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CHAPTER 7: CONFORMITY
MULTIPLE CHOICE
2. The ways in which people are affected by the real or imagined presence of others is called
a. social influence.
b. psychological reactance.
c. pluralistic ignorance.
d. the autokinetic effect.
ANS: A REF: Introductory Section OBJ: 1
KEY: Factual
3. Which of the following is not considered one of the three forms of social influence discussed in this
chapter?
a. Conformity
b. Compliance
c. Obedience
d. Independence
ANS: D REF: Introductory Section OBJ: 2
KEY: Conceptual NOT: New
6. At the sales meeting, Leo clasped his hands behind his head and reclined in his chair. Within minutes,
three other team members were sitting in the same posture, demonstrating the psychological tendency
referred to as
a. psychological reactance.
b. the chameleon effect.
c. low-balling.
d. idiosyncrasy credits.
ANS: B REF: Social Influences as "Automatic" OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied NOT: New
7. Frank gets a bit anxious in social situations and tends to scratch his nose when he speaks. Toward
which of the following people is he most likely to feel positively?
a. Felicia, who mimics Frank’s behavior and scratches her nose while they speak
b. Fletcher, who stares quizzically at Frank every time he scratches his nose
c. Florence, who averts her gaze and stares at the floor every time Frank scratches his nose
d. Faisal, who appears quite at ease with Frank’s behavior and reaches out several times to
scratch Frank’s nose for him
ANS: A REF: Social Influences as "Automatic" OBJ: 1
KEY: Applied
12. A half-dozen high school students are going to a concert. Chantal wants to wear a new colorful outfit
that she just received as a gift, but she assumes that her five friends will all be wearing nothing but
black leather. Chantal decides to do likewise, and leaves her colorful outfit in the closet. Chantal’s
behavior is an example of
a. reciprocation wariness.
b. idiosyncrasy credits.
c. resistance.
d. conformity.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 2 KEY: Applied
13. The tendency to alter perceptions, opinions, and behavior in ways that are consistent with group norms
is called
a. psychological reactance.
b. compliance.
c. obedience.
d. conformity.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 2 KEY: Factual
14. Sherif (1936) asked groups of participants to estimate the distance moved by a point of light. He found
that
a. participants were more accurate when they were alone than when they were in groups.
b. participants were more accurate in groups than when they were alone.
c. as the study progressed, the participants’ estimates began to converge with each other.
d. as the study progressed, the participants’ estimates began to diverge from each other.
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
15. You’re out with friends when a talk show host walks up and asks if you’ll answer a few trivia
questions on camera. When he asks how many feet are in a mile, your first friend says 2,000 and your
second friend says 3,000. You don’t know the correct answer, so you say 2,500. Your response is
similar to the judgments made by participants in which study?
a. Langer et al. (1978)
b. Sherif (1936)
c. Asch (1951)
d. Two of these are correct
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
16. Sherif’s (1936) research using the autokinetic effect demonstrated that
a. people often look to others as a source of information.
b. people are particularly concerned about social rejection.
c. conformity is difficult to establish in the laboratory.
d. only those with whom one has an existing relationship have the power to influence
behavior.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
17. Many participants in the social influence study conducted by ______ gave public responses that they
privately knew to be inaccurate.
a. Sherif
b. Asch
c. Milgram
d. Zimbardo
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
18. The primary difference between the research of Sherif (1936) and Asch (1951) is that
a. Sherif was able to demonstrate conformity, whereas Asch was not.
b. Asch was able to demonstrate conformity, whereas Sherif was not.
c. Sherif relied on an ambiguous task, whereas Asch used an unambiguous task.
d. Asch relied on an ambiguous task, whereas Sherif used an unambiguous task.
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
19. Participants in Asch’s line judgment study conformed approximately _____ percent of the time.
a. 25
b. 37
c. 50
d. 100
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Factual
23. The conformity seen in Sherif’s (1936) study was most likely the result of
a. normative influence.
b. private conformity.
c. public conformity.
d. informational influence.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
24. Imagine that some researchers conducted a study and interpreted the results of the study as indicative
of normative influence. These researchers are most likely to reach this conclusion if participants in
their study
a. were truly convinced that the majority was correct in their opinions.
b. behaved in a way that would be considered normal to people in Western cultures.
c. did what they felt was morally right, even if it violated social norms in the process.
d. conformed because they feared the social consequences of appearing deviant.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
25. No one else seems concerned about the welfare of the woman lying down in the alley. Therefore,
Maureen steps over her as well, figuring that she is simply drunk or asleep and not in need of
emergency assistance. Maureen’s behavior is an example of
a. informational social influence.
b. normative social influence.
c. compliance.
d. obedience.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Applied
NOT: New
26. Which of the following is the best example of normative influence?
a. When patients adhere rigidly to doctors’ recommendations
b. When people estimate how far a stable dot has moved by referring to others’ estimates
c. When people wear a particular type of shoe because it is considered fashionable even
though it is uncomfortable
d. When military personnel follow a superior’s orders that are morally questionable
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Applied
27. Will and Grace have just started to attend church. Will pays attention to when the rest of the
congregation sits and stands because he wants to be sure to stand and sit at the appropriate times.
Grace stands up and sits down when the rest of the congregation does because if she doesn’t, the
elderly couple across the aisle scowls at her. Will has conformed because of _____, whereas Grace has
conformed because of _____.
a. normative influence; informational influence
b. informational influence; normative influence
c. compliance; obedience
d. obedience; compliance
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Applied
NOT: New
28. Arnold wears suits every day to his job at the bank, but when he is at home in the evening and on
weekends, he spends most of his time naked because that is what he finds most comfortable. Arnold’s
daytime behavior illustrates
a. perceptual contrast.
b. private conformity.
c. conversion.
d. public conformity.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Applied
29. Though she initially attended the pro-choice rally because all her friends were going, Marion now
firmly believes in a woman’s right to choose when it comes to abortion. Marion’s new beliefs illustrate
a. private conformity.
b. public conformity.
c. reciprocation ideology.
d. reciprocation wariness.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Applied
30. Participants in an experiment are asked to look at pictures of different infants and rate the
attractiveness of each infant on a 10-point scale. The participants are tested in groups of three and
indicate their ratings aloud. For almost all of the infants, the participants tend to give ratings similar to
other group members. We can be most certain that their ratings represent private conformity rather
than public conformity if
a. they exhibit much less conformity in the presence of the experimenter.
b. they give the same ratings alone as they do in the group.
c. their ratings result from their desire to fit in with the rest of the group members.
d. they are not especially motivated to be accurate in their judgments.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Applied
31. Normative influence tends to produce ____, whereas informational influence leads to ____.
a. compliance; obedience
b. conversion; compliance
c. public conformity; private conformity
d. pluralistic ignorance; pluralistic knowledge
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
32. We can conclude that participants in Sherif’s study exhibited private conformity rather than public
conformity because
a. when retested without their fellow group members, participants reverted to their original
estimates.
b. they would report their group’s normative estimate when asked to respond aloud, but not
when asked to respond in writing.
c. they continued to use their group estimates when retested alone one year later.
d. the task was too easy for people to demonstrate public conformity.
