels of destructive obedience when faced with strong situational pressures
• B. People will engage in low levels of destructive obedience when faced with strong situational pressures
• C. People's personality is the strongest determinant of obedient behaviour
• D. People will challenge authority figures when they become distressed by their commands

Explanation: Milgram's obedience study showed that ordinary people may carry out harmful instructions when situational pressures and authority are…

• A. Social support in a broad social network impacts positively on health and stress
• B. Social support in small groups helps one resist pressures to comply with an outside majority or to be obey an immoral authority
• C. Both a & b
• D. Neither a nor b

Explanation: A broad network can provide emotional and practical support that benefits health and reduces stress, while supportive allies can help…

• A. Mutual support
• B. Commitment to relationship
• C. Being in love
• D. Mutual understanding

Explanation: In Rusbult's investment model, commitment is strengthened by satisfaction, attractive alternatives being limited, and investments made in…

• A. Quite ordinary people taking part in a laboratory experiment were not prepared to administer electric shocks just because an experimenter told them to do so
• B. Participants believed that the shocks they administered would not harm anyone
• C. Apparently pathological behaviour may not be due to individual pathology but to particular social circumstances
• D. None of the above

Explanation: Milgram’s findings showed that ordinary people may perform apparently harmful acts when placed under strong situational pressure from an…

• A. The task performed
• B. Prior experience
• C. Presence of others
• D. Group identity

Explanation: Zajonc proposed that the mere presence of other people increases arousal, which facilitates dominant responses.

• A. Bystander intervention
• B. Social facilitation
• C. Bystander apathy
• D. Equity theory

Explanation: The failure of witnesses to help illustrates bystander apathy, also called the bystander effect.

• A. Ignorance about how others interpreted the situation
• B. Diffusion of responsibility made individuals feel less responsible
• C. There were no authority figures present
• D. Fear of feeling embarrassed by acting inappropriately in front of others
• E. a, b and d

Explanation: Latane and Darley identified pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility and fear of social embarrassment as barriers to…

• A. Improved performance on both well-learned/easy tasks and poorly learned/difficult tasks
• B. Improved performance on well-learned/easy tasks and deterioration in performance on poorly learned/difficult tasks
• C. Deterioration in performance on well-learned/easy tasks and improved performance on poorly learned/difficult tasks
• D. Deterioration in performance on both well-learned/easy tasks and poorly learned/difficult tasks

Explanation: Social facilitation strengthens the dominant response: a well-practised response is usually improved, whereas an incorrect or weak…

• A. Clark Wissler
• B. K. Popper
• C. Frazer
• D. Hoebel

Explanation: Hoebel described a culture trait as an irreducible unit of learned behaviour or a material product resulting from it.

• A. Max Weber
• B. Emile Durkheim
• C. Georg Simmel
• D. Karl Marx

Explanation: Karl Marx developed historical materialism, explaining social and historical change through modes of production, class relations, and…

• A. social facts
• B. issues of politics and religion
• C. Forms of association
• D. use of language

Explanation: Simmel's distinctive contribution was analysing forms of association, such as cooperation, conflict, and subordination, apart from the…

• A. W. G. sumner
• B. A. Beteille
• C. J. Huxley
• D. Micmocence

Explanation: J. Huxley is commonly credited, along with A. C. Haddon in some references, with introducing the concept of the ethnic group.

• A. C Wright Mills
• B. Max Weber
• C. Karl Marx
• D. Emile Durkheim

Explanation: C. Wright Mills introduced the term sociological imagination in 1959 to describe linking personal experiences with wider social forces.

• A. Paul B Horton
• B. Edwin Sutherland
• C. Wright Mills
• D. George Simmel

Explanation: Edwin Sutherland proposed differential association theory, arguing that criminal behaviour is learned through interaction and association…

• A. He likes them
• B. He interacts closely with them
• C. There are less than five of them
• D. They share expenses

Explanation: A primary group is defined by close, personal, and continuing interaction, as commonly found among housemates.

• A. Emile Durkheim
• B. Talcott Parsons
• C. Karl Marx
• D. August Comte

Explanation: Karl Marx is associated with economic determinism, the view that economic conditions and class relations strongly shape social life.

• A. He are only know them for a semester
• B. they like to hang out with one another
• C. They all like the same academic subject
• D. He is not very intimate with them

Explanation: Secondary groups are relatively formal and impersonal, so classmates are typically secondary because Daniel is not very intimate with…

• A. Herbert Spencer
• B. Emile Durkheim
• C. Karl Marx
• D. Talcott Parsons

Explanation: Karl Marx mainly developed the conflict perspective, which explains society through unequal power, competing interests, and class…

• A. August Comte
• B. Max Weber
• C. George Simmel
• D. Robert Park

Explanation: Max Weber used an interpretive, idealist approach that focused on understanding the meanings people attach to their social actions.