Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
Test Bank
Chapter 8: Improving Group Ethical Performance
Multiple Choice
1. Identify which of the following would be a good way to overcoming team defense
mechanisms.
a. encourage the group to identify the culprit
b. avoid asking questions
c. encourage learning instead of blame
d. only celebrate success
2. Social loafing is ______.
a. the tendency of an individual to ease their efforts when the rest of the group is
working
b. a person’s work pace in the work environment
c. the concept of everyone holding his/her own “piece of the pie”
d. an individual’s high need to accomplish more than is realistically possible
3. Joe liked his group members but he lacked confidence in his team to finish the
project. This is an example of ______.
a. low valence
b. low instrumentality
c. low expectancy
d. all of these
4. Which can be a TRUE statement?
a. Standing alone on an issue will win the admiration of your team members.
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
b. Teams with like-minded perspectives have an advantage over diverse groups.
c. Standing alone on an issue within a group can cause beneficial friction.
d. Standing alone on an issue never persuades anyone to your side of the argument.
5. The Abilene Paradox is most identified with ______.
a. groupthink
b. mismanaged agreement
c. excessive control
d. moral exclusion
6. Treating insiders better than outsiders is a characteristic of ______.
a. groupthink
b. mismanaged agreement
c. excessive control
d. moral exclusion
7. Which is a sign of polythink?
a. inability to reach a decision
b. failure to revisit earlier proposals
c. more leaks of information to outsiders
d. all of these
8. While of the following is a good question to ask when trying to overcome team
defense mechanisms?
a. Who caused this problem?
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
b. Who can I hold responsible for this issue?
c. What is the underlying cause of the failure?
d. Who seems to be shirking their responsibility?
9. Ryan is taking his Introduction to Business course pass/fail. As a result, he puts only
minimal effort into his class team’s project. He reflects a(n) ______ orientation.
a. cooperative
b. individualistic
c. competitive
d. distracted
10. Which of the following is a potential outcome of team defense mechanisms?
a. The group can ignore what’s happening within the group.
b. The group can find the real person to blame.
c. The group can effectively solve the problem.
d. The team leader will be successful.
11. Which of the following is a descriptive statement?
a. “I am sorry that you feel that way.”
b. “Let’s work on this together.”
c. “We are behind schedule.”
d. “You are being naïve.”
12. Which of the following is a superiority statement?
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
a. “When do you think the project will be done?”
b. “I have more experience than you with this type of problem.”
c. “That’s a really bad idea.”
d. “I think we should meet again next week, what do you think?”
13. ______ is an important outcome of open, supportive communication in a group.
a. Instrumentality
b. Future orientation
c. Psychological safety
d. none of these
14. Marja is a member of a team working to develop a new product idea. Even though
they have been working on the project for two weeks, the team missed its first deadline.
Other members of the team blame Marja because she had to stay home with her sick
child, missing one of the meetings. The team blaming Marja for the failure is an example
of ______.
a. escalating commitment
b. polythink
c. groupthink
d. team defense mechanism
15. Which factor is MOST likely to encourage group members to publicly go along with
decisions they disagree with in private?
a. action anxiety
b. negative fantasies
c. fear of separation
d. fear of risk
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
16. Who is MOST likely to engage in social loafing?
a. women
b. men
c. those of Eastern background
d. conscientious people
17. In a small group, ______ messages signal that the speaker has all the answers
while ______ messages signal that speaker is willing to experiment and change.
a. superiority; equality
b. neutrality; empathetic
c. control; problem orientation
d. certainty; provisionalism
19. Julius, a manager of a team working on an advertising campaign, is struggling with
his team because they have not been able to come up with a slogan the client likes. The
team morale is down, and the members are blaming one another for the problem. Of the
following one appropriate response Julius might have to the team is ______.
a. probe to determine what the underlying cause of the problem might be
b. blame the team member who came up with the slogan for the failure
c. tell the team members that only some of them are working to expectations
d. penalize the team by making them stay late after hours to work harder on the project
19. Which of the following encourages cooperation?
a. individual rewards
b. threats
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
c. pursuing a joint product
d. none of these
20. Gretchen is leading a team who is working on a marketing project. The group
members get along well, but they only seem to agree on ideas that the most vocal
member of the group, Ronald, comes up with. No one else shares any ideas but
Ronald, and everyone agrees that Ronald’s ideas are the best. This is an example of
which ethical danger sign?