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Conceptual
33. Baron and others (1996) found that participants’ levels of conformity depended on how motivated they
were to do well. When offered a financial incentive,
a. conformity went down when the task was difficult and up when the task was easy.
b. conformity went up in both conditions.
c. conformity went down in both conditions.
d. conformity went up when the task was difficult and down when the task was easy.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 3 KEY: Factual
36. Which of the following is not one of the emotions a person is likely to feel after being ostracized?
a. Numbness
b. Anger
c. Sadness
d. Embarrassment
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 4 KEY: Conceptual
NOT: New
37. In a study by Baron et al. (1996) in which groups of three participants were asked to act as
eyewitnesses, the greatest level of conformity occurred when participants were motivated to be _____
and the task was quite _____.
a. accurate; easy
b. accurate; difficult
c. accepted by their partners; easy
d. accepted by their partners; difficult
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Factual
38. Jay participates in an experiment where he and three other participants are asked to judge the quality of
a series of sculptures. Jay is least likely to exhibit informational influence if
a. each sculpture is shown for only a few seconds.
b. he is motivated to be very accurate in his judgments.
c. there are no objective criteria by which to make such judgments.
d. there is a clear and unambiguous response for each sculpture.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Applied
NOT: New
39. Horatio is asked what main dish was served for lunch at the cafeteria yesterday. He knows that it was
roast beef, but before responding, he observes six other students who say the main dish was pizza.
Horatio is most likely to say the main dish was pizza if he hears the response from
a. the six other students in three pairs of two.
b. all the students at once.
c. the six students at six different times in six different places.
d. the six other students in two pairs of three.
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Applied
41. With respect to the impact of group size on conformity, Asch found
a. greater conformity with ten confederates than with five confederates.
b. that conformity increases as an exponential function of group size.
c. that one group of six confederates produced more conformity than two groups of three
confederates.
d. negligible increases in conformity after three or four confederates.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Factual
42. Reuben notices one group of eight people littering in the park. Rachel sees four different pairs of
people littering in the park. Which of the following is true?
a. Reuben is more likely to conform to the behavior of the litterbugs than is Rachel.
b. Rachel is more likely to conform to the behavior of the litterbugs than is Reuben.
c. Reuben and Rachel are equally likely to conform to the behavior of the litterbugs.
d. Reuben is more likely to conform because of informational influence, but Rachel is more
likely to conform because of normative influence.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Applied
43. Prentice and Miller (1996) found that most college students overestimate how comfortable their peers
are with alcohol on campus. This misperception is an example of
a. pluralistic ignorance.
b. psychological reactance.
c. mass psychogenic illness.
d. the chameleon effect.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Conceptual
44. Research by Prentice and Miller (1996) found that college students are likely to have more positive
attitudes toward drinking on campus and consume more alcohol if they
a. attend colleges that strictly forbid drinking on campus.
b. participate in workshops designed to increase their personal responsibility for drinking.
c. overestimate the favorability of their peers’ attitudes toward drinking.
d. believe such attitudes and behavior are inconsistent with social norms.
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Conceptual
45. Cialdini et al. (1991) observed participants in a clean or cluttered parking garage and found that
participants were most likely to litter when they observed a confederate
a. litter in the cluttered garage.
b. litter in the clean garage.
c. place trash in the proper receptacle in a cluttered garage.
d. place trash in the proper receptacle in a clean garage.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Conceptual
46. Social norms are most likely to lead to conformity when they are
a. behavioral.
b. salient.
c. complex.
d. subtle.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Conceptual
47. Mary has just heard five friends say that Massachusetts is the largest state in New England, when she
knows it is Maine. Rob, the next friend in line, says that New Hampshire is the largest state in New
England. In this situation, Mary is now less likely to conform with the first five friends than if Rob had
said that
a. Maine is the largest state.
b. Massachusetts is the largest state.
c. he isn’t familiar with New England.
d. Vermont is the largest state.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Applied
48. The fact that the presence of an ally, regardless of her competence, reduces conformity indicates that
a. informational social influence typically wins out over normative social influence in the
long run.
b. it is exceedingly difficult to hold out against the pressure to conform without one
supporter in the group.
c. conformity does not occur for high-stakes decisions with important repercussions.
d. men conform less in private than they do in public.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Conceptual
49. Lily is interested in conducting an experiment to demonstrate that there are some situations in which
men are more likely to conform than women. Which of the following strategies should Lily adopt in
designing her study?
a. She should have participants engage in a discussion about politics.
b. She should have participants engage in a discussion about fashion.
c. She should tell participants that they are being observed throughout the study.
d. She should tell participants that their primary goal in the study should be to appear
attractive toward group members of the opposite sex.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Applied
50. Which of the following concerning the relationship between gender and conformity is true?
a. Men exhibit greater conformity than women in face-to-face interactions.
b. Men exhibit greater conformity than women regardless of the situation.
c. Women exhibit greater conformity than men in face-to-face interactions.
d. Women exhibit greater conformity than men regardless of the situation.
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Conceptual
51. Women conform more and men conform less when they believe they are being observed. Eagly (1987)
argues that this occurs because
a. being watched makes people self-aware, which brings out their underlying personalities.
b. women are easier to manipulate, whereas men tend to be more independent.
c. women and men tend to be knowledgeable about different kinds of topics.
d. people feel greater pressure in public to behave in ways consistent with their gender role.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Conceptual
52. Pat attends a pre-screening of a new romantic comedy with a group of four people and then
participates in a focus group where the group is asked several questions about the film. The group is
asked, “How funny is the film?” Each member of the group responds to the question. Pat responds last,
after hearing the rest of the group say that the movie was very funny. Pat is more likely to agree with
them if
a. Pat is female.
b. Pat is from an individualistic culture.
c. Pat is elderly.
d. Pat’s group had seven people instead of four.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Applied
53. Often overlooked in Asch’s conformity study is the fact that participants refused to conform _____
percent of the time.
a. 25
b. 37
c. 63
d. 75
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Factual
54. According to Moscovici, majorities derive their power to influence others by virtue of their _____,
whereas minorities derive their power to influence others from their _____.
a. social connections; sheer number
b. informational connections; social standing
c. sheer number; style of behavior
d. informational influence; normative influence
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Factual
55. Professor Hildebrand just gave back to his students their first exam. Many in the class are convinced
that one of the questions he asked had more than one correct answer. In fact, 13 students from the class
show up to his office hours to protest the question. Professor Hildebrand is convinced that there is only
one correct answer, and so he tries to convince the larger group of students that he is right. He will be
most likely to convince this group of his point of view if he
a. presents his arguments forcefully and consistently.
b. tries to exert normative social influence on the group of students.
c. presents himself as an outgroup member rather than as part of their ingroup.
d. makes salient the norms of the group.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Applied
56. All of the following could explain why a consistent behavioral style increases minority influence
except
a. a consistent minority draws more attention to its position.
b. a consistent minority puts increased pressure on the majority to compromise.
c. the position advocated by a consistent minority is more likely to be perceived as valid.
d. a consistent minority is more likely to exert normative social influence on the group.
