Social Psychology 4th Edition By Tom Gilovich – Test Bank

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CHAPTER 5: Social Attribution: Explaining Behavior

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1.________ theory deals with how people assign causes to the events around them and the effects that these explanations have.

a.	Explanatory	c.	Representative
b.	Attribution	d.	Situational

ANS:BDIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ:5.1AMSC:Remembering

2.________ theory focuses on the ways in which we answer such questions as “Why does my roommate always play his music loudly?”

a.	Explanatory	c.	Attribution
b.	Representative	d.	Situational

ANS:CDIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1A MSC: Applying

3.Which of the following questions best reflects what attribution theory seeks to explain?

a.	How often does Tina engage in binge drinking?
b.	Why did Larissa break up with Tom?
c.	What did Bob say in response to Jim’s insult?
d.	Where is Juan most likely to find a date for the dance?

ANS:BDIF:Moderate

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1A MSC: Analyzing

4.________ refers to a person’s habitual way of explaining many different types of events.

a.	Causative thinking	c.	The correspondence bias
b.	Dispositional attribution	d.	Explanatory style

ANS:DDIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ:5.1BMSC:Remembering

5.Psychologists who want to measure a person’s explanatory style assess each of the following attribution dimensions EXCEPT

a.	rational/affective.	c.	stability/instability.
b.	internal/external.	d.	global/specific.

ANS:ADIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1B MSC: Analyzing

6.In a study conducted by Peterson and his colleagues, participants’ explanatory style when they were young adults

a.	predicted health at age thirty.
b.	predicted health in older age.
c.	predicted relationship status at age thirty.
d.	did not predict health at any age.

ANS:BDIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ:5.1BMSC:Understanding

7.Recall that Dweck and her colleagues aimed to understand why boys and girls tend to explain their failures differently. To this end, they conducted an experiment that manipulated ________. Results showed that ________.

a.	the type of feedback that students received in class; comments teachers typically give to girls lead to internal attributions for failure
b.	the type of feedback that students received in class; comments teachers typically give to boys lead to internal attributions for failure
c.	success and failure on various assignments; after a success, girls felt happier than boys
d.	success and failure on various assignments; after a failure, girls felt sadder than boys

ANS:ADIF:Moderate

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ:5.1BMSC:Understanding

8.Bo has repeatedly tried 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. Bo is displaying a ________ explanatory style.

a.	self-defensive	c.	pessimistic
b.	maladaptive	d.	self-protecting

ANS:CDIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1B MSC: Applying

9.Kyle, a male student, and Megha, a female student, both failed their geography exams. According to research by Dweck and colleagues, Kyle is likely to attribute his failure to his ________, whereas Megha is likely to attribute her failure to her ________.

a.	parents; teachers
b.	teachers; parents
c.	lack of ability; lack of effort
d.	lack of effort; lack of ability

ANS:DDIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1B MSC: Applying

10.Jim meets Eun Joo for coffee and asks, “Would you be my date for the Sigma Chi formal dance?” She smiles and says, “That is so nice of you, but I have already got plans.” Jim then thinks to himself, “I will never find a date for this formal.” Given this information, you can conclude that Jim’s response reflects a(n) ________ attribution.

a.	stable	c.	external
b.	global	d.	transient

ANS:ADIF:Moderate

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1B MSC: Applying

11.Darby consistently attributes her failures to stable, global, and internal causes. Maria accounts for her failures by citing unstable, specific, and external causes. According to research on explanatory style, Darby is likely to ________ than Maria.

a.	earn higher grades	c.	be more creative
b.	earn lower grades	d.	be less creative

ANS:BDIF:Difficult

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1B MSC: Applying

12.The ________ dimension of explanatory style considers whether the causes of a particular behavior will be present again in the future.

a.	stable/unstable	c.	internal/external
b.	global/specific	d.	positive/negative

ANS:ADIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ:5.1BMSC:Remembering

13.Someone with an optimistic explanatory style is likely to make which types of attributions for success?

a.	internal, stable, specific	c.	internal, unstable, global
b.	internal, stable, global	d.	external, unstable, specific

ANS:BDIF:Easy

REF:From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ:5.1BMSC:Understanding

14.According to ________, our confidence that a particular cause is responsible for a given outcome is reduced if there are other plausible causes that might have produced it.

a.	plausibility theory	c.	the discounting principle
b.	the principle of refutation	d.	the augmentation principle

ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.2BMSC:Remembering

15.Recall that Wells and Gavanski (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 a dish for the woman 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

a.	boss’s behavior was situationally caused were more likely to blame him for the woman’s death.
b.	boss’s behavior was dispositionally caused were more upset by the woman’s death.
c.	boss almost ordered a different dish that contained wine viewed him more negatively.
d.	boss almost ordered a different dish that did not contain wine viewed his choice of meals as more causally significant.

ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2C MSC: Applying

16.Rhonda tells you that she hates her new apartment. According to the covariation principle, which question would you ask to assess the consistency covariation dimension?

a.	Do her roommates also hate the apartment?
b.	Did Rhonda like her previous apartment?
c.	Would Rhonda prefer to own her own home rather than rent?
d.	Does Rhonda always report hating her apartment, or is she just saying so today?

ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2A MSC: Applying

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

a.	distinctiveness	c.	consensus
b.	consistency	d.	individuating

ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2A MSC: Applying

18.Jamal watches how his new girlfriend reacts to a performer at a comedy club. Is she easily amused or is the comedian really that funny? If he compares his girlfriend’s response to the comedian to other people in the audience, he is focusing on ________ information.

a.	consistency	c.	consensus
b.	distinctiveness	d.	shared

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2A MSC: Applying

19.Gloria looks back on her marriage and thinks, “If only I had put more effort into the relationship, Lew and I would still be together.” This self-reflection exemplifies

a.	counterfactual thinking.	c.	emotional intensification.
b.	the actor-observer effect.	d.	the self-serving bias.

ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2C MSC: Applying

20.At the last minute, Christine decided to try a new route to work. On her drive in, she hit a deep pothole, causing one of her car tires to go flat. Her decision to try a new route ________ the likelihood that she engaged in counterfactual thinking.

a.	increased	c.	had no effect on
b.	decreased	d.	eliminated

ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2C MSC: Applying

21.Hector plays golf every Saturday. His wife, Alicia, notices that after a winning round, Hector tends to play with the kids. After a losing round, he tends to watch television by himself. According to ________ , over time, Alicia is likely to conclude that Hector’s golf games can exert a causal effect on his behavior at home.

a.	emotional amplification theory
b.	the covariation principle
c.	the augmentation principle
d.	fundamental attribution theory

ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2A MSC: Applying

22.Flora will most likely attribute Jeremy’s quiet, shy behavior to his introverted personality when

a.	consistency is high, and consensus and distinctiveness are low.
b.	consensus and consistency are high, but distinctiveness is low.
c.	consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency are all low.
d.	consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency are all high.

ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2A MSC: Applying

23.Maria, Min, and Bobby ran for class president. When the votes were tallied, Maria received thirty-eight votes, Min received thirty-seven votes, and Bobby garnered thirty-five votes. According to Medvec and colleagues’ (1995) study of Olympic athletes’ emotional reactions, one would expect ________ to be the LEAST happy with the election outcome.

a.	Maria	c.	Bobby
b.	Min	d.	All three would be equally happy.

ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2C MSC: Applying

24.Several mountain climbers were trapped on Mount Everest during a blinding snowstorm. Many climbers died on the mountain. One climber made it all the way back to base camp. Unfortunately, however, he collapsed and died mere yards away from the safety of his tent. Because this climber came so close to saving himself, ________ is particularly likely to occur in response to this climber’s death.

a.	the fundamental attribution error
b.	the correspondence bias
c.	emotional amplification
d.	discounting

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2C MSC: Applying

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

a.	augmentation; Janet’s	c.	covariation; Lissett’s
b.	augmentation; Lissett’s	d.	covariation; Janet’s

ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2B MSC: Applying

26.According to the augmentation principle, which action is most likely to be attributed to the personality of the actor?

a.	clapping after a musical performance
b.	asking a server for the check after finishing a meal
c.	wearing a tropical shirt and shorts to a funeral
d.	dancing at a party

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2B MSC: Analyzing

27.According to social psychological research on the covariation principle, which condition should prompt the highest expectations about the TechnoCool dance club?

a.	Hardly anyone raves about TechnoCool, your friend raves about all clubs, and your friend has raved about TechnoCool on many different occasions.
b.	Everyone raves about TechnoCool, your friend rarely raves about any clubs, and your friend has raved about TechnoCool on many different occasions.
c.	Your friend raves about all clubs, TechnoCool exceeds your friend’s expectations, and positive experiences tend to occur at TechnoCool.
d.	Your friend dislikes all clubs, TechnoCool exceeds your friend’s expectations, and negative experiences tend to occur at TechnoCool.

ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2A MSC: Applying

28.An American soldier is captured and tortured by enemy forces. The enemy then releases a videotape of the soldier proclaiming a deep hatred for America. According to the discounting principle, Americans who later view this videotape are likely to explain the soldier’s proclamations in terms of ________ causes.

a.	internal	c.	dispositional
b.	external	d.	global

ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2B MSC: Applying

29.Which of the following statements about attribution is INACCURATE?

a.	The more an individual’s reaction is specific to one occasion, the harder it is to make a definite attribution to either the person or the situation.
b.	All other things being equal, the more an individual’s reaction is shared by others, the less it says about the individual and the more it says about the situation.
c.	The more someone’s reaction is confined to a particular situation, the less this reaction says about that individual and the more it says about the specific situation.
d.	If an individual’s reaction occurs just once, it is easier to determine whether the behavior should be attributed to the situation or to the person.

ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.2AMSC:Understanding

30.People tend to make ________ attributions when levels of consensus and distinctiveness are low and consistency information is high.

a.	specific	c.	external
b.	unstable	d.	internal

ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.2AMSC:Remembering

31.The ________ is the idea that behavior should be attributed to potential causes that occur along with the behavior.

a.	covariation principle	c.	explanatory theory
b.	consensus principle	d.	attribution theory

ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.2AMSC:Remembering

32.The self-serving bias tends to reflect all of the following EXCEPT

a.	the motivation to feel good about oneself.
b.	rational thought processes.
c.	sound attributional reasoning.
d.	the motivation to be in control.

ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3AMSC:Understanding

33.The ________ holds that people have a tendency to believe that another person’s behavior is due to his or her disposition rather than the situation in which that person finds him- or herself.

a.	fundamental attribution error	c.	covariation principle
b.	self-serving bias	d.	observer fallacy

ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3BMSC:Remembering

34.The just world hypothesis refers to

a.	the belief that positive events are more likely than negative events.
b.	the belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
c.	a tendency to blame our own failures on external events.
d.	a tendency to expect the best of people about whom we care.

ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3BMSC:Remembering

35.Recall that Dan Gilbert studied why people tend to attribute others’ behaviors to dispositional factors. According to his theoretical framework, this pattern of attribution occurs because people tend to

a.	consider a person’s behavior and the situation simultaneously.
b.	be emotionally invested in explaining others’ behaviors in terms of stable personal characteristics.
c.	make initial dispositional inferences without later adjusting them on the basis of situational information.
d.	have difficulty identifying what other people’s behaviors signify.

ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3BMSC:Understanding

36.The actor-observer difference is the tendency to make ________ attributions for one’s own behavior, while making ________ attributions for others’ behavior.

a.	deductive; inductive	c.	global; specific
b.	distinctive; common	d.	situational; dispositional

ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3CMSC:Remembering

37.Tiesha thinks that she did poorly on her exam because the questions were too hard, but that her friend did poorly because he is not smart. Tiesha’s attributions reflect the

a.	discounting principle.
b.	covariation principle.
c.	actor-observer difference.
d.	fundamental attribution error.

ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ: 5.3C MSC: Applying

38.Recall that in one experiment, participants were assigned to one of two roles: questioner or responder. The questioner read a series of questions to the responder and told the responder how to answer each question. In fact, the questioner used a preprinted list to tell responders exactly how to answer each question. The results of this research showed that the

a.	questioners made judgments that support the false consensus effect.
b.	responders relied on the discounting principle.
c.	questioners still drew inferences about what the responders were like.
d.	responders formed negative impressions of the questioners.

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3BMSC:Understanding

39.According to Dan Gilbert, the first stage of the attributional process entails making ________ attributions that are ________. The second, adjustment, stage entails making ________ that are ________.

a.	defensive; self-enhancing; realistic attributions; deliberate
b.	dispositional; automatic; situational attributions; deliberate
c.	temporary; subconscious; stable attributions; conscious
d.	situational; deliberate; dispositional attributions; automatic

ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ: 5.3B MSC: Analyzing

40.The Westlake Hills Little League team just lost a game. According to research on attribution biases, right after the game, the Westlake Hills coach is likely to say,

a.	“We just do not seem to have what it takes to be a winning team.”
b.	“Some of the team members just did not seem motivated to win.”
c.	“Our opponents played better than ever today.”
d.	“You guys really played well today.”

