Pat Smokes Cigarettes and Strongly Believes That Doing So Is

question 153

Multiple Choice

Pat smokes cigarettes and strongly believes that doing so is bad for one's health. On a health questionnaire, Pat initially answered "No" to the question, "Do you engage in any health-harming behaviours?" Pat felt uncomfortable with that answer and changed it to "Yes." Of the alternatives below, Pat's answer-changing behaviour best reflects the notion of:

• A) self-serving biases.
• B) cognitive dissonance.
• C) counterattitudinal behaviour.
• D) self-perception theory.

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Definitions:

T Distribution

A type of probability distribution that is symmetric and bell-shaped but has heavier tails than the normal distribution, used especially in small sample analysis.

Degrees of Freedom

The count of distinct values or quantities that can change during an analysis while still adhering to all constraints.

Normal Distribution

This refers to a probability distribution characterized by its symmetry about the mean, highlighting that data closer to the mean are encountered more frequently than data far from the mean.

Degrees of Freedom

The number of independent pieces of information used in the calculation of a statistic, often representing the number of values free to vary.