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Conceptual
57. The “minority slowness effect” refers to the finding that
a. members of minority groups are often slow to change their minds during group discussion.
b. it takes longer for minority group members to change the minds of majority group
members than vice versa.
c. people with minority opinions are slower to respond to questions about the topic than
people with majority opinions.
d. All of these
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Factual
58. Hiroko is usually very agreeable and goes along with his friends’ plans. Tonight, however, he tells his
friends that even though they all want to go out for Mexican food, he has a strong preference for
Italian food. Even though he is the only person who initially votes for Italian, Hiroko’s friends
eventually come to agree with him because he usually does go along with the group. This best
epitomizes which of the following phenomena associated with minority influence?
a. Consensus attribution
b. Idiosyncrasy credits
c. Door-in-the-face technique
d. Graduated and reciprocated initiative in tension reduction (GRIT)
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Applied
59. The residents in Burberry Hill have convened to discuss whether to build a neighborhood pool. The
majority are in favor of building a pool. However, Miguel, a long-time resident, expresses his
opposition. Which of the following is unlikely?
a. The residents will think more carefully about the issue of building a pool because Miguel
presented a dissenting opinion.
b. Miguel’s status of being a long-time resident and its accompanying idiosyncrasy credits
will help him influence the group.
c. Miguel will not gain private conformity to his opinion, only public conformity.
d. Miguel will be more influential if he repeatedly expresses his opposition as the group
discusses the benefits of building a pool.
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Applied
NOT: New
60. Interpersonal credits a person earns by following group norms are called _____ credits.
a. idiosyncrasy
b. brownie
c. group
d. normative
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Factual
NOT: New
61. According to Hollander’s (1958) work on idiosyncrasy credits, which of the following people would
be most effective in convincing a majority to change their opinion?
a. A person who has just joined the group, because such a person has no history of
antagonism with any of the majority group members
b. A person who does not belong to the group at all, because such a person would be
perceived as the most objective
c. A person who has been in the group for quite a while, but consistently disagrees with the
group
d. A person who has been in the group for a long time, and usually goes along with the
majority of the group
ANS: D REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Conceptual
62. The idea that minority influence works in the same way that majority influence does is most consistent
with
a. the interpersonal relations model.
b. the dual-process approach.
c. the single-process approach.
d. research comparing private and public conformity.
ANS: C REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Conceptual
64. According to the dual-process approach, majorities exert influence by producing _____, whereas
minorities exert influence by producing _____.
a. informational influence; normative influence
b. public conformity; private conformity
c. reactance; obedience
d. conversion; compliance
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Conceptual
65. At a campaign meeting, the majority of the staff argues that they should use negative ads to attack their
opponent. Despite their strong feelings on this matter, Stefan argues successfully for positive ads.
According to the dual-process approach, Stefan’s influence has probably resulted in
a. defiance.
b. conversion.
c. public conformity.
d. collusion.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Applied
66. Research on majority and minority influence suggests all of the following except
a. majorities are more influential than minorities on subjective questions.
b. majorities exert normative influence, whereas minorities exert informational influence.
c. majorities are more influential than minorities on questions of fact.
d. majority influence is greater on public measures of conformity, whereas minority
influence is greater on private measures of conformity.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 6 KEY: Conceptual
68. A cultural orientation in which independence, autonomy, and self-reliance take priority over group
allegiances is called
a. individualism.
b. collectivism.
c. power distance.
d. uncertainty avoidance.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Factual
NOT: New
70. According to work by Triandis (1995), collectivist cultures are characterized by a pattern of
a. low complexity, low affluence, and cultural homogeneity.
b. low complexity, high affluence, and cultural heterogeneity.
c. high complexity, low affluence, and cultural homogeneity.
d. high complexity, high affluence, and cultural heterogeneity.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Factual
71. Some researchers are planning to go around the world and put participants in a version of the Asch
study in which they are asked to make judgments about the lengths of lines. Cross-cultural research
suggests that the least amount of conformity should be observed in cultures
a. characterized by financial independence and prosperity.
b. where the majority of the people in positions of power are men.
c. where the people live a simple life, as in an isolated farming community.
d. with very little cultural diversity.
ANS: A REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Applied
72. Individuals from Eastern cultures are more likely than those from Western cultures to
a. have an independent orientation.
b. conform to a public norm.
c. disobey an authority.
d. possess greater heterogeneity.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Conceptual
73. If American and Chinese children were placed in the same classroom, which of the following would
probably be true?
a. The American children would never demonstrate conformity, and the Chinese children
would always conform.
b. The American children would demonstrate less conformity than the Chinese children.
c. The American children would demonstrate less private conformity, but more public
conformity than the Chinese children.
d. The two groups of children would conform to the same extent and degree.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Applied
74. Psychologists tend to refer to a culture that values the virtues of interdependence and social harmony
as
a. conformist.
b. collectivist.
c. communist.
d. cooperative.
ANS: B REF: Conformity OBJ: 5 KEY: Factual
76. Research has found that when people are presented with a request accompanied by a reason that does
not offer a real justification for the request, they often respond
a. with skeptical reactance.
b. by asking for a more complete explanation.
c. with surprise followed by caution.
d. by complying mindlessly.
ANS: D REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Factual
77. Mara needs to borrow James’s pen and is pondering how to ask him. She considers three options—
asking for the pen outright without any reasoning, telling him that she needs the pen “to write
something,” or telling him that she needs it “to sign a letter.” Which of the following is true?
a. James is more likely to comply with the outright request than the “letter” plea.
b. James is equally likely to comply with the “letter” plea and the outright request.
c. James is less likely to comply with the “write something” plea than the outright request.
d. James is equally likely to comply with the “letter” plea and the “write something” plea.
ANS: D REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Applied
78. The unspoken rule dictating that we should treat others as they have treated us is called the
a. social impact theory.
b. norm of reciprocity.
c. dual-process approach.
d. equity principle.
ANS: B REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Factual
79. In order to convince people to buy lunch from their restaurant in the food court, employees at the
Chinese restaurant gave out free samples of chicken teriyaki to everyone who walks by. The restaurant
employees are hoping to take advantage of the
a. door-in-the-face technique.
b. that’s-not-all technique.
c. norm of reciprocity.
d. chameleon effect.
