Name: ___________________________ Class: _________________ Date: __________

chapter 8

1. The research evidence for self-enhancement motivation shows that stronger self-
enhancement motivations are associated with

a. high scores—above the midpoint—on self-esteem questionnaires.

b. more objective responses when evaluating one’s positive characteristics.
c. perceptions that the self is average in relation to others.
d. greater use of upward social comparison.
e. weaker self-serving biases.

2. Which of the following people is displaying a self-serving bias?

a. Joan, who remembers more of her past failures than her past successes
b. Jeannette, who ignores negative feedback about her academic performance
c. James, who perceives himself as well above average in creativity, considerateness,
and loyalty
d. Jill, who has high self-esteem
e. Jacob, who has low self-esteem

3. You are on a committee tasked with hiring new employees. Given what you know
about the self-serving bias, you are concerned that applicants may exaggerate
their qualifications in their application or during their interview. What can you do to
prevent applicants’ self-serving biases from influencing the interview process?

a. Ask applicants to complete a questionnaire rating their qualifications during the

application process, then ask the same questions during the interview to see if
applicants are providing consistent ratings.
b. Focus your attention to how applicants discuss their weaknesses, and place less
importance on their descriptions of their strengths.
c. Focus your attention on qualifications that are clearly observable and backed up by
concrete evidence.
 d. Ask applicants to complete a self-esteem questionnaire, then only invite candidates
with high self-esteem to interview.
e. Ask applicants to complete a self-esteem questionnaire, then only invite candidates
with low self-esteem to interview.

4. Raquel recently did poorly on a sociology exam. Which of the following strategies
should she AVOID if her goal is to engage in self-enhancement?

a. disregard the importance of sociology

b. blame her poor performance on her professor for not writing a fair exam
c. think about how the student with the lowest score in class did
d. focus on how other classmates from her track and field team did really well
e. compare herself with how the best student in her class did

5. Based on the biases self-enhancers have, which of the following is someone who
self-enhances most likely to say after failing a chemistry test?

a. “Even though I failed this chemistry test, I can still do well in physics.”
b. “I failed this chemistry test, so I have to study even harder in this class.”
c. “This test was fair; I just didn’t work hard enough.”
d. “Chemistry is still very important to me.”
e. “Lex did so well! I need to work hard to be more like him.”

6. If a person basks in the reflected glory of his or her group, which of the following is
most likely?

a. The person will not engage in self-serving biases.

b. The person has a stronger endowment effect than East Asians would exhibit.
c. The person has a prevention orientation.
d. The person has an entity theory of the world.
e. The person is not someone who engages in self-enhancement.

7. Which of the following statements about cultural variation in self-enhancement

motivations is FALSE?

a. Research has found cultural differences in the percentage of people who report having
high self-esteem.
 b. Research has found cultural differences in the percentage of success versus failure
memories that people recall.
c. Research has found evidence for cultural differences in self-enhancement among both
children and adults.
d. Research has found that some collectivistic cultures display levels of self-
enhancement comparable to those found in individualistic cultures.
e. Research has found evidence for cultural similarities in the degree to which people
enhance the qualities of their relationship partners and groups.

8. Do East Asians really self-enhance less than North Americans? Research has
examined a number of alternative explanations. These include all of the following
EXCEPT

a. East Asians self-enhance just as much as North Americans but Western biases in our
research methods prevent us from seeing these motivations.
b. East Asians self-enhance just as much as North Americans but only when researchers
measure traits that are important to East Asians.
c. East Asians self-enhance just as much as North Americans and studies that say
otherwise are flawed because they aren’t measuring people’s true feelings and are
instead inadvertently measuring cultural norms for describing oneself.
d. East Asians self-enhance just as much as North Americans if researchers go beyond
measuring adult college students and also study children and groups with less
traditional educational experiences.
e. All of these alternative explanations were discussed in the textbook.

