Question 1

This afternoon, Mary Alice's boss wants to meet with her. She is sure it is about the customers who complained about her yesterday. The best-case scenario would be for Mary Alice's boss to decide that her behavior was the result of Mary Alice's reaction to her department being understaffed. This would be a(n) _____ attribution.

Accepted Answer

A situational attribution would suggest that Mary Alice's behavior was due to external circumstances, such as being understaffed, rather than her personal disposition or character (dispositional attribution). It is also a less stable attribution as it implies that the behavior may not persist in different situations.

Question 2

We expect the people we meet to be more or less the same as we are. Social psychologists call this the:

Accepted Answer

The False Consensus Effect refers to the tendency to overestimate the degree to which others share our beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Therefore, we expect the people we meet to be more or less the same as we are.

Question 3

"He probably cheated on the test because he is a dishonest person." This statement is a(n) _____ attribution.

Accepted Answer

The attribution in the statement suggests that the person's behavior is due to their disposition or personality traits (being dishonest), rather than situational factors (such as being unprepared for the test).

Question 4

Joanie's friend yells at her for being five minutes late for lunch. Rather than believe her friend is a rude jerk, Joanie decides that she may be having difficulties with her partner. Joanie is making a(n) _____ attribution about her friend's behavior.

Accepted Answer

Joanie is considering external circumstances or situations as the cause of her friend's behavior instead of assuming it's due to her friend being a jerk (dispositional attribution).

Question 5

In determining the causes of others' behavior, people overemphasize _____ factors; this is the _____.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error describes the tendency for people to overemphasize dispositional (or personality-based) factors and underemphasize situational factors when explaining the behaviors of others.

Question 6

Juan was shopping for a new watch, and the salesperson pressured him to spend money way above his financial limit. Juan attributed this behavior to the salesperson's pushy personality. Juan was attributing his behavior to _____ factors.

Accepted Answer

Juan is attributing the salesperson's behavior to their personality trait of being "pushy," rather than attributing it to temporary or situational factors. This falls under dispositional attribution, which refers to explaining someone's behavior based on their inherent personality or traits.

Question 7

If Slade is exhibiting the self-serving bias, which would be his MOST likely explanation for a poor grade on a test?

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute successes to internal factors (such as one's own abilities) and failures to external factors (such as the situation or other people). Option A is the best choice because Slade is blaming the professor (an external factor) for his poor grade, rather than taking responsibility for his own performance.

Question 8

If students do well on a test, they say, "I got an A!" If they do poorly, they say, "The professor gave me an F." This BEST illustrates the:

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to one's own abilities and efforts, while attributing negative outcomes to external factors. In this scenario, the students are taking credit for their success by saying "I got an A", but are blaming the professor for their failure by saying "The professor gave me an F".

Question 9

Rhys submits a major report to his boss ahead of the deadline. His boss assumes that Rhys is conscientious rather than that he simply had more time than usual to devote to the assignment. This example illustrates the:

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to attribute people's behavior to their internal characteristics rather than external situational factors. In this scenario, the boss is making the assumption that Rhys is conscientious rather than considering the possibility that he had more time to devote to the assignment. This is an example of the fundamental attribution error.

Question 10

Mrs. Beatty keeps an extremely clean and tidy house. One neighbor says she's compulsive; Mrs. Beatty, though, says that her active family and busy job force her to stay organized, and she wants to set a good example for her children. These contrasting explanations illustrate the difference between _____ and _____ attributions.

Accepted Answer

The contrasting explanations given by the neighbor and Mrs. Beatty suggest that the neighbor is making a dispositional attribution (related to Mrs. Beatty's personality or character) while Mrs. Beatty is making a situational attribution (related to the context or environment).

Question 11

The pressure of social roles and the demands for obedience are reasons cited for the events at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where American soldiers tortured and humiliated Iraqis in 2004. Such explanations for the U.S. soldiers' behavior reflect _____ attributions.

