Official Explanation

Argument Evaluation

Which one of the further pieces of information given in the answer choices would most help us evaluate the psychologist's argument?

A psychologist tells us that people surveyed who reported high levels of self-control reported high levels of life satisfaction also. The psychologist infers from this that self-control is one factor that helps people avoid situations likely to produce dissatisfaction with their lives.

Note that only answer options C and E directly address a possible causal link between degree of life satisfaction and degree of self-control. Answer option C tells us that a high degree of self-control can actually reduce life satisfaction.

However, this information, if accurate, does little to weaken support for the conclusion that self-control helps people avoid situations likely to create dissatisfaction. Furthermore, it provides no support for that conclusion.

That leaves E as the most likely candidate for the correct response. Suppose E were correct; that is, feelings of dissatisfaction make effective self-control less likely. This is compatible with the correlation between self-control and feelings of satisfaction—but also strongly suggests that self-control is the effect rather than the cause of feelings of satisfaction. And this undermines the conclusion of the argument.

A. This suggests that the self-ascribed levels of self-control of the participants in the survey may have been exaggerated. This weakens the psychologists' conclusion without completely invalidating this evidence.

B. This implies that survey participants were not fully aware of all the factors that affected their perceptions of life satisfaction. However, the conclusion does not depend on the participants' degree of awareness of the factors affecting their perceptions of life satisfaction.

C. This may be true, but even if true in some cases, this information does not necessarily invalidate the psychologist's conclusion in general.

D. This implies that people's ratings of their life satisfaction can vary, and be temporarily lowered, by encountering a situation likely to produce dissatisfaction. But such possible sources of random error would be allowed for in the statistical analysis of the survey results and do not necessarily invalidate the study's results.

E. Correct. As explained, this information undermines the psychologist's conclusion by providing an alternative explanation for the survey results.

The correct answer is E.