Social Influence and Group Dynamics MCQs 2026

Conformity is best defined as:

1. A Changing behavior to match group norms ✓
2. B Directly commanding another person ✓
3. C Helping with no expectation of benefit ✓
4. D Performing better on a simple task ✓

Asch line experiments showed that:

1. A People never conform in public ✓
2. B Normative pressure can produce conformity ✓
3. C Authority always eliminates judgment ✓
4. D Groups always improve accuracy ✓

Normative social influence occurs because people want to:

1. A Use others as accurate evidence ✓
2. B Reduce biological hunger ✓
3. C Be liked or accepted by others ✓
4. D Improve long-term memory ✓

Informational social influence is strongest when a situation is:

1. A Completely private and simple ✓
2. B Free of any uncertainty ✓
3. C Unrelated to group behavior ✓
4. D Ambiguous and others seem knowledgeable ✓

Obedience refers to:

1. A Following commands from an authority ✓
2. B Spontaneous helping by strangers ✓
3. C Attraction based on similarity ✓
4. D Private dislike of an outgroup ✓

Milgram studies most clearly demonstrated that:

1. A Groups always make moral decisions ✓
2. B Ordinary people may obey harmful commands under authority pressure ✓
3. C Social norms prevent all cruelty ✓
4. D Only hostile people obey authority ✓

Compliance means changing behavior in response to:

1. A A genetic reflex ✓
2. B A change in lighting ✓
3. C A direct request from another person ✓
4. D Unrelated memory decay ✓

Social facilitation refers to:

1. A Reduced prejudice after equal contact ✓
2. B A decline in all group productivity ✓
3. C A refusal to obey any order ✓
4. D Improved performance on easy tasks in the presence of others ✓

Social loafing occurs when people:

1. A Exert less effort in a group task ✓
2. B Perform faster on individual tasks ✓
3. C Become more attracted to strangers ✓
4. D Always accept minority arguments ✓

Deindividuation involves:

1. A More careful private decision making ✓
2. B Loss of self-awareness and restraint in groups ✓
3. C Increased personal accountability ✓
4. D Stable companionate attachment ✓

Group polarization means group discussion tends to:

1. A Remove every difference in opinion ✓
2. B Always create moderate decisions ✓
3. C Shift members toward more extreme positions ✓
4. D Prevent risky choices completely ✓

Groupthink is best described as:

1. A Random behavior in a crowd ✓
2. B A form of operant conditioning ✓
3. C A measure of social distance ✓
4. D Faulty decision making caused by pressure for unanimity ✓

The bystander effect predicts that helping decreases as:

1. A The number of witnesses increases ✓
2. B The victim becomes more visible ✓
3. C Responsibility becomes personal ✓
4. D The emergency becomes clearer ✓

Diffusion of responsibility means that:

1. A One person accepts all blame ✓
2. B Responsibility is spread across group members ✓
3. C Leaders always punish free riders ✓
4. D Groups become more physically attractive ✓

Altruism is helping that is motivated by:

1. A Fear of all authority ✓
2. B A wish to harm an outgroup ✓
3. C Concern for another person ✓
4. D Avoidance of every cost ✓

Social exchange theory explains helping through:

1. A Inherited intelligence only ✓
2. B Classical conditioning alone ✓
3. C Visual depth cues ✓
4. D Perceived costs and rewards ✓

The reciprocity norm says that people should:

1. A Help those who have helped them ✓
2. B Ignore previous favors ✓
3. C Conform only in private ✓
4. D Reject all group rules ✓

The social responsibility norm encourages helping:

1. A Only high-status leaders ✓
2. B Those who depend on us ✓
3. C Only physically similar people ✓
4. D People who never need help ✓

A task-oriented leader mainly focuses on:

1. A Avoiding all decisions ✓
2. B Only emotional disclosure ✓
3. C Goals, roles, and performance ✓
4. D Reducing social distance ✓

Transformational leadership is marked by:

1. A Complete absence of guidance ✓
2. B Rigid punishment without purpose ✓
3. C Random assignment of roles ✓
4. D Inspiring vision and motivating change ✓

Transactional leadership relies mainly on:

1. A Rewards and punishments ✓
2. B Unconditional affection ✓
3. C Anonymous crowd behavior ✓
4. D Similarity in attitudes ✓

Democratic leadership is characterized by:

1. A No communication with members ✓
2. B Participation of members in decisions ✓
3. C Absolute control by one person ✓
4. D Random obedience to strangers ✓

Autocratic leadership means the leader:

1. A Always avoids responsibility ✓
2. B Has no formal authority ✓
3. C Makes decisions with little member input ✓
4. D Follows every minority view ✓

Laissez-faire leadership provides:

1. A Strict daily supervision ✓
2. B Constant corrective feedback ✓
3. C High pressure for unanimity ✓
4. D Minimal direction or control ✓

Group cohesion is the degree to which members:

