Chapter 8
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. A multi-dimensional response to any event that enhances or inhibits your goals is known as
a(n)
a. communicative response.
b. feeling.
c. emotion.
d. action tendency.
2. How are emotions and moods different?
a. Emotions are relatively enduring, whereas moods are short lived.
b. Emotions have an identifiable cause, whereas moods do not.
c. Emotions are specific feelings, whereas moods are more general.
d. Emotions affect communication, but moods do not.
3. Which emotion involves feelings of joy and surprise, along with experiences of excitement
and attraction for another person?
a. liking
b. love
c. attachment
d. passion
4. Which of the following emotions is derived from the product of your overall evaluation of
another person?
a. liking
b. love
c. interest
d. affection
5. ________ is the emotion we experience when we feel we have been wronged in some way.
a. Disgust
b. Jealousy
c. Anger
d. Contempt
6. Which of the following was NOT found by a study of emotional contagion online?
a. Sad participants produced more words than non-sad participants.
b. Partners of sad participants felt sad themselves.
c. Sad participants communicated in a more depressed manner.
d. Sad participants exchanged their messages at a slower rate than non-sad participants.
7. During a counseling session with his wife, Edith, Harris frequently rolled his eyes, made rude
and condescending remarks, and openly mocked Edith in front of their counselor. Harris’s
emotional state is best described as
a. hostile.
b. arrogant.
c. contemptuous.
d. disrespectful.
8. Which of the following is true about the relationship between jealousy and envy?
a. Jealousy is focused on material things, whereas envy is focused on relationships.
b. Envy involves wanting something that another person has; jealousy involves feeling
threatened by a third party.
c. Jealousy is a primary emotion; envy is a secondary emotion.
d. Envy and jealousy are the same emotion.
9. Your text described five stages in the grieving process. Which of the following was NOT
among them?
a. depression
b. retribution
c. bargaining
d. anger
10. Which of the following statements about the amygdala is FALSE?
a. The amygdala is a small cluster of neurons in the spinal cord.
b. In response to fear, the amygdala causes our heart and breathing rates to increase.
c. The amygdala responds to several primary emotions.
d. The amygdala causes stress hormone levels to rise when we feel afraid.
11. During a normal, calm conversation with your friend, you begin to notice that you feel very
uncomfortable. You start to wonder what is going on and then you remember that, before
talking to your friend, you were nervous because you have a test in an hour. This example
illustrates the fact that emotions are
a. behavioral.
b. cognitive.
c. physiological.
d. None of the answers is correct.
12. The action tendency for which emotion is to hide or disappear from others?
a. anger
b. disgust
c. shame
d. fear
13. Which of the following emotions has a neutral valence?
a. surprise
b. happiness
c. contentment
d. positivity
14. Which of the following is an example of a primary emotion?
a. jealousy
b. anger
c. contempt
d. remorse
15. Which of the following statements about cultural displays of emotion is FALSE?
a. After contact with Western cultures, preliterate cultures tend to adopt Western display rules.
b. There is little cultural variation in the way that people express primary emotions.
c. There is some cultural variation in the way that cultures define primary emotions.
d. Emotional display rules are likely to be directly affected by biological structures.
16. Soldiers decline treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder primarily because they
a. feel confused about having the condition.
b. feel fear that their comrades will stigmatize them.
c. feel ashamed of being a soldier.
d. fear the doctors and medical personnel who might treat them.
17. Which display rule involves acting as though you’re indifferent or emotionless when you are
actually experiencing an emotion?
a. de-intensification
b. inhibition
c. simulation
d. masking
18. Which of the following statements about communication technology is true?
a. People cannot experience genuine emotion caused by a technological device.
b. Social networking sites such as Facebook diminish people’s capacity for emotion.
c. Online support communities are a viable option for helping people deal with a difficult
situation.
d. The use of emoticons does not accurately convey emotion in computer-mediated
communication.
19. When one member of a group spreads his or her emotional state to the others, ________ has
taken place.
a. emotional expressiveness
b. a sympathetic emotional response
c. emotional synchrony
d. emotional contagion
20. According to your text, women are more likely than men to experience which of the
following?
a. emotional jealousy
b. anger
c. surprise
d. contempt
21. In the expression of emotion, androgynous people
a. are more emotionally expressive than highly feminine people.
b. are more emotionally expressive than highly masculine people.
c. express more emotions like passion and joy.
d. express less emotion than either masculine or feminine individuals.
