12.6 CHANGING MINDS

Question 12.12

1. One of the senators from your state is supporting a bill that would impose heavy fines on aggressive drivers who run red lights. One of your classmates thinks this is a good idea. “The textbook taught us a lot about punishment and reward. It’s simple. If we punish aggressive driving, its frequency will decline.” Is your classmate right? Might the new law backfire? Might another policy be more effective in promoting safe driving?

Question 12.13

2. One of your friends is outgoing, funny, and a star athlete on the women’s basketball team. She has started to date a man who is introverted and prefers playing computer games to attending parties. You tease her about the contrast in personalities, and she replies, “Well, opposites attract.” Is she right?

Question 12.14

3. You and a friend read a news item about a Black job applicant who filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against a large law firm that didn’t hire him. Your friend says, “People are always so quick to claim racism. Sure, there are still a few racist people out there, but if you do surveys and ask people what they think about people of other races, they say they are fine with them.” What would you tell your friend?

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Question 12.15

4. One of your friends has a very unique fashion sense and always wears clothes that are just a little bit different—for example, a neon orange track suit with a battered fedora. Most of the time, you appreciate your friend for his quirky personality. One day, he tells you that he chooses his clothes carefully to make a fashion statement. “Most people follow the crowd,” he announces. “I don’t. I’m an individual, and I make my own choices, without influence from anyone else.” Could he be right? What examples might you provide for or against your friend’s claim?

Question 12.16

5. A classmate is shaken after learning about the Milgram (1963) study, in which participants were willing to obey orders to administer painful electric shocks to another human, even after he begged them to stop. “I know that you and I wouldn’t behave like that.” Is she right? What evidence would you give her to support or oppose her claim?

Question 12.17

6. When your family gathers for Thanksgiving, your cousin Wendy brings her fiancée, Amanda. It’s the first time Amanda has met the whole family, and she seems nervous. She talks too much, laughs too loud, and rubs everyone the wrong way. Later, when you’re alone with your mother, she rolls her eyes. “It’s hard to imagine Wendy wanting to spend the rest of her life married to someone that annoying.” You decide to be more generous, because you think your mother might have fallen prey to correspondence bias. How could you change your mother’s mind?

 

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