1. A Feel attracted and committed to the group ✓
2. B Avoid all group goals ✓
3. C Ignore shared identity ✓
4. D Reject every norm ✓

Role conflict occurs when:

1. A A role has no expectations ✓
2. B Expectations from different roles are incompatible ✓
3. C A person has no social status ✓
4. D A crowd becomes anonymous ✓

Role ambiguity refers to:

1. A Excessive rewards for performance ✓
2. B Strong attraction among members ✓
3. C Unclear expectations for a position ✓
4. D Obedience to a clear order ✓

Status in a group is:

1. A A temporary memory trace ✓
2. B A fear response ✓
3. C A measure of visual acuity ✓
4. D Recognized rank or prestige ✓

Group norms are:

1. A Shared rules for acceptable behavior ✓
2. B Private dreams with no social meaning ✓
3. C Physical rewards given by leaders ✓
4. D Only biological reflexes ✓

A reference group is used as a standard for:

1. A Measuring absolute hearing ✓
2. B Self-evaluation and comparison ✓
3. C Diagnosing memory disease ✓
4. D Avoiding all social influence ✓

Minority influence is strongest when the minority is:

1. A Silent and uncertain ✓
2. B Always aggressive ✓
3. C Consistent, confident, and flexible ✓
4. D Completely anonymous ✓

Conversion in social influence means:

1. A Only public agreement without belief ✓
2. B Loss of all group identity ✓
3. C A decrease in task performance ✓
4. D Private change in belief after influence ✓

A foot-in-the-door compliance strategy starts with:

1. A A small request before a larger request ✓
2. B An impossible demand only ✓
3. C A punishment before asking ✓
4. D Complete silence from the requester ✓

Obedience is usually reduced when:

1. A The authority wears official symbols ✓
2. B Authority appears less legitimate or less close ✓
3. C The victim is distant and unseen ✓
4. D The setting appears prestigious ✓

Conformity tends to increase when the group is:

1. A Divided by a clear dissenter ✓
2. B Completely absent ✓
3. C Unanimous ✓
4. D Unknown to the person ✓

Conformity usually decreases when:

1. A The task becomes more public ✓
2. B The group is unanimous ✓
3. C The person feels incompetent ✓
4. D One ally dissents from the majority ✓

Social impact theory says influence depends on:

1. A Strength, immediacy, and number of sources ✓
2. B Dream content and repression ✓
3. C Reward size only ✓
4. D Physical attractiveness only ✓

Collective behavior refers to:

1. A Only individual intelligence testing ✓
2. B Actions of people in crowds or masses ✓
3. C Private attitudes about food ✓
4. D Learning by reinforcement alone ✓

The risky shift is the tendency for group decisions to become:

1. A Always safer than any member choice ✓
2. B Unrelated to discussion ✓
3. C Riskier than individual averages ✓
4. D Identical to authority commands ✓

Brainstorming groups may produce fewer ideas because of:

1. A Mere exposure and proximity ✓
2. B Classical conditioning and extinction ✓
3. C Attachment and equity ✓
4. D Production blocking and evaluation apprehension ✓

Process loss means:

1. A Reduced group efficiency due to coordination problems ✓
2. B Higher accuracy from every group discussion ✓
3. C A stronger attraction to similar partners ✓
4. D Faster memory encoding in crowds ✓

In Tuckman model, the first stage of group development is:

1. A Storming ✓
2. B Forming ✓
3. C Norming ✓
4. D Performing ✓

In Tuckman model, the conflict stage is:

1. A Forming ✓
2. B Norming ✓
3. C Storming ✓
4. D Adjourning ✓

During the norming stage, group members:

1. A First meet without structure ✓
2. B Compete without any rules ✓
3. C End the group permanently ✓
4. D Agree on roles and expectations ✓

In the performing stage, a group:

1. A Works effectively toward its goals ✓
2. B Has no agreed purpose ✓
3. C Rejects all coordination ✓
4. D Only experiences initial uncertainty ✓

As group size increases, individual participation generally:

1. A Always becomes equal ✓
2. B Tends to decrease ✓
3. C Becomes impossible to measure ✓
4. D Eliminates social loafing ✓

Emergent norm theory argues that crowd behavior is guided by:

1. A Fixed instincts only ✓
2. B Formal classroom rules ✓
3. C Norms that develop within the situation ✓
4. D Unrelated memory limits ✓

Public compliance occurs when a person:

1. A Privately accepts a belief fully ✓
2. B Refuses every group rule ✓
3. C Acts without any social pressure ✓
4. D Outwardly agrees without private acceptance ✓

Internalization means:

1. A Private acceptance of a group norm or belief ✓
2. B Pretending agreement only in public ✓
3. C Avoiding all social contact ✓
4. D Losing status in a group ✓

Identification occurs when a person adopts behavior to:

1. A Reduce visual illusions ✓
2. B Maintain a relationship with an admired group or person ✓
3. C Punish unrelated strangers ✓
4. D Measure social distance ✓