Question

When Catherine landed a big contract for her firm, she accepted the credit for her hard work and smart "wheeling and dealing." When she failed to get the contract in another situation, she blamed the sneaky and dishonest tactics of the competition. What is this an example of?

The fundamental attribution error
The self-serving bias
The false-consensus effect

Answer 1

This scenario is an example of the **self-serving bias**. The self-serving bias refers to the tendency of individuals to attribute their successes to their own abilities and efforts (internal factors) while attributing their failures to external factors, such as the actions of others. In this case, Catherine takes credit for her success in landing the contract but blames the competition when she does not succeed.