9. Tara is studying self-enhancement in South Korea compared to the United States.

Her results suggest that Americans describe themselves more positively on a
variety of personality dimensions than do South Koreans, but she is worried that
this effect isn’t real and that what is really happening is that the South Korean
participants feel compelled to be modest. Do you think this alternative explanation
is credible?

a. Not really: If Tara’s study examines a wide range of personality dimensions, the study
is comprehensive enough that the findings are likely an accurate reflection of South
Korean’s self-enhancement motivations.
b. Not really: If Tara’s study ensures anonymity, and uses indirect measures of self-
enhancement, the findings from past research suggest it is unlikely that her
participants feel compelled to hide their self-enhancement motivations.
c. Yes: Research shows that East Asians regularly portray that they are more modest
than they really are and that Westerners regularly boast about their positive qualities
even when they do not feel very positive about themselves.
 d. Yes: Research shows that cultural norms are more important than internal feelings
among East Asians, so it makes sense that Tara’s South Korean participants would
rather report being modest than report positive feelings about the self.
e. I don’t know: The existing research is mixed and more research needs to be
conducted before a firm conclusion can be drawn.

10. The self-serving bias is ________. This explains why Spencer, an American
college student, is likely to recall more ________ compared to Hirohito, a
Japanese college student, who is likely to recall more ________.

a. more common among Westerners than East Asians; failure memories; success
memories
b. more common among Westerners than East Asians; success memories; failure
memories
c. more common among East Asians than Westerners; failure memories; success
memories
d. more common among East Asians than Westerners; success memories; failure
memories
e. equally common among East Asians than Westerners; success memories; failure
memories

11. Ichiro, a Japanese student, wants to sell a used book that he’s had for a decade.
Kent, an American student, wants to sell the same book, which he has also owned
for a decade. They price their respective books depending on how much they think
the books are worth. The books themselves are valued at $50. Which of the
following best predicts what the two price tags will most likely be?

a. Ichiro: $50; Kent: $50

b. Ichiro: $70; Kent: $30
c. Ichiro: $20; Kent: $20
d. Ichiro: $30; Kent: $70
e. Ichiro: $70; Kent: $70

12. Recall that the textbook describes several different explanations for the origins of
cultural differences in self-enhancement motivation. How is the Protestant
Reformation relevant to the question of why Westerners self-enhance so much?
 a. The Christian doctrine that all of God’s creations should be respected requires that
people respect themselves and come to view themselves in unrealistically positive
terms.
b. Because God loves everybody, it follows that people should also love themselves.
c. Catholicism emphasizes confession, which involves a recognition of one’s faults. The
shift to Protestantism led Protestants to avoid thinking about their faults.
d. People are motivated to believe that they are predestined to go to heaven, and this
leads them to interpret their behavior in an unrealistically positive light.
e. None of these statements is relevant.

13. Calvin is a Protestant Christian who believes in predestination. Which of the

following statements accurately describes how Calvin’s religious beliefs influence
how he perceives himself and his chances of going to heaven after he dies?

a. “I engage in good deeds, therefore I know I am a good person and will likely go to
heaven.”
b. “I experience a lot of positive outcomes in my life. This means that God thinks I am a
good person and that I will go to heaven.”
c. “I treat others like I would like to be treated. This makes me a better person and more
likely to go to heaven instead of hell.”
d. “I am modest enough to know that there is a possibility that I may not be good enough
to get into heaven.”
e. “Since other people view me as a good person, God probably does too. This means
that I am likely to go to heaven.”

14. Which of the following statements is MOST likely to encourage self-enhancing

motivations?

a. “You can only rely on yourself, so you better be good enough.”

b. “The path you travel in life is yours, and yours alone.”
c. “From the moment you are born, you are connected to others.”
d. “You always have people to turn to in times of need. You are never really alone.”
e. “It is better to be overly positive about your future than overly negative.”

15. Which of the following statements is TRUE about face?

a. People can increase their face by focusing on their positive qualities.

b. All people have roughly the same amount of face.
c. Face is more easily lost than it is gained.
 d. Face is negatively correlated with self-esteem.
e. The importance of face is unrelated to collectivism.

16. Choong-hyun is motivated to maintain face, especially among his co-workers.

Consequently, Choong-hyun is also motivated to

a. ensure that he views himself positively.

b. ensure that his coworkers view him positively.
c. avoid spending time with his co-workers.
d. try to spend more time with his co-workers.
e. engage in behaviors that show that he is an average person and no better than
anyone else.