ANS: C REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Applied
80. Jane bought her friends--Mayumi, Brenda, and Kate--drinks the last time they were out. The next time
she needs to borrow money from one of them, who will feel the strongest need to reciprocate Jane’s
act of generosity?
a. Mayumi, who is out with Jane the next night
b. Kate, who is out with Jane the next week
c. Brenda, who is out with Jane the next month
d. All three will feel equally pressured to reciprocate
ANS: A REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Applied
NOT: New
81. People who are especially likely to exploit the norm of reciprocity for personal gain can be identified
by questionnaires that measure their
a. social impact.
b. vulnerability to informational influence.
c. idiosyncrasy credits.
d. reciprocation ideology.
ANS: D REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Factual
82. Which person is considered a “creditor” in terms of their reciprocation ideology?
a. Bertram, who likes to be generous with his friends so they will help him in the future
b. Caitlin, who hates to feel beholden to someone
c. Marsha, who likes to be generous with her friends because it makes her feel good
d. Boyd, who is stingy with his friends because he believes in self-reliance
ANS: A REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Applied
NOT: New
83. A person high in reciprocation wariness would most likely endorse which of the following items?
a. If someone does you a favor, it is good to repay that favor.
b. Asking for someone’s help gives that person power over your life.
c. Never lend money to a friend.
d. Generosity is always appropriate.
ANS: B REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Conceptual
NOT: New
84. A person from a collectivist culture is _____ to accept a free sample of food in a supermarket.
a. more likely than a person from an individualist culture
b. less likely than a person from an individualist culture
c. equally likely as a person from an individualist culture
d. more likely than a person from an Western, but not Eastern, culture
ANS: B REF: Compliance OBJ: 7 KEY: Conceptual
NOT: New
85. The compliance technique in which compliance to a desired request is increased by first gaining
compliance to a smaller, but related, request is called
a. low-balling.
b. the that’s-not-all technique.
c. the foot-in-the-door technique.
d. the door-in-the-face technique.
ANS: C REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Factual
87. As he was about to enter the mall, Evan was approached by someone and asked to wear a small green
ribbon on his shirt to show his support for the “Save the Squirrels” campaign. Evan wasn’t quite sure
that squirrels were actually endangered, but he agreed to wear the ribbon. A week later, Evan was
approached again and asked to contribute $10 to help save the squirrels. Though he would have rather
spent his money elsewhere, he agreed. Evan has been the victim of
a. low-balling.
b. the foot-in-the-door technique.
c. the door-in-the-face technique.
d. the that’s-not-all technique.
ANS: B REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Applied
88. The technique of getting a commitment from a potential customer and then changing the terms of the
agreement is best described as
a. reciprocal concession.
b. cognitive dissonance.
c. the foot-in-the-door technique.
d. low-balling.
ANS: D REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Factual
89. Clara calls potential research participants and asks if they would be willing to give blood. Once they
have agreed to donate blood, she informs them that their donation is scheduled at 7:00 in the morning
on a Saturday. Though most participants are not happy to hear this information, almost all of them do
show up for the blood donation appointment. Clara has taken advantage of
a. low-balling.
b. the foot-in-the-door technique.
c. the door-in-the-face technique.
d. psychological reactance.
ANS: A REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Applied
NOT: New
91. Jamie wants an extra day to write a paper for class. Jamie first asks the professor for a one-week
extension for the paper assignment. The professor refuses. Jamie then asks for a one-day extension.
The professor agrees. Jamie’s behavior best illustrates
a. the door-in-the-face technique.
b. the foot-in-the-door technique.
c. reactance.
d. the dual-process approach.
ANS: A REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Applied
92. All of the following can help to explain why the door-in-the-face technique can increase compliance
except
a. feelings of guilt.
b. psychological commitment.
c. perceptual contrast.
d. reciprocal concessions.
ANS: B REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Factual
93. Natasha convinces Joel to take her to the airport by first asking him to loan her his car for a week. Her
attempt to get Joel to do her a favor is most likely based on the principles of
a. commitment and reciprocity.
b. perceptual contrast and self-perception.
c. reciprocal concessions and perceptual contrast.
d. self-perception and commitment.
ANS: C REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Applied
94. When trying to close a car sale, Jerry often tries to sweeten the deal by telling the customer that he will
throw in six free oil changes as well. This sales technique is best described as
a. low-balling.
b. the that’s-not-all technique.
c. the foot-in-the-door technique.
d. the door-in-the-face technique.
ANS: B REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Applied
95. Resistance to the requests of others can be encouraged by all of the following except
a. mindfulness.
b. reciprocal wariness.
c. following the norm of reciprocity.
d. knowledge that the other person is trying to get you to comply.
ANS: C REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Conceptual
96. Which of the following will help a person avoid being caught in a compliance trap?
a. Vigilance
b. Reciprocation wariness
c. Vigilance and reciprocation wariness
d. Vigilance for men, but reciprocation wariness for women
ANS: C REF: Compliance OBJ: 8 KEY: Conceptual
NOT: New
100. What percentage of the participants in Milgram’s study of destructive obedience demonstrated
complete obedience to the experimenter?
a. 10%
b. 35%
c. 65%
d. 90%
ANS: C REF: Obedience OBJ: 9 KEY: Factual
101. One factor that did not seem related to the amount of obedience exhibited in the Milgram obedience
study was the
a. participant’s sex.
b. proximity of the learner to the teacher.
c. location of the study.
d. physical presence of the experimenter.
ANS: A REF: Obedience OBJ: 9 KEY: Factual
102. When Cheryl is with her supervisors, she obeys their decisions without question. But when she is with
employees under her supervision, she is aggressive and demanding. Cheryl is likely to be described by
social psychologists as having
a. idiosyncrasy credits.
b. an introverted character.
c. reciprocation wariness.
d. an authoritarian personality.
ANS: D REF: Obedience OBJ: 9 KEY: Applied
103. The questionnaire measure used to assess an individual’s authoritarian personality is referred to as the
a. A-scale.
b. F-scale.
c. Asch-scale.
d. Milgram-scale.
ANS: B REF: Obedience OBJ: 9 KEY: Factual
104. The Milgram study demonstrated
a. the specific personality traits that predict destructive obedience to authority.
b. that people will typically harm another individual with little to no social pressure to do so.
c. obedience to authority is most destructive when the authority figure is particularly harsh
and demanding.
d. the potential for situational influences to lead ordinary people to commit extraordinarily
destructive acts.
ANS: D REF: Obedience OBJ: 9 KEY: Conceptual
106. All of the following reduced the level of obedience in the Milgram experiment except
a. lowering the prestige of the institution where the experiment was conducted.
b. having the experimenter in a different location.
c. informing the participants that the experimenter assumed responsibility for the learner’s
welfare.
d. having the learner be in the same room as the participant.
