Deck 4: Self-Serving Bias

Question 1

Blaming the tree for getting in your way after you crashed the car is an example of

A)poor self-control.
B)poor self-efficacy.
C)poor self-esteem.
D)a self-serving bias.

Answer 1

a self-serving bias.

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that the self-serving bias is adaptive?

A)It helps protect from depression.
B)It makes us feel less vulnerable to risks such as AIDS.
C)It can motivate us to achieve.
D)It helps to buffer stress.

Answer 2

It makes us feel less vulnerable to risks such as AIDS.

Question 3

According to the self-serving bias,we tend to attribute our successes to _______ and our losses to _______.

A)chance;skill
B)skill;chance
C)hoped-for possible selves;feared possible selves
D)feared possible selves;hoped-for possible selves

Answer 3

skill;chance

Question 4

The false uniqueness effect is

A)the anticipation of problems to motive effective action.
B)unrealistic optimism about future life events.
C)the tendency to see our talents and moral behaviors as relatively unusual.
D)the tendency to see oneself as superior to others.

Question 5

Barbara was really shocked when her candidate was not elected.She had assumed that everyone felt as she did and supported her candidate's ideas.This is an example of the

A)false consensus effect.
B)self-serving bias.
C)unrealistic optimism.
D)defensive pessimism.

Question 6

Assuming that other people are as prejudiced against a certain group as we are can easily be explained by

A)unrealistic optimism.
B)the self-serving bias.
C)the false uniqueness effect.
D)the false consensus effect.

Question 7

Which of the following is an example of unrealistic optimism?

A)If I study enough,I'll do well on this exam.
B)I'm sure I'll get a great job when I graduate.
C)The stock market is a very risky place.
D)If I quit smoking,I'll lower my risk of cancer.

Question 8

Which of the following is LEAST representative of a self-serving bias?

A)"I won the election because my opponent didn't try very hard."
B)"I won the election because of my hard work on the campaign trail."
C)"I lost the election because of the political climate,which I couldn't do anything about."
D)"I won the election because of my knowledge and expertise."

Question 9

Discuss how the self-serving bias is both adaptive and maladaptive.

Question 10

Which saying reflects the false consensus effect?

A)The devil made me do it.
B)We're all in this together.
C)Everyone does it!
D)No one is better than me.

Question 11

Sally has been doing well in her statistics class so far this term.Despite her previous success on exams,Sally is still worried that she will not do well on her upcoming test so she studies extra hard.Which of the following best accounts for Sally's study pattern?

A)defensive pessimism
B)unrealistic optimism
C)false uniqueness
D)false consensus

Question 12

Saying "I earned an A on my psychology test" versus "My instructor gave me a C on my psychology test" exemplifies how we associate ourselves with

A)failure and distance ourselves from success.
B)success and distance ourselves from failure.
C)rewards and distance ourselves from punishment.
D)punishment and distance ourselves from rewards.

Question 13

The tendency to perceive oneself favorably is referred to as

A)self-esteem.
B)self-efficacy.
C)the self-deprecating bias.
D)the self-serving bias.

Question 14

Give an example of false consensus and an example of false uniqueness.Clearly label which is which.

Question 15

found that when describing their old pre-college selves,university students offered _______ negative _______ positive statements.

A)more;than
B)less;than
C)as many;as
D)double as many;compared to

Question 16

Most people perceive themselves as

A)less intelligent than others.
B)less attractive than others.
C)much less prejudiced than others.
D)knowing others better than we know ourselves.

Question 17

When we compare ourselves with others,most of us tend to

A)view others as superior.
B)view everyone as relatively average.
C)ignore our strengths and focus on their strengths.
D)see ourselves as better than the average person.