17. Your mother adopts a prevention orientation in her parenting. Which of the
following statements reflects this?

a. When you bring home an A- on an assignment, your mother rewards you with a treat.
b. When you get an A- on an exam, your mother encourages you to review the questions
you missed.
c. When you get average grades on your report card, your mother pushes you to think
about how you are going to achieve your academic goals.
d. When you fail an exam, your mother responds with warmth and support and does not
criticize your abilities.
e. When you are studying for a big exam, your mother encourages you to “think
positively” and “envision succeeding.”

18. Kosuke is a Japanese student who has just won a drawing competition. Jack is a
Canadian student who has also just won a drawing competition. Immediately after
their victories, they are asked to create another drawing. Compared to Kosuke,
what is Jack more likely to do?

a. spend more time drawing than Kosuke

b. stop drawing earlier than Kosuke
c. draw for about the same amount of time as Kosuke
d. spend less time drawing than he would if he had not won
e. move on to a different task
19. Claudia and Hideki are math students. Claudia has a self-enhancement
orientation, whereas Hideki has a self-improvement orientation. The best way to
encourage them both to persist when studying for their upcoming math exam is to
give

a. both students very difficult sample questions to study.

b. both students very easy sample questions to study.
c. Claudia very easy sample questions but give Hideki very difficult sample questions.
d. Claudia very difficult sample questions but give Hideki very easy sample questions.
e. both students a mixture of easy and difficult questions.

20. Hasan, an American college student, is enrolling in a cultural psychology course

next semester. He has to decide between two different sections of the course, with
two different professors. To help him make a decision, Hasan reads the reviews for
these professors on a popular college course review website. Based on research
on promotion and prevention orientation, which review is MOST consistent with
Hasan’s motivational orientation?

a. “Both Dr. A and Dr. B are great professors.”

b. “You should think carefully about which class you want to take. They both have their
downsides.”
c. “Dr. B really cares about her students and goes out of her way to help them succeed.”
d. “Dr. A’s exams are very difficult. She tests you on information that is not discussed in
class.”
e. “Dr. B has a monotone voice, which makes her class sessions super-boring.”

21. After studying abroad for a semester, Jing is excited to return home to China and
reconnect with her friends. She wants to ensure that her friends still view her
positively. What should Jing do to maintain face with her friends?

a. Brag to her friends about all the academic opportunities and awards she received
while studying abroad.
b. Compliment her friends a lot by drawing attention to their positive qualities.
c. Talk positively about China and negatively about her experiences while studying
abroad.
d. Demonstrate her high social status by purchasing and wearing name brand clothing.
e. View herself positively: If she is self-confident, her friends will notice her positive
qualities.
22. Which of the following people would you expect to feel the need to maintain face?

a. Donna, who says, “I try to approach any opportunities that come my way.”
b. John, who says, “I really like to make myself feel good about myself.”
c. Michelle, who says, “I prefer to avoid negative outcomes from happening.”
d. Wolfgang, who says, “I cannot change who I am—I am who I am.”
e. Leon, who says, “I like to compare myself with those who are worse off than I am.”

23. A person is building a road to connect two towns, but the road is stopped by a
mountain. The person can either build the road so that it follows the side of the
mountain and continues on from the other side or simply tunnel through the
mountain. This person decides that people should not be pushed around by nature
and so decides to tunnel through the mountain. Which of the following terms best
describes this way of thinking?

a. secondary control
b. entity theory of the world
c. self-enhancement
d. incremental theory of the world
e. maintaining face

24. In Western cultures, ________. In East Asian cultures, ________.

a. individuals are viewed as more changeable than the social world; the social world is
viewed as more changeable than individuals.
b. the social world is viewed as more changeable than are individuals; individuals are
viewed as more changeable than the social world.
c. individuals and the social world are viewed as similarly changeable; the social world is
viewed as more changeable than individuals.
d. individuals and the social world are viewed as similarly changeable; individuals are
viewed as more changeable than the social world.
e. the social world is viewed as more changeable than are individuals; individuals and the
social world are viewed as similarly changeable.

25. Which of the following is an example of secondary control?

a. You work hard at your studies in the beginning of the term so you do not have such a
busy time at the end of the term.
 b. You try to convince your friends that they should move their planned hiking trip to the
following weekend because that would fit better with your schedule.
c. You convince yourself that taking the bus to work is not so bad after all.
d. You return the sweater that you just bought because you decide it does not look good
on you.
e. You start showing up at work before your boss does in an effort to get a raise.

