Self-study
Cognitive psychologist: In a recent survey, citizens of Country F were asked to state which one of the following two scenarios they would prefer: (1) Country F is the world economic leader, with a gross national product (GNP) of $100 billion, and Country G is second, with a GNP of $90 billion; or (2) Country G is the economic leader, with a GNP of $120 billion, and Country F is second, with a GNP of $110 billion. ███████ ███ ████ █████ █████ ████████ ██ ███████ █ █████ ████ █ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ███████████ ██████ ████ ████ █████████ ████████ ██
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Most citizens of Country F preferred a scenario in which their country had a lower GNP but ranked first globally, rather than a scenario in which it had a higher GNP but ranked behind Country G. Why would they prefer being in first place over having a higher GNP?
Objective
The correct answer will explain why most people in Country F prefer being ranked first over actually having more national wealth. It will show that placing first is more important to them than the absolute size of their nation’s economy.
3.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ █████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ █████████ █████████████
a
Most citizens of ███████ █ ███████ █████ ███████ ███ █ ██████ ████████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████ ██
The survey asked about citizens' preferences for possible GNP rankings and totals, so their beliefs about their nation’s growth rate don’t explain their responses. We still don't know why they’d choose to be ranked first with less actual wealth.
b
Most citizens of ███████ █ ████ █████ ███████ ██ ████ █ ███ ██████ ████ ████ ████████
Neither scenario would have their GNP higher than $120 billion. However, if anything, this makes the citizens' preference even harder to explain, because scenario 2 would bring them closer to $120 billion. This doesn't explain anything.
c
Most citizens of ███████ █ ███████ ████ █████ ████████ ███████ ██ ███████████ ██ ████
Both scenarios deal in terms of GNP, so this just means that citizens did not consider personal welfare to be relevant to their GNP preferences. This doesn't explain why they would choose first place over a higher GNP.
d
Most citizens of ███████ █ ███████ ███ ██ █ ████ ███████ ██ █ ████████ ████████ ███████
Both scenarios deal in terms of GNP, so citizens' beliefs concerning GNP’s value as a metric would affect their preference for either scenario equally. The correct answer must instead explain why they prefer first place over higher absolute wealth.
e
Most citizens of ███████ █ ████ █████ ███████ ██ ██ ████ ████████████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██
This explains why citizens of Country F prefer scenario 1. If beating Country G is a high priority, then it makes sense why they’d rather be in first place than have a higher absolute GNP.