In the context of attributions, what is the term for the tendency to take more personal responsibility for success than for failure?

• A. False consensus effect
• B. Actor-observer bias
• C. Self-serving bias
• D. Fundamental attribution error

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that the question is about attribution theory, which explores how people explain causes of behavior and events.
2. Recognize that the tendency to take more personal credit for successes than for failures relates to how individuals protect their self-esteem.
3. Recall that the 'self-serving bias' is the term used to describe this tendency to attribute successes to internal factors (like ability or effort) and failures to external factors (like luck or task difficulty).
4. Differentiate this from other attribution concepts: the 'false consensus effect' involves overestimating how much others share our beliefs; the 'actor-observer bias' refers to attributing our own actions to situational factors but others' actions to dispositional factors; and the 'fundamental attribution error' is the tendency to overemphasize personality traits when explaining others' behavior.
5. Conclude that the correct term for the described tendency is 'self-serving bias'.