ANS: C REF: Obedience OBJ: 9 KEY: Factual
107. Those participants in Milgram’s study who went to the very end of the shock meter were
a. diagnosed as abnormal by a team of psychiatrists.
b. in the minority among participants in the study.
c. not told that the learner had a previous heart condition.
d. None of these
ANS: D REF: Obedience OBJ: 9 KEY: Factual
112. In Meeus and Raaijmaker’s study of obedience, the equivalent of Milgram’s electrical shocks was
a. beating “prisoners” who failed to obey orders.
b. delivering “stress remarks” to a job candidate.
c. ostracizing a person from a social group.
d. helping a drunk person get a ride home.
ANS: B REF: Obedience OBJ: 11 KEY: Conceptual
NOT: New
113. Meeus and Raaijmaker’s found that _____ percent of the participants in their study were willing to
deliver all 15 stress remarks.
a. 37
b. 65
c. 92
d. 100
ANS: C REF: Obedience OBJ: 11 KEY: Factual
NOT: New
114. In Burger’s (2009) replication of Milgram’s obedience experiments, how many participants continued
to shock past 150 volts?
a. 83%
b. 70%
c. 65%
d. 37%
ANS: B REF: Obedience OBJ: 11 KEY: Factual
NOT: New
115. Twenge interprets Burger’s (2009) replication of Milgram’s obedience studies as an indication that
obedience rates have _____ since Milgram’s original studies.
a. not changed appreciably
b. declined somewhat
c. risen dramatically
d. risen somewhat
ANS: B REF: Obedience OBJ: 11 KEY: Conceptual
NOT: New
117. The key difference between Gamson’s (1982) obedience studies and Milgram’s studies from the 1960s
was that
a. people conform less in the 1980s than the 1960s.
b. people conform more in the 1980s than the 1960s.
c. Milgram’s participants were alone but Gamson’s were in a group.
d. Milgram’s participants were in a group but Gamson’s were alone.
ANS: C REF: Obedience OBJ: 11 KEY: Conceptual
NOT: New
121. Which of the following would not be predicted by social impact theory?
a. A person is more likely to obey a nearby authority than one who is far away.
b. Each person in a group of ten contributes less money to a tip for their waitperson than each
person in a group of three.
c. A teacher can exert more control over a large class than a small class.
d. Patients are more likely to follow advice given by doctors than advice given by nurses.
ANS: C REF: The Continuum of Social Influence
OBJ: 12 KEY: Conceptual
123. Stan is a new student in his sixth-grade class. The other students exert normative pressure on him to
conform to their opinion on some issue. According to social impact theory, Stan will be more likely to
resist this influence if
a. there are 20 rather than 11 students in the class.
b. he perceives the other students as having high status.
c. there are three other new students in the class who are receiving the same pressures.
d. he comes from a culture that values a collectivist orientation.
ANS: C REF: The Continuum of Social Influence
OBJ: 12 KEY: Applied
124. According to social impact theory, resistance to social pressure is most likely to occur when social
impact is
a. divided among many strong and distant targets.
b. divided among many weak and immediate targets.
c. consolidated within one distant target.
d. consolidated within one immediate target.
ANS: A REF: The Continuum of Social Influence
OBJ: 12 KEY: Conceptual
125. American mothers in 1924 seemed to value ____ more than they do today.
a. conformity
b. independence
c. autonomy
d. kindness
ANS: A REF: The Continuum of Social Influence
OBJ: 12 KEY: Conceptual NOT: New
ESSAY
1. Compare and contrast normative influence and informational social influence. Which of these types of
social influence played a bigger role in Sherif’s study (in which participants estimated how far a dot of
light appeared to move)? Which played a bigger role in Asch’s study (in which participants made
judgments involving the lengths of lines)? Explain your answers.
ANS:
Normative social influence leads people to conform out of fear of the negative consequences of
appearing deviant. Indeed, to avoid standing out from the rest of the group and risking embarrassment,
individuals will often conform to the majority even if they think the majority is wrong. Alternatively,
informational social influence leads people to conform when they believe others are correct in their
judgments. In this case, they conform to the majority because they assume that the relatively large
number of people holding a particular opinion or behaving in a particular way suggests that these
people are correct. The primary influence found in Sherif’s study was informational because the
situation was rather ambiguous for the participants. They could not be sure how far the dot of light
really moved, so they looked to the other participants to provide information about the correct answers.
Even when participants in Sherif’s study were later asked to make the same judgments alone (where
there would be little pressure against deviating from a group norm), they continued to make judgments
consistent with the group norm; this suggests that the participants conformed to the group norm
because of the information provided earlier. In Asch’s study, however, normative influence played the
bigger role. Here, the situation was not ambiguous; the correct answers were obvious to the
participants. Not needing the other people in the group to provide them with answers that they already
knew, the participants were not particularly vulnerable to informational influence. Rather, Asch’s
participants were concerned about deviating from the opinions expressed by a unanimous majority.
Indeed, when these participants were asked to write down their answers privately, their levels of
conformity dropped sharply.
REF: Conformity
2. A council meeting has produced heated debate about an issue. Most of the members of the council
hold one opinion, but a few hold another. During a break in the meeting, the members of the council
who have the minority opinion call you for advice as to the best way to influence the majority of the
council. Based on social psychological research, particularly concerning the dual-process approach,
what should you advise them to do?
ANS:
According to the dual-process approach, minorities and majorities exert influence in different ways.
You should advise the council members to take advantage of factors that enhance minority influence
rather than trying to manipulate factors that enhance majority influence. One such factor is style of
behavior. The research of Moscovici and others has suggested that consistency is very important for a
group minority. That is, the people in the minority should be forceful, persistent, and unwavering in
support of their view, while appearing to be open-minded and flexible. Hollander recommends a
different approach, however. Hollander argues that those in the minority should first conform to the
majority opinions in order to establish themselves as competent insiders, and only then dissent from
the majority. Thus, you should advise the council members that they initially show their support for
the majority’s opinion and then suggest their own opinion, and further, that they present their
arguments for this latter position in a forceful, persistent, and unwavering style. In addition, the
council members should also call for an anonymous, private vote on the issue, as minorities exert
stronger influence on private measures of conformity than on public measures.
REF: Conformity
3. Describe the door-in-the-face technique, and explain why this is an effective compliance strategy.
What evidence is there to support your explanation of why this technique is effective?
ANS:
The door-in-the-face technique is a two-step technique. It begins with a ridiculous request, which, once
denied by the target, is followed up with a more reasonable request. This strategy is effective because
it draws on the norm of reciprocity (i.e., the reduction leads the target to reciprocate and accede to the
second request) and on perceptual contrast (i.e., the second request does not look so arduous as
compared with the first one). In one study, college students were more likely to agree to escort a group
of juvenile delinquents on a one-day trip to the zoo if they had been first asked to volunteer time over
many weeks to work with these children.
