When Richard Nixon was elected to the U.S.House of Representatives,he attributed his victory to his personal strengths.When defeated by John Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election,however,Nixon's explanations focused on external reasons like the pro-Kennedy bias of the media.This is an example of
A) the fundamental attribution error.
B) the self-serving bias.
C) a self-fulfilling prophecy.
D) the actor-observer difference.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of the self-serving bias, which is the tendency for individuals to attribute their successes to internal factors (such as personal strengths or abilities) and their failures to external factors (such as biases or circumstances beyond their control). Nixon attributed his victory to his personal strengths (internal factor) but blamed his defeat on external factors such as the pro-Kennedy bias of the media.

When Richard Nixon Was Elected to the U