Exam 5: Social Attribution: Explaining Behavior

When we have a self-serving bias, we attribute failure and other bad events that happen to us to ____________, but we attribute success and other good events to ____________.

How does social class influence attribution?

Brian thinks that Roscoe is a terrible person.So when Brian finds out that Roscoe's business failed and that Roscoe's wife left him, Brian's reaction is consistent with the just world hypothesis.He therefore thinks to himself,

Michelle notices her brother Mark eating a second piece of chocolate from a box of candy.Because he rarely eats candy of any kind, Michelle concludes that Mark must really like the chocolate.In this instance, Michelle is relying on ____________ information to explain her brother's behavior.

Julia's behavior is typical of the actor-observer difference when she thinks that she did poorly on her exam because the questions were too hard, but that her friend did poorly because he is just not that smart.

Laura and Janet both responded to a newspaper ad for "friendly and outgoing" sales associates.While interviewing with the store manager, Laura comes across as extraverted.Janet comes across as shy.After the interviews, the manager thinks about the two applicants.According to the _____________, the manager should feel more confident that _____________ behavior is a clear reflection of her true self.

The just world hypothesis is relevant to the fundamental attribution error because this hypothesis helps explain why we tend to

Which of the following statements best represents something that a Japanese coach might say to a newspaper reporter after winning a game?

According to the textbook, an experimental paradigm that reliably demonstrates the self-serving attributional bias involves having all participants

The actor-observer difference is the tendency for actors to make ____________ attributions, whereas observers make ____________ attributions.

Research suggests that Easterners are more likely to make the fundamental attribution error than Westerners.

People tend to make situational attributions when levels of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency information are low.

The view that personality is malleable and that abilities can be changed by environmental factors is most characteristic of

Sean has tried repeatedly to find a job.After each unsuccessful attempt, he concludes that there is just something about him that will always get in the way of success in his life.Sean is displaying a ____________ explanatory style.

According to the textbook, which of the following statements is INACCURATE?

Recall that Wells and Ganvaski (1989)asked study participants to read a story about a woman who went to lunch with her boss to celebrate a promotion.According to the story, the boss ordered for the woman a dish that contained wine.Unfortunately, the woman was so allergic to wine that she died.The researchers were interested in how participants would respond to additional information about the boss's behavior.Results of this study showed that participants who thought the

According to the textbook, which of the following statements about attribution is/are accurate?

Sarah and William got into an argument.The next day, Sarah reflects on why they behaved the way they did.According to the actor-observer difference, Sarah should think,

Lisa and Sally ask a job applicant to talk about her background for a few minutes.Before doing so, the applicant says she has bad allergies, so she might sniffle and speak with a shaky voice.The applicant then talks about herself, and she does, in fact, sniffle and speak with a shaky voice.While the applicant talks, Lisa is attentive.But Sally is tired and her mind wanders a bit.Attribution research suggests that, compared with Lisa, Sally is more likely to

____________ refers to a person's habitual way of explaining many different types of events.