REF: Compliance
4. Specific variables concerning the victim in Milgram’s research on destructive obedience affected
participants’ levels of obedience. Identify one such variable, and describe the nature of its effect.
ANS:
One variable in question was the proximity of the victim in relation to participants. The less physically
separated they were, the less willing participants were to obey the experimenter and administer the
maximum shock voltage. When the victim was in the same room as the participants, 40 percent of the
participants fully obeyed, compared to 65 percent in the baseline condition where the victim was in an
adjacent room. When participants were required to physically grasp the victim’s hand and force it onto
a metal shock plate, full obedience dropped to 30 percent. Physical separation from the victim allowed
participants to distance themselves emotionally from the consequences of their actions, enabling them
to obey the experimenter’s orders. But the closer the victim was to the participants, the more difficult it
was for them to achieve this emotional distance, and, therefore, the negative consequences of their
actions were impossible to ignore. Social impact theory offers a related explanation, one that accounts
for the effects of proximity in terms of the immediacy of the sources of influence. Just as the
experimenter is a source of influence on the participants, so, too, is the victim a source of influence,
albeit in an opposite manner. That is, the experimenter influences the participants to obey, and the
victim, by protesting and crying out in pain, influences the participants to defy the experimenter’s
orders. The more distant the victim is from the participant, the less immediate is this source of
influence, and, therefore, the less social impact it exerts.
REF: Obedience
ANS:
Social impact theory maintains that social influence depends on the strength, immediacy, and number
of source persons relative to target persons. Strength refers to the status, ability, or relationships of a
source of influence compared to his/her target. Immediacy of a source refers to the source’s proximity
in time and space to the target. The number of sources refers to how many sources there are. The
stronger the source (i.e., higher status or closer relationship), the more immediate the source (closer
geographically), and the greater number of sources, the more influence the target will feel and the
more likely that target is to yield to that influence. If the source’s attempts at influence are divided
among targets, that will dilute the impact of the source. This theory has been criticized for failing to
explain why these factors affect social influence, but has the benefit of predicting when social
influence will occur.
"It was so hot and dusty on the stand," Agatha said, to explain her
sudden disappearance, upon which Dorris alone had commented.
That evening, when they had gone to their rooms for the night,
Ermengarde knocked at Agatha's door and handed her the little box
containing the chain. "I think this must be yours, Miss Somers," she said.
"Your friend the Spaniard threw it, and it caught round my neck by
mistake."
"My friend?" she asked, confused. "Oh, you mean the Spaniard who
stopped by the stand to ask the way to the sea?"
The flush died from the woman of mystery's cheek, and the stone mask
settled upon it. She returned the chain, saying coldly it could not be
intended for her, and that she knew nothing about it.
"Did he?" she replied, without interest. "Good night, dear Mrs. Allonby.
You look tired."
Chapter IX
The Casino
Monte Carlo, justly reputed one of the loveliest spots on earth, is most
magically beautiful perhaps when seen from the sea, or from the long, low,
wooded headland of Cap Martin.
The thin man was in despair. He was an impressionist; and having had
his painting things and himself conveyed hither and set down among the
rosemary and lentisk, on purpose to record impressions, was so stunned and
bewildered by the multitudes that rushed crowding in every variety of
loveliness upon him, that he could only sit on his camp-stool with his easel
before him, and hold his head in his hands and groan.
"Well, why not? Only don't speak of it, or Miss Boundrish will manage
to nip in again."
The thin man was really very handy on occasion; he made a respectable
and entirely biddable escort, and, knowing so many people of Mrs.
Allonby's acquaintance and being cousin to most of them, seemed more like
an elderly relative than a chance acquaintance. He knew many things, and
well knew how to talk; his old-fashioned pedantry and fulness of phrase
was forgiven, as being in character with his neutral-tinted, old-bachelor
personality; he impressed Ermengarde as a sort of social sofa-cushion,
restful, harmless, and very useful in travelling.
After all, could there be anything more restful than these quiet lounges
by train from spacious halls of leisure, called Gares in that country? the thin
man and Ermengarde wondered, as they sauntered about the clean and airy
emptiness of Mentone Station, and chanced to take seats in a train that
happened to be strolling in the direction of France, and was entirely
composed of first-class carriages, well-cushioned, and provided with
antimacassars of spotless crochet-work. Other people as casually strolled
over and rested, as if by happy chance, in the clean and comfortable
carriages, and after some time, enjoyably spent with a prospect of sea and
mountain and near view of palm and garden and sunny street, it seemed to
occur to the person lounging upon the engine to propel the string of
carriages gently in the direction of France, and they glided through the now
familiar but never-lessening enchantment of rich scenery between mountain
and sea, always plunging into the tunnelled darkness whenever a fairy
headland ran out into blue and foam-fringed bays.
But what talk they heard on this fairy progress! The tongues were many,
but the subject one alone. For example—
"Why not? Easy to unpack and settle in before dinner. And only staying
three weeks, a pity to lose a night."
"Yes, her husband says they are thoroughly tired of Monte Carlo."
"So? I thought Hedwig had lost rather heavily of late. And Hermann's
luck has evidently turned too."
Or it was, "System this, system that," and, "So many francs to the good
at the end of the week," and the wonderful run of So-and-so's luck, and M.
Tel-et-tel winning five hundred francs in half an hour, and the positive
madness of putting anything on a number that had just turned up, and why à
travers meant so much, and how a cool head and an accurate memory of the
winning numbers of the last six or seven turns were absolutely necessary to
work any system.
The thin man conjectured that very likely the devil likes to kill two birds
with one stone. "Because," he sighed, "the moment a beautiful and pleasant
spot is discovered in any corner of the earth, he incites people to build
flaring hotels and villas upon it, and run railways to it; and, if there is sea, to
block it from sight with ghastly buildings, and spoil its strand with sea-
walls and piers and promenades; and, if there are trees, to cut them down or
blast them with smoke and chemicals; and, if there are mountains, to scar
and tunnel them with lines of smut and iron; and, if meadows and grassy
slopes commanding lovely prospects, to destroy their beauty and make
rasping noises and knock balls over them all day. He gets people to rush in
herds to places made for beauty and calm, to chatter and snigger and look at
fashionable clothes-shops emptied on thoughtless females from every
capital in Europe, and gorge themselves upon all the luxuries and vices of
towns. And the lovelier the spot the greater satisfaction the devil seems to
take in getting men to practise ugly and squalid sins in it, and to corrupt and
degrade simple and sane folk for miles round it."