26. Which of the following is the best example of primary control?

a. You and your friends decide as a group to spend a day at the amusement park.
b. You choose to paint your house yellow after your partner tells you about her strong
preference for yellow.
c. You cook spaghetti and meatballs because your parents are in town and it is their
favorite dish.
d. You return a computer game to the local computer store because it did not excite you
as much as you had hoped.
e. You buy a dog as a pet because you are allergic to cats.

27. Several real estate agents have been convicted of several counts of real estate
fraud. The most plausible reaction from American and Japanese news outlets will
be that Japanese newspapers are likelier than American ones to

a. recommend strong punishment of the agents.

b. view the real estate companies to be at fault.
c. predict similar events will happen in the future.
d. remove their assets from the companies involved.
e. perceive the agents as having exercised choice.

28. Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding the research findings on
cultural influences on primary and secondary control?

a. People from Japan report using primary control to pursue their goals, whereas North
Americans report using secondary control to pursue their goals.
b. People from collectivistic cultures are more likely to perceive groups as agents of
primary control than are people from individualistic cultures.
c. Both Japanese and U.S. participants report that primary control experiences feel more
powerful than secondary control experiences.
d. Both Japanese and U.S. participants report that secondary control experiences feel
forced; that is, participants feel compelled to adjust in these situations.
 e. Recent research shows that preventing a person from engaging in primary control
elicits anxiety among members of relatively collectivistic cultures.

29. Makayla is from the United States and Michiko is from Japan. Given what you
know about cultural influences on primary and secondary control, which of the
following statements describes these women best?

a. Makayla is likely to remember more situations where she adjusted to versus influenced
others, whereas Michiko is likely to remember more situations where she influenced
versus adjusted to others.
b. Makayla is likely to remember more situations where she influenced versus adjusted to
others, whereas Michiko is likely to remember more situations where she adjusted to
versus influenced others.
c. Makayla is likely to remember more situations where she influenced versus adjusted to
others, whereas Michiko is equally likely to remember influencing and adjusting
situations.
d. Both Makayla and Michiko are likely to remember more situations where they adjusted
to, versus influenced, others.
e. Both Makayla and Michiko are likely to remember more situations where they
influenced, versus adjusted, to others.

30. Helen has lived in an Eastern, collectivistic culture her entire life. Which of the
following statements about Helen is consistent with your knowledge of cultural
influences on primary and secondary control?

a. When Helen and her friends disagree about what movies to watch or restaurants to
visit, Helen feels compelled to go along with her friends’ wishes and ends up feeling
frustrated and unhappy.
b. When Helen was a child, her mother gave her a lot of opportunities to choose how
they would spend their day and what food they would eat for dinner.
c. Although Helen likes yoga more than aerobics, she signs up for an aerobics class
because sessions are held at night, which is a more convenient time for her to attend.
d. Helen remembers several instances when she agrees to do her roommate’s chores,
but she does not recall being able to persuade her roommate to assist her with her
own chores.
e. At work, Helen stands out as a leader: She inspires her team to devote a lot of time
and energy to their projects so they are completed on time.
31. As a member of his college debate team, Marvin’s goal is the same as his
teammate’s goal: to win! In preparation for a major competition, Marvin’s coach
institutes several rules that will help the team members focus, including a rule to
abstain from drinking alcohol the night before the competition. If Marvin is from a
collectivist culture, how will he most likely respond to this rule?

a. “It is unfair for the coach to dictate how I can and can’t behave.”
b. “I had no say in this rule, so I won’t obey it.”
c. “I don’t like another person making a decision for me.”
d. “I appreciate my coach’s help and agree that this rule will help me focus.”
e. “I don’t mind following this rule since I know that what benefits the team ultimately
benefits me too.”

32. Siya, an Indian student starting her first year in college, is deciding on a major.
Which of the following factors is most likely to guide her decision-making process?

a. Her personal preferences: Siya is interested in health care, so she may major in
nursing or biomedical sciences.
b. Her past experiences: Siya struggled to earn a good grade in physics, so she won’t
major in that subject.
c. Advice from her parents: Siya’s parents expect her to pursue a professional career
after college, so she is considering a business major.
d. Advice from her friends: All her friends think that psychology is an enjoyable topic, so
Siya may choose this major.
e. Advice from her classmates: Several classmates from high school told Siya that
engineering majors tend to make high salaries after college.