Accepted Answer

Situational attributions focus on external factors such as social roles and demands, rather than internal traits or characteristics (dispositional attributions). The events at Abu Ghraib are often attributed to the situational pressures and dynamics within the prison environment, rather than inherent characteristics of the soldiers involved. The terms uncontrollable and stable are not particularly relevant to this explanation.

Question 12

Summer watches as a student stumbles and drops her books in the hall. If she demonstrates the fundamental attribution error, how would Summer explain the student's behavior?

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to overemphasize personal characteristics and underestimate situational factors when explaining someone's behavior. In this case, if Summer demonstrates the fundamental attribution error, she would attribute the student's behavior (i.e. stumbling and dropping her books) to her own personal characteristic of being clumsy, rather than considering other possible situational factors that may have contributed to the behavior. Therefore, the best choice is C - "She is a clumsy person."

Question 13

Despite her parents' poverty, Dusty earned a PhD at a prestigious university. Dusty credits her educational success to hardiness and resilience and blames her inability to manage money on the culture of poverty in which she was raised. Dusty reflects an attributional bias known as the:

Accepted Answer

Dusty's attributional bias is the self-serving bias, as she attributes her success to her own traits (hardiness and resilience) and external factors (culture of poverty) for her inability to manage money. This bias allows her to protect her self-esteem and view herself in a positive light.

Question 14

Tim's new roommate Jaxon leaves dirty laundry all over his room, and Tim assumes he must be a slob. Tim ignores the fact that Jaxon is currently studying for finals and working 30 hours per week. Tim is demonstrating:

Accepted Answer

Tim is assuming Jaxon's behavior is due to his personality trait of being a slob (fundamental attribution error), without considering other situational factors such as his workload and academic responsibilities.

Question 15

Which statement reflects a dispositional attribution? "She cheated on the exam because:

Accepted Answer

Option D reflects a dispositional attribution because it attributes her behavior to her inherent personality trait of dishonesty rather than external circumstances such as the difficulty of the exam or lack of study time.

Question 16

Dispositional attributions are:

Accepted Answer

Dispositional attributions are a specific type of internal attribution that involves assigning a person's behavior to their personality traits, attitudes, or other internal characteristics. Therefore, it is not the same thing as internal attributions (which can include factors like mood, goals, or beliefs), nor the opposite of them. However, dispositional attributions are similar to internal attributions in that they both involve explaining behavior in terms of internal causes rather than external situational factors.

Question 17

While eating at the university café, Janet sees a waiter's serving tray tilt, and the food and beverages spill onto four people. "What a careless, clumsy idiot," Janet mumbles to herself as she resumes eating. Janet has just committed:

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to explain others' behavior as being caused by dispositional factors, such as personal traits or abilities, rather than situational factors, such as the environment or circumstances. Janet's immediate assumption that the waiter was a "careless, clumsy idiot" suggests that she is making dispositional attributions without considering situational factors that may have contributed to the spill.

Question 18

_____ attributions are often called situational attributions.

Accepted Answer

External attributions are those that relate the cause of behavior to something outside the person, such as the situation or environment, hence they are also known as situational attributions.

Question 19

The pressure of social roles and the presence of demands for obedience have been cited to explain events at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where U.S. soldiers tortured and humiliated Iraqis in 2004. This explanation given by Americans for America's own failures reflects the:

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias is a common psychological tendency to attribute one's successes to personal characteristics and failures to external factors. In the context of the Abu Ghraib prison events, attributing the torture and humiliation of Iraqis by U.S. soldiers to the pressure of social roles and demands for obedience, rather than to the individuals' own decisions or moral failings, is an example of self-serving bias. This bias helps individuals or groups maintain a positive self-image by externalizing blame for negative actions.

Question 20

The fundamental attribution error involves:

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to overemphasize dispositional (internal/personality) factors and downplay situational factors as the cause of another person's behavior. Therefore, C is the correct choice as it describes underestimating situational influences on behavior. Choices A, B, and D relate to different psychological phenomena, but not the fundamental attribution error.

Quiz 15: Treatment of Psychological Disorders