Question

You are sitting in your psychology class, and do not understand what the professor is saying. You would like to ask a question, but as you look around the room, you see others quietly taking notes, and it looks like they understand. Nobody is asking questions so you don't either. As it turns out, the majority of the students are thinking just as you do. This situation illustrates the concept of ________

a. pluralistic ignorance
b. cognitive dissonance
c. social loafing

Answer 1

The situation in the psychology class where students don't ask questions because they think others understand is an example of pluralistic ignorance. This occurs when individuals assume others in a group perceive things differently than they do, leading to a lack of voiced concerns or dissent.

Step-by-step explanation:

The concept illustrated by the scenario where students do not ask questions despite not understanding the lecture because they perceive that others understand is pluralistic ignorance. Pluralistic ignorance occurs when a majority of group members privately reject a norm, but incorrectly assume that most others accept it, leading them to go along with it. When it comes to informational social influence, this is more likely to happen under conditions this type of conformity happens when people believe that the behavior of others represents the correct way to respond.

An example of collective behavior, in this context, would be a group of people attending a speech by an author (choice b), which represents the group action of sharing interest in an event. Finally, the studies by Asch on conformity highlight that people often conform to group norms either to be liked or because they believe the group is better informed, which can lead to agreement with untruths in the absence of dissenting voices.