By this time they were crammed like sardines with others in a close
box, that; by some invisible and probably diabolic agency, was drawn up to
a higher level, upon which they were contumeliously ejected by a morose
official who had previously mulcted them of small coin. Then, passing
under avenues of wondrous exotic trees, by beds blazing with cyclamens,
carnations, salvias, and petunias, and passing rivulets dancing and rippling
down rocks covered with maidenhair and broadening in pools half hidden
by water lilies, they emerged upon a terrace fronting a vast blue splendour,
firmly rimmed beneath a nearly white band of sky, and bounded by the
purple of Bordighera on one side, and Monaco, running out on its rock
beneath the headland of Cap d'Ail on the other. And in the foreground,
dainty steam and sailing yachts, some moored, some flitting over the sunny
sea, and crowds of fishing-boats dotted here and there.
"But what is that?" she asked, pointing to a sort of jetty topped with
sickly green, like a worn and dirty billiard table, and dotted with rough deal
boxes, that projected its squalor into the pure blue waves below.
The crack of a shot from under their feet startled her, and the
simultaneous opening of a box, out of which fluttered a wounded pigeon,
pursued to the edge of the billiard-table and killed there by a dog, answered
her question, telling her that this sordid hideousness drawing every eye, in
the very centre of the fairy-like beauty, was the world-famed Tir aux
Pigeons.
There was no escaping from the sight except by turning from the lovely
circle of bays and mountain spurs, to look upon the flaring vulgarity of the
Casino, with its sprawling nudities affronting the pure sky, and flocks of
tail-clipped birds flitting about the cornices and pediments, scurrying out at
every shot that slaughtered one of their kindred in full sight below. Crack!
Crack! Crack! the shots jarred on the nerves. Ermengarde hurried her
halting escort away through the strange Arabian Nights' magnificence of the
gardens that spread everywhere, flowing round hotels and shops and
houses, and glowing in weird luxuriance beneath the grim grey mountain
bluff and its dark wooded gorge.
Here was every variety of palm, with agaves and pepper-trees, caroubs
and myrtles, geraniums in trees many feet high, or trailing over rocks,
ruddy-leaved and grey-stemmed; here great cacti writhed and swelled in
reptilian forms, and certain huge bushes of prickly pears, their broad fleshy
leaves like goblin hands outspread, their grey, distorted stems like the fossil
bones of huge extinct animals, and their dull-red, prickly fruit like oozing
blood, suggested nothing so much as those trees in the Inferno, that bled at
touch and were lost, living souls.
This strange exotic luxuriance has something infernal in its beauty; the
darkly massed foliage, in hard contrast with the white glare of flaunting
hotels and restaurants and the marble and gilding and flamboyant style of
the Casino, gives the whole a violence, a crude insistence of wealth and
luxury, in harmony with the spirit of the place, and much at variance with
its superb natural setting and associations.
"And what people! Oh, what people!" Ermengarde murmured to the thin
man, who was glad to sit down and pretend to listen to the band and watch
the crowd strolling and sitting outside the Café de Paris. "What tawdriness,
what dowdiness, what Parisian elegance run wild! Look at that woman; she
has six purses at her belt. You can see the gold through the net. She's going
into the Casino—let us go too!"
"So young, so fair, and so very business-like! Yes, beneath that Parisian
hat, in that expensive Parisian raiment, is the cool and calculating brain and
steady nerve of a financier. She has a system and works it, Mrs. Allonby."
How tawdry and tarnished was the vaunted splendour of the Casino, and
how wearisome the formalities exacted before admittance to the gaming-
hall!
"Ah! they don't ask mine," sighed the artist, whose head already showed
the silver touch of time; "they are quite sure that I am of âge majeur."
Besides these muttered spells in which, after long listening, she could
only make out occasionally "ne va plus"—"rouge"—"treize"—"vingt-sept,"
the only sound was the perpetual clink of coins, which after every utterance
began to dance from hand to hand and fly hither and thither, as if trying to
evade the incessant pursuit of small wooden rakes and clutching hands
sparkling with diamonds, grimed with long-established dirt, white and
brown, yellow and black, red, skinny, and fat. Sometimes two hands
clutched the same pile of coin, when there were hurried mutterings and
looks of suppressed fury; anon a wooden rake smote an encroaching paw
urgently from its golden prey, and there was silence.
"You have never played before?" asked a genial English voice at her
elbow. "Would you mind putting this across that corner for me for luck?"
She willingly placed the louis on the corner of the four spaces indicated,
scarcely glancing at the player, who was sitting in the front row, with
notebook and pencil, piles of coin and notes, all in most business-like array
before him; but when he turned and looked up to bow his thanks, with a
sudden sweet smile on his grave and anxious face, she recognized the
Cyrano de Bergerac of the Carnival. She had been so intent on the morrice,
and he so near below her, only the close-cropped head, bent over the
pencilled calculations, visible, that she had not recognized him until he
turned.
Just then a sickening smell of musk, and a pretty substantial push from a
gorgeously clad shoulder, made her turn to find herself edged vigorously
aside by the painted woman who had ridden down the ridge with him that
first afternoon at Les Oliviers. Shrinking from the unholy contact,
Ermengarde quickly gave place to her, and, passing behind the croupier to a
gap between the heads of two short people, saw the countess bend down
and accost the young man, who looked up, worried and impatient, but after
some interchange of question and answer, reluctantly yielded his golden
spoil to her greedy clutch, and turned again with knitted brows to his
calculations and annotations, receiving in reward an unacknowledged pat
on the shoulder from the diamond-covered hand, that looked like a
glittering claw.
Now she staked more and more wildly, confident in her luck, and
always won. Her cheeks burnt, her pulses leapt; people looked at her with
envy, hatred and malice. A gold louis rolling towards her hopped off the
table, unobserved by her; a liveried attendant came behind unseen, with a
lighted lantern at the end of a stick, and pushed it amongst people's feet and
under the table, while a man with a vacuous face, staring aimlessly about
the hall, set his foot quite casually on the coin, not seeming to observe the
attendant looking for it with the lantern, and then, without appearing to
make any movement, lounged carelessly on with the same vacuous look,
but leaving no corn where his foot had been.
Two hundred francs in notes had jumped into Ermengarde's bag, which
was stuffed to bursting with gold and silver besides. The coat and skirt was
hers many times over. It would be mean to stop now; besides, it was
impossible to turn from the magic of that flowing tide of gold and silver;
the feeling of possession and power, and the enchantment of successfully
daring that wild blind demon of chance, was too strong. People had made
fortunes in a night; why not she? She placed a little pile of gold à travers;
the wheel stopped, and the croupier pushed her pile to the bank. She bit her
lip, frowned, staked again, and lost again. Cowardly to draw back now; who
was going to give in? Another golden stake, and her pile came back
doubled. Of course; fortune always favours the brave.