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ: 5.3A MSC: Applying

41.In her debate class, Min was assigned to give a “pro-life” speech on abortion. Before her speech, the teacher told everyone that Min had been assigned to take this position, regardless of her true beliefs. Research on the fundamental attribution error suggests that, after class, the other students will

a.	not form a judgment without asking Min about her true attitude.
b.	be evenly divided on whether Min is pro-life or pro-choice.
c.	be biased to think that Min is truly pro-choice.
d.	be biased to think that Min is truly pro-life.

ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ: 5.3B MSC: Applying

42.According to your textbook, all of the following are potential causes of the fundamental attribution error EXCEPT

a.	people more readily capture our attention than aspects of the environment.
b.	it is more effortful to make a situational attribution.
c.	we have more access to information about ourselves than others.
d.	dispositional inferences contribute to our belief in a just world.

ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3BMSC:Understanding

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

a.	“Roscoe got what he deserved!”
b.	“Even Roscoe did not deserve that!”
c.	“Roscoe sure had bad luck!”
d.	“If it happened to Roscoe, it could happen to anyone!”

ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ: 5.3B MSC: Applying

44.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,

a.	“I wonder what I did to make William so angry.”
b.	“I happened to have a bad day, but William is just plain nasty.”
c.	“William must have had a bad day, but I am just plain nasty.”
d.	“I wonder what William did to make me so angry?”

ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ: 5.3C MSC: Applying

45.Pablo and Celia 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, Pablo is attentive. But Celia is tired and her mind wanders a bit. Attribution research suggests that, compared with Pablo, Celia is more likely to

a.	think that the applicant is anxious or upset.
b.	be impressed by the applicant.
c.	notice that the applicant is sick.
d.	believe that the applicant is serious about the job.

ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ: 5.3B MSC: Applying

46.When we engage in 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 ________.

a.	distinctive factors; global factors
b.	permanent circumstances; temporary circumstances
c.	controllable circumstances; uncontrollable circumstances
d.	external circumstances; ourselves

ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3AMSC:Remembering

47.The just world hypothesis, believing that good things happen to good people, is used to explain which psychological phenomenon?

a.	the fundamental attribution error
b.	the covariation principle
c.	the augmentation principle
d.	the cultural priming effect

ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ: 5.3B MSC: Analyzing

48.Many people think that victims of domestic abuse and rape are responsible for their fates. This disturbing tendency is most closely related to

a.	the false consensus effect.
b.	a pessimistic explanatory style.
c.	the just world hypothesis.
d.	the augmentation principle.

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3BMSC:Understanding

49.Actors’ and observers’ attributions differ for many reasons. Which of the following is NOT one of those reasons?

a.	They have different assumptions about what needs explaining.
b.	Different types of information are perceptually salient to them.
c.	They differ in the amount and kind of information they have about the actors’ and the observers’ behavior.
d.	They have the same information about their own versus others’ behavior.

ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution

OBJ:5.3CMSC:Understanding

50.Which of the following is FALSE regarding the findings from research on culture and social perception? Relative to

a.	Asians, Americans are less likely to assume that people are trustworthy.
b.	the Japanese, Americans’ judgments of faces tend to be less influenced by context.
c.	the Japanese, Americans are less attentive to background elements of visual scenes.
d.	Americans, Hindu East Indians are less likely to attribute others’ behaviors to presumed personality traits.

ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Culture and Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.4AMSC:Understanding

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

a.	Westerners are more inclined than Asians to see people as behaving in ways that have dispositional causes.
b.	Asians tend to think like both personality and social psychologists, whereas Westerners tend to think like personality psychologists.
c.	Asians do not commit the fundamental attribution error.
d.	Differences in causal perception between Westerners and Asians are likely due to differences in cultural outlook between the two groups.

ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: Culture and Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.4AMSC:Understanding

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

a.	“It seems as if the other team was tired and unprepared for this game.”
b.	“Our players really made the difference; they are much more skilled than the other team.”
c.	“We tried our best, and it showed in our win.”
d.	“Our players have a lot of heart.”

ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: Culture and Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.4A MSC: Analyzing

53.How does social class relate to causal attribution?

a.	Lower- or working-class individuals make attributions similar to those from independent cultures.
b.	Lower- or working-class individuals make attributions similar to those from interdependent cultures.
c.	Social class relates to causal attribution for Asians, but not for Westerners.
d.	Social class does not relate to causal attribution.

ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: Culture and Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.4BMSC:Understanding

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

a.	people who live in the United States.
b.	all people, regardless of culture.
c.	people from interdependent cultures.
d.	people from independent cultures.

ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Culture and Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.4AMSC:Understanding

55.Pat is a lower-class man who works at a tire factory for a living. When trying to make sense of why a coworker is late to work, Pat is likely to make which kind of attribution?

a.	positive	c.	situational
b.	negative	d.	dispositional

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: Culture and Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.4B MSC: Applying

SHORT ANSWER

1.Recall that Peterson and Seligman examined the impact of attributions on academic success. Name the three dimensions along which Peterson and Seligman have assessed a person’s explanatory style. Then give an example of a belief or type of thought that characterizes each of those dimensions.

ANS:

The three attribution dimensions that make up explanatory style include internal/external, stable/unstable, and global/specific. Several examples of beliefs or types of thought are acceptable. An example that is internal mentions the self, while an external one does not. An example that is stable implies things will never change, while an unstable one implies that change is possible. An example that is global affects many areas of life, while a specific one applies to just a few areas.

DIF: Difficult REF: From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1B MSC: Applying

2.What are the advantages of having an optimistic explanatory style?

ANS:

An optimistic explanatory style is the tendency to attribute successes to internal, stable, and global causes and to attribute failures to external, unstable, and specific causes. An optimistic explanatory style is associated with higher grades and better physical health outcomes later in life.

DIF: Easy REF: From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1B MSC: Evaluating

3.What is wrong with the ways in which teachers typically make causal attributions about girls’ and boys’ successes and failures?

ANS:

Research finds that in elementary school, teachers provide different attributional feedback to boys and girls. Negative evaluation of girls’ performance focuses almost exclusively on intellectual inadequacies, while half of the negative evaluation of boys’ performance focuses on nonintellectual factors. Positive evaluation of girls’ performance focuses on intellectual ability less than 80 percent of the time, while positive evaluation of boys’ performance focuses on intellectual ability 94 percent of the time. These attributional patterns suggest that criticism for girls means they lack intellectual ability, while for boys it means they have not worked hard enough or paid enough attention.

DIF: Moderate REF: From Acts to Dispositions: Inferring the Causes of Behavior

OBJ: 5.1B MSC: Evaluating

4.Explain the covariation principle and the three types of covariation information that people use to understand the causes of everyday social behavior.

ANS:

The covariation principle is the idea that behavior should be attributed to causes that covary with the behavior. Three types of covariation information are significant in determining whether a behavior should be attributed to the person or the situation. Consensus refers to what most people do in the given situation. The more an individual’s reaction is shared by others, the less it says about him or her and the more it says about the situation. Distinctiveness refers to what the individual does in different situations. The more someone’s reaction is confined to a particular situation, the less it says about the individual and the more it says about the situation. Consistency refers to what the individual does in the given situation on different occasions. The more an individual’s reaction varies across occasions, the harder it is to make an attribution either to the person or the situation.

DIF:DifficultREF:The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.2AMSC:Understanding

5.Compare and contrast the discounting and augmentation principles.

ANS:

Both the discounting and augmentation principles are logic used to infer the cause of a particular behavior based on how most people would behave in a given situation. With the discounting principle, people should assign reduced weight to a particular behavior if other causes are present that might have produced it. With the augmentation principle, people should assign greater weight to a particular behavior if other causes are present that would normally produce the opposite outcome.

DIF:DifficultREF:The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ: 5.2B MSC: Analyzing

6.What is a counterfactual thought? Explain the circumstances under which it is most likely to occur.

ANS:

Counterfactual thoughts are thoughts of what might have, could have, or should have happened “if only” something had occurred differently. Determinants of how easy it is to imagine the event not happening include time and distance. Additionally, events that occur during a departure from an individual’s routine also instigate counterfactual thoughts.

DIF:EasyREF:The Processes of Causal Attribution

OBJ:5.2CMSC:Understanding

7.Describe an instance in which you have committed the self-serving bias. Clearly explain how it demonstrates this attributional phenomenon.

ANS:

Several examples of the self-serving attributional bias are acceptable as long as students describe a situation in which they attributed a failure or another bad event to external circumstances and/or a success or another good event to themselves.

DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution OBJ: 5.3A

MSC: Applying

8.Defend the position that the self-serving attributional bias is NOT always based on the motivation to maintain self-esteem.

ANS:

People may attribute successes to the self and failures to external circumstances for rational reasons that do not have to do with maintaining self-esteem. When a person succeeds, it is at least partly due to his or her own efforts and thus warrants taking credit. When a person fails, it at least partly occurs despite his or her own efforts and thus requires looking for causes elsewhere.