22. People who score highly on which personality trait are more likely than others to experience
anger, guilt, anxiety, and depression?
a. extroversion
b. psychoticism
c. neuroticism
d. agreeableness
23. ________ is a condition in which people lack the ability to understand, describe, and process
emotions.
a. Neuroticism
b. Emotional processing deficit disorder
c. Emotional underexpression
d. Alexithymia
24. Which process involves changing the way you think about the situation that gave rise to a
negative emotion?
a. emotional contagion
b. emotional reappraisal
c. emotional intelligence
d. alexithymia
25. Using you-statements to describe your emotions is problematic because it
a. provides specific prescriptions for change.
b. fails to acknowledge the part you play in determining your feelings.
c. involves blaming yourself for your emotions.
d. doesn’t allow you to separate emotions from actions.
26. Social practices and messages influence both the emotions we feel and the ways in which we
react to emotions.
27. Emotions generally last longer than moods.
28. Remorse is a secondary emotion composed of disgust and fear.
29. Whereas sadness is an emotion, depression is an illness.
30. Social anxiety is a rare and serious psychological disorder.
31. People raised in collectivistic cultures typically express more negative emotion to outsiders
than do people raised in individualistic cultures.
32. Women are more likely than men to respond to jealousy by trying to make their partners
jealous.
33. The emotional contagion effect applies only to positive emotions, such as happiness.
34. Denying and suppressing felt emotions can contribute to a number of health problems.
35. People who can accurately identify which emotion they’re feeling are best equipped to
manage their emotions in productive ways.
36. In every measurable way, women are more emotional than men.
Answer: False
Bloom’s: Remember
Short-Answer Questions
(Answers will vary.)
37. Using concrete examples, briefly explain how emotions are physiological, cognitive, social,
and behavioral experiences.
Bloom’s: Understand
38. Compare and contrast a) jealousy and envy; b) liking and love; and c) sadness and
depression.
Bloom’s: Understand
39. Identify and briefly define each of the five stages of grief.
Bloom’s: Understand
40. Explain and provide a concrete example of meta-emotion.
Bloom’s: Understand
41. Define and give examples of Ekman and Friesen’s five display rules.
Bloom’s: Understand
42. Using a concrete example, describe the process of emotional reappraisal and indicate its
potential benefits.
Bloom’s: Understand
Essay Questions
(Answers will vary.)
43. All of the sad/anxious emotions discussed in the chapter carry with them a tendency to
promote withdrawal from other people. Of the five mentioned, select one that you feel is
particularly problematic for individuals who experience it. Next, using specific information
and concrete examples, discuss why you feel this particular emotion can be so damaging. Be
sure to compare and contrast it with the other sad/anxious emotions to support your choice.
Finally, offer people who might be afflicted with this emotional state some hope by
suggesting ways they can work through it.
Bloom’s: Analyze
44. Cultural norms (including those of co-cultures) can be a powerful influence over what is
considered proper or improper in the display of emotion. Begin by discussing ways in which
cultures appear to be the same in the way they express emotions. Next, talk about some of
these cultural differences. Finally, generate at least two pieces of advice you would give to
someone about understanding and respecting cultural variation in the expression of emotion.
Bloom’s: Analyze
45. In the service of social harmony, politeness often discourages the expression of negative
emotions (even if they are felt) and encourages the expression of positive emotions (even if
they aren’t felt). In what ways is this good for the individual and/or the society? In what ways
is it bad? Using what you know about emotion, make a case for and a case against politeness
(as it relates to emotional expression).
Bloom’s: Analyze
46. We use the terms positive and negative when referring to an emotion’s valence, but even
negative emotions can be useful. According to some researchers, in fact, every emotion is
useful to us in some way. Using what you know, explain why the emotions of sadness, anger,
disgust, and jealousy can actually be good for us, even though we experience these emotions
as negative.
Bloom’s: Analyze
47. In a brief essay, discuss the relative importance of sex and gender in the way that people
experience and express their emotions. Provide clear, reasoned arguments and use concrete
examples to illustrate the points that you are trying to make.
Bloom’s: Understand
48. Emotional skills training, or “sensitivity training” as it is sometimes called, helps people
recognize, understand, and manage emotions in complex social environments such as the
workplace or the military. Imagine that you are asked to give one of these presentations to
your coworkers. Create a short summary of how you would approach this topic and what you
would include in your presentation. Using skills you’ve learned in this chapter, suggest at
least two techniques each for helping people recognize, understand, and effectively manage
their emotions in the workplace.
Bloom’s: Analyze