33. You are a teacher who assesses your students’ science knowledge by having
them play one of many science games available on the computer, so you want
them to take this task seriously. Your class is comprised of Asian American and
European American children. How will you maximize their motivation to play these
science games?

a. Allow all the children to choose the game they want.

b. Let other classmates choose the game for the Asian American students but let the
European American students choose for themselves.
c. Let the mothers of the Asian American children choose the game for them and let the
classmates of the European American children choose for them.
d. Let the European American students choose for themselves and ask students from
another school to choose for the Asian American students.
 e. Let both the European American and the Asian American parents choose for their
children.

34. One frozen yogurt parlor has 10 flavors from which to choose (Parlor X. and
another parlor has more than 100 (Parlor Z). You ask people to choose which one
they want to patronize. Which of the following is most indicative of people’s
preferences, given the research on choices as described in the textbook?

a. Americans, like people from other Western cultures, will always prefer to go to Parlor
Z.
b. Europeans will prefer Parlor Z more than Americans do.
c. Although Americans may say that they prefer Parlor Z, in fact they will have a more
difficult time choosing a flavor from Parlor Z than from Parlor X.
d. Americans will prefer it if their significant others choose for them.
e. Europeans will have no preference for either parlor.

35. At an academic debate, you overhear one researcher say, “Based on Iyengar and
colleagues’ work on choice across cultures, Asian Americans have a stronger
preference for everyone else to make choices for them rather than making choices
for themselves.” Do you agree?

a. No: Asian Americans prefer choices that are made for them by an ingroup member but
not by an outgroup member.
b. No: Asian Americans prefer to make choices for themselves rather than have
someone else choose for them.
c. Yes: Asian Americans prefer someone else to make choices for them, regardless of
who that person is because they are high in agreeableness.
d. Yes: Asian Americans prefer someone else to make choices for them, regardless of
who that person else is, because they are high in collectivism.
e. No: Asian Americans prefer to make choices for others rather than for themselves.

36. Charlotte, an American student from the United States, and her friend Chanda,
who is from India, are talking with each other about their college academic
advisors. They realize that they have both received the same advice from their
advisors: they should take more statistics courses than their major requires. Given
what you know about cultural influences on choice, how is each woman likely to
respond to her advisor’s advice?
 a. Charlotte: “My advisor is only saying this because it will benefit her and the college if I
spend more money on extra coursework”; Chanda: “My advisor is helping me be more
competitive for graduate school by sharing this strategy.”
b. Charlotte: “I’m going to follow this advice even though I don’t like it because it is too
much work”; Chanda: “I’m going to follow this advice because I like this advice: It will
enhance my skills.”
c. Charlotte: “If I follow this advice it will help me improve my critical thinking skills”;
Chanda: “If I follow this advice it will limit my ability to hone other skills in other
courses.”
d. Charlotte: “I am going to follow this advice because I don’t have much experience
making academic choices on my own”; Chanda: “ I am not going to follow this advice
because it differs from my personal preferences.”
e. Charlotte: “I trust that my advisor is providing this advice because she knows what is
best for me”; Chanda: “I worry that my advisor is only providing this advice because
that is what the university wants her to say.”

37. As you recall, researchers have conducted a number of studies examining how
people from the United States and India experience choice differently. Which of the
following statements is INCORRECT regarding these research findings?

a. Relative to North Americans, Indians report that they have less free choice in their
lives.
b. Relative to North Americans, Indians respond less negatively when they are prevented
from making their own choices.
c. Relative to North Americans, Indians are more likely to go along with the advice they
received from someone else.
d. Relative to North Americans, choices made by Indians are guided less by personal
preferences and more by an authority figure’s expectations.
e. Relative to North Americans, Indians perceive themselves as making more choices,
even in research studies where the two groups receive the same number of
opportunities to make choices.

38. Research conducted on East and West Germany found that

a. West Germans employed more secondary control strategies than did East Germans.
b. although they had fewer choices available to them, East Germans were happier than
West Germans.
c. East Germans preferred having choices made for them by their governments, whereas
West Germans preferred having choices made for them by their families.
d. East Germans showed more achievement motivation than West Germans.
 e. East Germans displayed more behaviors associated with learned helplessness than
West Germans.