DIF: Difficult REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution OBJ: 5.3A

MSC: Evaluating

9.Hannah and Damian disagree on the cause of Damian’s recent automobile accident. Describe how the actor-observer difference might explain the disagreement between the two.

ANS:

The actor-observer difference is a difference in attribution based on who is making the attribution. The actor is more inclined to make situational attributions, while the observer is more likely to make dispositional attributions. In this situation, Damian, the actor, is likely to attribute the automobile accident to the situation, such as another driver’s behavior or the icy roads. In contrast, Hannah, the observer, is likely to attribute the automobile accident to Damian, such as the fact that he was not paying attention or is a bad driver.

DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution OBJ: 5.3C

MSC: Applying

10.Explain the fundamental attribution error. Provide three explanations for why it occurs.

ANS:

The fundamental attribution error is the failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behavior, and the corresponding tendency to overemphasize the importance of dispositions on behavior. People may be more likely to attribute a behavior to dispositional causes because of their belief in a just world, the idea that good things happen to good people, which provides comfort and reassurance. Other causes of the fundamental attribution error include perceptual salience, the idea that features of the environment that more readily capture attention (i.e., the person) are more likely 

to be seen as the cause of an effect. Finally, it is less cognitively demanding to make dispositional attributions. When tired or unmotivated, people are less likely to do the additional work of considering the situation.

DIF: Easy REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution OBJ: 5.3B

MSC:Understanding

11.What is the just world hypothesis? In addition, explain how this hypothesis is relevant to the fundamental attribution error.

ANS:

The just world hypothesis is the belief that people get what they deserve in life and deserve what they get. This belief is a potential cause of the fundamental attribution error—the tendency to overestimate dispositional causes of an event and to underestimate situational causes. When making a dispositional attribution, we are claiming that the person was the cause of the event and this gives us comfort and peace of mind. It suggests that people determine their own circumstances and that bad things will not just happen to them.

DIF: Difficult REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution OBJ: 5.3B

MSC: Analyzing

12.Generate an example of a time when you or someone you know committed the fundamental attribution error. Considering the causes of the fundamental attribution error that you learned about in this chapter, how might you explain this particular situation?

ANS:

Several examples are acceptable as long as they present a situation when an observer attributed a behavior to dispositional causes without considering the situation. Reasonable causes include belief in a just world, perceptual salience, and cognitive effort or laziness.

DIF: Moderate REF: Errors and Biases in Attribution OBJ: 5.3B

MSC: Applying

13.In what ways are Americans’ and Asians’ attribution and impression formation processes similar? In what ways are they dissimilar?

ANS:

Many aspects of attribution processes are similar across cultures. For example, people everywhere likely engage in counterfactual thinking, maintain just world beliefs, and observe a difference in the causes of their own and others’ behaviors. However, there are also cultural differences in certain attribution processes. People from Asian cultures are more likely to take notice of the situation than Americans and to attribute a behavior to situational causes. Correspondingly, people from Asian countries are less likely to make the fundamental attribution error, particularly in circumstances when they have direct experience in the situation themselves.

DIF: Difficult REF: Culture and Causal Attribution OBJ: 5.4A

MSC: Analyzing

14.Challenge the position that people within the United States are all equally likely to commit the fundamental attribution error. What aspects of American identity relate to this tendency?

ANS:

Not all people within the United States are equally likely to commit the fundamental attribution error. For example, bicultural people may be more or less likely to commit the fundamental attribution error depending on what culture is primed. People with Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage are less likely to use trait words to describe their own and others’ behaviors. Moreover, people from lower- class backgrounds are more likely to consider situational influences on behavior than people from higher-class backgrounds.

DIF: Moderate REF: Culture and Causal Attribution OBJ: 5.4B

MSC: Evaluating

15.Why is it inaccurate to say that people from interdependent cultures do NOT commit the fundamental attribution error?

ANS:

Research finds that people from interdependent cultures also commit the fundamental attribution error. In fact, the classic effect in the Jones and Harris (1967) paradigm—assuming a speech or essay by another person reflects his or her own beliefs despite being forced to take that stance—has been replicated cross-culturally. It is accurate to say that people from interdependent cultures are less likely to commit the fundamental attribution error, particularly in situations in which the individual has direct experience in the situations themselves.

DIF: Difficult REF: Culture and Causal Attribution OBJ: 5.4A

MSC: Evaluating