Xavier does poorly writing a weekly report and tells his friend that it was because the noisy fire sirens outside distracted him. The next week, when his boss praises his weekly report, Xavier tells his friend that he has a natural ability with words. This is an example of
A) a fundamental attribution error.
B) a self-serving bias.
C) a perceptual set.
D) stereotyping.
E) the recency effect.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias is our tendency to attribute our successes to stable, internal causes and our failures to unstable, external causes. For instance, if you gave a successful sales presentation to a potential client, you may say it was great because you were well prepared, but if it went poorly, you might say the noise in the room was distracting you. Such attributions are self-serving because they suggest that our successes are deserved but our failures are not our fault.

Xavier Does Poorly Writing a Weekly Report and Tells His