39. When studying socioeconomic influences on choice, researchers hypothesize that

working-class adults will perceive and experience choice differently than upper-
middle-class adults. What is the rationale for this hypothesis?

a. Because of their relatively lower income, working-class (versus upper-middle-

class) adults experience fewer opportunities to make choices and more situations
where there are constraints on their personal choices.
b. Because of their relatively lower income, working-class (versus upper-middle-
class) adults care less about making choices in daily life.
c. Because of their relatively higher income, upper-middle-class (versus working-
class) adults have a lot more friends, and thus more opportunities to make choices.
d. Because of their relatively longer work hours, upper-middle-class (versus working-
class) adults have fewer opportunities to make choices in daily life, so they are very
excited to make choices when the opportunity arises.
e. Because of their relatively longer work hours, working-class (versus upper-middle-
class) adults spend less time with family, and thus experience fewer social constraints
on their choices.

40. According to Kim and Markus’s (1999) study, working-class Americans liked the
pen they were given, regardless of whether they chose it or not, unlike upper-
middle-class Americans, who much preferred the pen that they chose. This can be
explained by

a. upper-middle-class Americans scoring higher on entity theory of the world than

working-class Americans.
b. working-class Americans engaging in more secondary control than upper-middle-class
Americans.
c. working-class Americans having more of a promotion orientation than upper-middle-
class Americans.
d. upper-middle-class Americans having more of a prevention orientation than working-
class Americans.
e. working-class Americans wanting to save face more than upper-middle-class
Americans.

41. When it comes to making choices, working-class and upper-middle-class

Americans differ in that
 a. working-class Americans are more likely than upper-middle-class Americans to
express themselves through their choices.
b. working-class Americans prefer making choices among a small set of options,
whereas upper-middle-class Americans prefer making choices from a relatively larger
set of options.
c. upper-middle-class Americans think more deliberately and thus take longer to make a
decision compared to working-class Americans.
d. upper-middle-class Americans are more satisfied with choices they make for
themselves compared to choices made for them by others, whereas working-class
Americans are satisfied with choices regardless of who makes the choice.
e. working-class Americans are more likely than upper-middle-class Americans to
experience “choice overload” and are consequently more willing to allow other people
to make their choices for them.

42. In a study, five people are asked to taste test three dishes, one of which tastes like
garbage. They must then judge which dish was the best. However, four of the
people are confederates and are told to always say that the garbage dish is the
best. The real participant (the fifth person) is then asked to give his or her
judgment. This study is done in both an individualistic and a collectivistic culture.
Based on the results obtained using Asch’s paradigm across cultures, what do you
expect to happen in this case?

a. Participants from the individualistic culture will most likely not say that the garbage dish
is the best one.
b. Participants from both cultures will be equally likely to say that the garbage dish is the
best one.
c. Participants from the individualistic culture will be more likely to say that the garbage
dish is the best one if the first four participants were friends.
d. A lot of participants from the individualistic culture will say that the garbage dish is the
best one, but even more participants from the collectivistic culture will say the same.
e. No participants from either culture will say that the garbage dish is the best one.

43. A group of East Asians and Americans have won a contest, and each person is
allowed to pick a car from a selection of cars. All the cars are of the same make,
model, and year. The only thing that differs between them is that they can be one
of two colors. Furthermore, there is an extremely unequal proportion between the
two colors, making the minority color very rare. Given this scenario, which of the
following statements is true?

a. East Asians will choose their cars randomly.

 b. Americans will choose cars with the brightest colors.
c. East Asians will choose minority-colored cars.
d. Americans will choose minority-colored cars.
e. East Asians will choose white cars.

44. You are an executive for a Korean advertising agency and you have been asked to
create a TV commercial for a new condominium, targeting people from Korea.
Based on Kim and Markus’s (1999) research on advertisements in Korea and the
United States, which of the following would you most likely use in your
commercial?

a. “No need for stockpiled money—Condo X is cheap and affordable!”

b. “Condo X—there’s nothing else quite like it.”
c. “The architecture of this condo blends in well with the buildings surrounding it.”
d. “This condo was designed by an architect who has a unique style.”
e. “Need a place to live? Try our condo!”

