Chapter 18 Quiz: Reciprocity, Commitment, and the Psychology of Obligation
Instructions
Select the best answer for each question. After completing all 22 questions, check your answers against the answer key at the end.
1. According to the chapter, the primary reason reciprocity operates "substantially below conscious awareness" is:
A) People are generally unaware of social norms B) Platforms hide their notification mechanics from users C) The feeling of obligation is triggered automatically before conscious reflection occurs D) Social reciprocity only applies to close relationships, not platform interactions
2. Robert Cialdini's "rule of concession" is best described as:
A) A platform technique for gradually increasing the amount of personal data users share B) A reciprocity variant where making a concession creates pressure on the other party to concede C) The practice of offering users reduced notification settings to appear ethical D) LinkedIn's system for endorsing fewer skills than a connection endorses you for
3. What distinguishes digital reciprocity from face-to-face reciprocity, according to the chapter?
A) Digital reciprocity feels more genuine because it is voluntary B) Digital reciprocity involves smaller social debts per interaction C) Digital platforms remove the natural limits on how many reciprocal favors can accumulate D) Digital reciprocity is less psychologically powerful than in-person reciprocity
4. Which neurological regions are specifically mentioned as being activated when we receive a social favor?
A) The amygdala and hypothalamus B) The hippocampus and cerebellum C) The ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum D) The anterior cingulate cortex and parietal lobe
5. The "follow-for-follow" (F4F) dynamic benefits platforms in which two ways?
A) It increases advertising revenue directly and reduces content moderation costs B) It creates bilateral notification streams and drives content creation pressure C) It attracts new users to the platform and increases premium subscription rates D) It reduces server load and improves content recommendation accuracy
6. What is the "foot-in-the-door" technique as applied to social media onboarding?
A) Platforms acquiring smaller competitor apps to expand their reach B) Algorithms gradually showing more extreme content to increase engagement C) Starting with small commitment requests and escalating to larger ones over time D) Using celebrities to introduce new users to platform features
7. Read receipts in messaging applications primarily function as:
A) A privacy protection tool that lets users know their messages were delivered B) A conversion mechanism that transforms the option to ignore a message into a visible act of ignoring C) A revenue tool for premium users willing to pay for delivery confirmation D) A technical feature with minimal psychological impact on communication norms
8. The chapter describes notifications like "Sarah liked your photo" as specifically designed to include which element that maximizes reciprocity activation?
A) A gamification badge to reward the interaction B) A time stamp to create urgency C) A named individual rather than an anonymous entity D) A direct link to the platform's premium features
9. "Notification stacking" refers to:
A) The practice of paying to promote posts to more users' notification feeds B) Accumulating multiple notifications in bundles to create an overwhelming sense of social debt C) The technical architecture underlying push notification delivery systems D) Users who deliberately accumulate unread notifications to appear busy
10. According to the chapter's commitment and consistency analysis, what happens to a user's self-concept during platform onboarding?
A) It remains unchanged until the user makes a substantial time investment B) It is deliberately suppressed so that users identify with the platform community rather than themselves C) It shifts slightly toward "someone who uses this platform" with each small commitment made D) It is primarily shaped by other users' reactions to the new user's early posts
11. The sunk cost social graph refers to:
A) The financial cost users pay for premium social media subscriptions B) The accumulated social capital and network relationships that make leaving a platform psychologically costly C) The data that platforms sell to advertisers based on users' historical engagement D) The environmental cost of storing social media data on platform servers
12. What specific feature of LinkedIn's endorsement system creates a reciprocity cascade?
A) Users are automatically matched with people who share their professional skills B) After receiving an endorsement, users are presented with an interface to easily endorse others, who may then feel obligated to endorse back C) LinkedIn automatically endorses users' skills based on their employment history D) Endorsements are visible on search engines, creating external pressure to maintain them
13. The chapter argues that Facebook's birthday notification system creates what type of reciprocity dynamic?
A) Negative reciprocity — users resent being reminded to wish people happy birthday B) Asymmetric reciprocity — only popular users receive birthday messages, creating inequality C) A cumulative social debt — receiving birthday wishes over time creates obligation to reciprocate on others' birthdays D) Transactional reciprocity — birthday messages are explicitly exchanged for profile engagement
14. Why does professional context amplify reciprocity obligations on LinkedIn compared to consumer social platforms?
A) LinkedIn users are generally older and have stronger social norms around courtesy B) LinkedIn's terms of service impose specific response time requirements for messages C) Failing to reciprocate professionally on LinkedIn carries potential career implications D) LinkedIn uses financial penalties for users who consistently fail to respond to connections
15. The chapter describes "impression management" pressures in the context of likes. This term refers to:
A) The psychological impact of seeing too many ads on a platform B) The desire to be seen as a good platform citizen who appropriately reciprocates engagement C) The effort users make to improve their profile photos and visual presentation D) Platform metrics that measure how effectively content creates lasting impressions
16. What did Dr. Aisha Johnson mean when she described Velocity Media's notification system as having a "full obligation architecture with a figleaf of user control"?
A) The notification system was too complex for users to understand B) Aggressive default settings did most of the obligation work, with transparency features providing minimal protection C) The system was identical to competitors' systems and thus provided no genuine user benefit D) Legal compliance requirements had forced the platform to add control options against its will
17. Platform switching costs are described as being both organic and designed. Which of the following is an example of a deliberately designed switching cost?
A) The time it takes to build a new social network on a different platform B) The emotional difficulty of telling friends you are leaving a platform C) Platforms actively resisting interoperability to prevent users from exporting their social graphs to competitors D) The learning curve of becoming familiar with a new platform's interface
18. The chapter's ethical analysis distinguishes between "legitimate influence" and "manipulation." Which of the following best describes the distinction?
A) Legitimate influence uses positive reinforcement while manipulation uses punishment B) Legitimate influence operates through information and argument; manipulation exploits psychological vulnerabilities that bypass rational agency C) Legitimate influence only occurs in commercial contexts; manipulation only occurs in interpersonal ones D) Legitimate influence is transparent about its persuasive intent; manipulation is not
19. According to the chapter, what makes the consent given when users accept platform terms of service insufficient from an ethical standpoint?
A) Users are typically minors who cannot legally give consent B) Terms of service are legally unenforceable in most jurisdictions C) The consent is formal but not informed — terms don't disclose that reciprocity impulses are being deliberately activated for commercial purposes D) Users are coerced into accepting terms of service by social pressure from friends
20. Research by Duke et al. (2018), mentioned in the chapter, found that:
A) Social media use causes measurable reductions in in-person relationship quality B) Removing social media apps from phone home screens reduced usage significantly even when access remained available C) Notification systems are the single largest driver of compulsive social media use D) Users who disable read receipts experience significantly lower social anxiety
21. The chapter identifies group chat "read receipts" as particularly powerful because:
A) They create public records of communication that can be shared with platform moderators B) They trigger more notifications than private message read receipts C) Non-response in a group context where all members can see who has read is more socially visible than in a dyadic context D) Group chat read receipts are the only ones that cannot be disabled by users
22. The "escalation ladder" concept in the chapter refers to:
A) The process by which social media algorithms show users increasingly extreme content over time B) LinkedIn's promotion tracking feature that encourages users to celebrate career milestones C) The gradual increase in commitment demands that platforms place on users over time D) A regulatory framework for classifying platforms by how addictive their design patterns are
Answer Key
- C
- B
- C
- C
- B
- C
- B
- C
- B
- C
- B
- B
- C
- C
- B
- B
- C
- B
- C
- B
- C
- C