a. groupthink
b. polythink
c. decision paralysis
d. confusion
21. In groupthink, which is a sign of group pressure?
a. the illusion of unanimity
b. belief in the inherent morality of the group
c. stereotypes of outside groups
d. the illusion of invulnerability
22. In groupthink, certain members take it upon themselves to protect the leader from
dissenting opinions. This symptom is called ______.
a. illusion of unanimity
b. self-censorship
c. self-appointed mindguards
d. collective rationalization
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
23. Natalie is convinced the project will fail but doesn’t speak up because she fears her
team members will no longer socialize with her if she does. She is experiencing ______.
a. negative fantasies
b. fear of separation
c. action anxiety
d. real risk
24. Which type of supportive message signals a willingness to collaborate?
a. descriptive
b. spontaneous
c. problem oriented
d. empathetic
25. “You’ll get over it” is an example of which type of defensive message?
a. strategic
b. neutral
c. controlling
d. evaluative
26. Which of the following is a sign of closed-mindedness in a group?
a. pressure on dissenters
b. illusion of invulnerability
c. stereotypes of outside groups
d. belief in the inherent morality of the group
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
27. Which is a good strategy for preventing groupthink?
a. express a preference for a particular solution as a leader
b. divide into subgroups for discussions
c. keep the group away from contact with other groups
d. all of these
28. In your highly cohesive project team, a group member declares, “We are by far the
best group in the class!” This could be a sign that your project group is suffering from
______.
a. collective rationalization
b. the illusion of invulnerability
c. stereotypes of outside groups
d. self-censorship
29. ______ is a factor that examines how much an individual expects that his or her
effort will lead to high group performance
a. motivation
b. expectancy
c. instrumentality
d. valence
30. Withholding additional funding is a good strategy for preventing ______.
a. groupthink
b. escalation of commitment
c. mismanaged agreement
d. concertive control
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
31. Groups engaged in moral exclusion divide the world into those who deserve
sympathy and those who don’t. This reflects which element of the exclusion process?
a. Group categorizations are salient.
b. Conflicts of interest are salient.
c. Moral justifications are prominent.
d. Unjust procedures are described as expedient.
32. In ______, ordinary people commit crimes while carrying out their daily
organizational duties.
a. unforeseen evil
b. ordinary evil
c. administrative evil
d. silent evil
33. Which of the following team member role may attack ideas, opinions, values, and
beliefs of others?
a. aggressor
b. blocker
c. dominator
d. player
34. Which of the following team member role may not care about the group project, may
be cynical, or may regularly joke at the wrong times?
a. aggressor
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
b. blocker
c. recognition-seeker
d. player
35. Which of the following team member role might claim to be an expert or
knowledgeable on almost every topic?
a. aggressor
b. blocker
c. recognition-seeker
d. player
36. ______ is a factor that examines the strength of the perceived relationship between
personal and group effort and group achievement.
a. motivation
b. expectancy
c. instrumentality
d. valence
37. Which characteristic demonstrates a desire to help others succeed?
a. supportiveness
b. openness
c. cooperation
d. encouragement
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
Sage Publications, 2021
38. Jan always supported an opportunity for her staff members to talk and share freely
about their workplace environment. What kind of characteristic is Jan promoting?
a. assistance
b. supportiveness
c. healthy boundaries
d. openness
39. What kind of communicators can be seen as manipulative or trying to hide their true
motivations?
a. neutral
b. empathetic
c. strategic
d. control
40. Dave had little patience with his team who opposed his ideas. He had a strong need
to be right despite the circumstances. What kind of communicator does Dave seem to
be?
a. provisional
b. certain
c. strategic
d. neutral
41. “I can see why you were hurt by your coworker’s comments” is what kind of
response?
a. spontaneous
b. provisional
c. descriptive