45. Kelly and Misha, two aspiring singers, are watching the MTV Video Music Awards
together and looking at the music charts. Kelly compares herself to Adele (Kelly
thinks she is worse than Adele), while Misha compares herself to Ariana Grande
(Misha thinks she is better than Ariana Grande). Name and define the processes in
which Kelly and Misha have engaged, respectively. Then, draw a graph that shows
Kelly’s and Misha’s self-esteem before and after they make their comparisons.
Assume that Kelly and Misha started out with the same level of self-esteem.

46. In a religious pamphlet being handed out to students on campus, the writer
suggests that people in the United States report having high self-esteem because
Protestantism, especially the concept of predestination, was part of the country’s
early foundations and has thus become ingrained within U.S. culture. Do you agree
or disagree with this pamphlet? Why or why not? What other explanations can
account for cross-cultural differences in self-enhancement motivation?

47. You work at your university’s tutoring center, and given your background in cultural
psychology,
 you are frequently assigned to tutor students studying abroad from various cultures
around the world. Describe how your understanding of cultural influences on face
and self-improvement could guide the motivational strategies you use to
encourage your international students from collectivistic cultures to persist at
studying for an upcoming exam.

48. Jessica and Jonathan are best friends. Jessica is very individualistic, while
Jonathan is very collectivistic. Based on research regarding primary and secondary
control, draw a graph for each person that shows the relationship between the
amount of anxiety they will feel based on how much personal control they have in
any given situation.

49. Your school’s counseling department emphasizes the importance of convincing

people to gain control by asserting themselves in their environment. Regardless of
one’s cultural background, everyone feels a greater sense of power when
changing the environment to suit him- or herself. Based on empirical research, do
you agree with your counseling department’s perspective? Why or why not?

50. Xiao Mao is an interdependent Chinese American child in elementary school, and
Kitty is an independent Canadian child. They are in the mall with their fathers
picking out board games as presents. How would their motivations to play the
board games compare if they chose the games themselves versus if their fathers
chose the games for them? Draw a graph to demonstrate the pattern of results that
you would expect.

51. What drives people to stand out or conform? Stated another way, what are some
possible explanations for why individualistic and collectivistic cultures differently
encourage motivations for uniqueness and conformity?
Answer Key

chapter 8

1. Answer: A

2. Answer: C

3. Answer: C

4. Answer: E

5. Answer: A

6. Answer: B

7. Answer: E

8. Answer: D

9. Answer: B

10. Answer: B

11. Answer: E

12. Answer: D

13. Answer: B

14. Answer: A

15. Answer: C

16. Answer: B

17. Answer: B

18. Answer: A

19. Answer: C

20. Answer: C
21. Answer: D

22. Answer: C

23. Answer: E

24. Answer: B

25. Answer: C

26. Answer: D

27. Answer: B

28. Answer: C

29. Answer: B

30. Answer: D

31. Answer: E

32. Answer: C

33. Answer: B

34. Answer: C

35. Answer: A

36. Answer: A

37. Answer: E

38. Answer: E

39. Answer: A

40. Answer: B

41. Answer: D

42. Answer: D

43. Answer: D
44. Answer: C

45. Answer: Kelly engaged in upward social comparison, or the act of comparing oneself to
someone who is doing better than him- or herself. Misha engaged in downward
social comparison, or the act of comparing oneself to someone who is doing
more poorly than him- or herself. The graph should resemble the following

figure.

46. Answer: Answers will vary. In general, the rationale and evidence described in the
textbook are supportive of this position. Alternative explanations include: (a)
people learn self-enhancement from their culture, especially their parents’
beliefs and child-rearing strategies and (b) self-enhancement stems from
cultural messages that emphasize individual beliefs and self-sufficiency or
cultural norms for providing more positive feedback.

47. Answer: Answers will vary. There should be an emphasis on references to saving face
via prevention orientations and persisting after a prior failure (versus success).

48. Answer: Students’ graphs should be similar to the following figure.

49. Answer: Answers will vary.

50. Answer: Xiao Mao will be more motivated to play with a board game chosen by her
father than by herself. The opposite would be true of Kitty. The graph will

resemble the following:

51. Answer: Answers will vary. The textbook emphasizes that independent self-views may
emphasize uniqueness motivations, whereas interdependent self-views may
emphasize fitting in (or belonging) motivations. Additionally, there are social
costs to dissenting (not conforming) across cultures, but these may be greater
in collectivistic cultures, which may explain why people from collectivistic
cultures are less likely to stand out and more likely to conform with their
behavior.