But at the end of another half-hour the croupier had been changed;
many players had come and gone from the outer ranks of that table, the
inner circle remaining unbroken, except that Cyrano had vanished
unnoticed by Ermengarde, who saw nothing but the whirling wheel, the
dancing ball, and the flying mazes of the great five-franc pieces and louis
d'or over the green table. Nothing now remained in her bag but a few odd
coins raked from every recess, and together making five francs, for which
an obliging neighbour gave her a broad silver piece.
Her luck at that table was clearly gone; she left it, selected another, and,
after a short calculation and some watching of the play, set her teeth, and
placed her five-franc piece with a shaking hand on a carefully chosen
square. The little demon of a ball clicked into place; the ruthless rake
pushed her stake to the bank.
The game was up; Mrs. Allonby found herself three minutes later
standing on the Casino steps in the pure air, feverish and faint from the
reaction and the fetid atmosphere of the gambling-room, vainly trying to
remember where Mr. Welbourne had promised to wait for her, and minus
not only the usual contents of her purse, but also minus the note that was to
have paid a week's bill at Madame Bontemps's little office before starting
that afternoon, and a couple of hundred franc notes, tucked into a pocket of
the bag besides. In view of attractive apparel and bric-à-brac sure to be
found in the sumptuous shops, those hundred franc notes were, indeed,
sadly insufficient; but without them what was to be done?
Clearly the only thing now was to get a cup of tea at the café
immediately opposite, where people were sitting in the sunshine and a band
was playing delightfully. Surely Mr. Welbourne had said Café de Paris, or
was it Giro's? No; he could never have walked so far as to Giro's. It was
important to find him, else there could be no tea. She was too tired to look
for him, too tired to do anything but sit down very wearily; however, she set
out to find him, knowing he could not be far away.
But the spare, slim figure with the slight halt and the grizzled hair was
nowhere to be found, either in the moving crowd or among the groups at the
little tables; she had not even the price of a twopenny chair, much less of a
cup of tea, and where was all that fine moral indignation of the early
afternoon?
As she often did, Ermengarde had slipped that morning into a dressing-
gown, wound the thick plaits of her hair round her throat, and gone to her
open window to watch the sun rise and drink the fresh morning air.
Suddenly a figure on the railed platform on the brink of the steep stood
out against the dark blue shadow of the gorge; then another and another,
and voices—quick, emphatic, French-Italian voices—rang out in the
stillness; the gardeners looked up at the group, and made unintelligible
comments. The tall form of Madame Bontemps, her iron-grey hair glossy in
morning light, appeared, followed by the slight compact figure of M.
Isidore full of eager gesture. M. Bontemps lounged after them; the three
voices grew in urgency and rapid interchange to one common shout; the
gestures increased to frenzy. M. Bontemps seemed about to hurl M. Isidore,
who had suddenly become rigid and stood with folded arms glaring at him,
over the barrier; Madame intervened, with an action that threatened
annihilation to both but injured neither.
Then M. Bontemps rushed into the house, and quickly emerged again,
leading by the hand Mlle. Geneviève, reluctant, downcast, who instantly
turned her back on all three, and looked down the gorge in gloomy silence,
while the others declaimed, singly and in unison, with gestures of entreaty,
to the massive and glossy coils of her back hair. At last she turned sharply
and faced them with a fierce energy, that almost precipitated them
backwards down the ridge and drove them to the balustrade, where the risen
sun touched their faces with ruddy gold. Mlle. Geneviève then wept
bitterly; her father placed his hand despairingly on his heart and groaned;
her mother stormed; M. Isidore covered his face with his hands, with a
movement of such despair as suggested the advisability of putting an end to
his sufferings by springing down the steep.
But Mrs. Allonby was not the only witness of this family drama. The
voices of the actors, penetrating through the open window of Miss
Boundrish, had roused the amiable girl from her slumbers, and caused her,
with much irritation and reluctance, conquered by curiosity, to spring from
her downy nest, classically dressed in the first thing that came handy, and
view the platform scene from her window with appropriate mental
comment.
"Surely," murmured the thin man, who had been a silent and apparently
unconscious auditor of the fray, in mortal terror lest either antagonist should
appeal to him, and who would have fled but for the fear of attracting
attention, "our young friend would be quite as happy, and infinitely more
charming, had she been born without a tongue?"
"Oh, she'd have gurgled and giggled more than ever to make up. Such
people ought not to be let loose in civilized hotels."
"Poor girl," said the more merciful Agatha, who had just come up, "are
we not a little hard on her? An interest in her fellow-creatures, perhaps
more zealous than discreet, and a slight congenital deficiency in tact——"
"What's the good of a good heart if you don't sheathe your claws?"
The thin man and Miss Somers, meeting each other's eyes, smiled; for,
whatever she may have given, poor Dorris had undoubtedly received a
pretty good but strictly polite clawing before retreating in great disarray
from the fur-strewn field.
"Do you realize that all our characters are at the mercy of those good-
hearted claws, Miss Somers?"
But all this being entirely unintelligible to poor Cyrano, the well-known
national swear-word came rolling vigorously out, and after some futile
stamping on the gravel and further hopeless misunderstanding with the ever
affable Swiss, the visitor went into the house with quick, angry steps, and
was seen no more till soon after sunset. At that hour Mrs. Allonby, idling
cosily between her wood-fire and the window, saw him walking and
amicably talking with the hostile crocodile of the Carnival—who, with the
Bontemps ladies, had come back half an hour before—from the private
wing of the house to the gate, where they parted with ceremony, leaving
Ermengarde in doubt as to whether it meant pistols and coffee or friendship
and apology. The thin man subsequently averred that the young Englishman
had been eating humble pie, and M. Isidore had graciously accepted his
explanation, and duly presented it and the apologist to M. Bontemps, who
had been equally gracious.
"You are always our guardian angel at Les Oliviers," she told him, after
imparting the history of the afternoon's ill-luck. "Evidently you possess a
sixth sense, by virtue of which you invariably turn up whenever we come to
grief. It was only yesterday that you saved Mr. Welbourne from a broken
neck."
Tea of the perfect quality a brief experience leads the traveller to expect
in the better French restaurants, with dainty but appallingly rich cakes, was
before her, though how procured it was impossible to conjecture, every
table, chair, and waiter having been appropriated or promised two deep a
moment before—unless, as appeared probable, M. Isidore exercised some
mysterious influence over the harried waiters, who fled at his nod and
contrived to produce, and perhaps manufacture on the instant, hitherto non-
existent tea-tables and seats in suddenly improvised corners. Her bag had
been replenished with small coin by the same enchanter, who gracefully
accepted an invitation to share the tea, and spiced it with much useful local
information and many bright and apposite remarks and condolences upon
the unfortunate experiences in the Casino.
To leave off with a pile of winnings and buy the frock next day would
have been too obvious and commonplace. But to win so splendidly and lose