Which of the following is an example of a self-serving bias?

• A. A student attributes their high exam score to their intelligence but blames a poor score on unfair test questions.
• B. An employee credits their coworker for a successful project and takes responsibility for mistakes.
• C. A person believes that everyone is responsible for their own actions regardless of circumstances.
• D. A manager attributes both successes and failures equally to team effort.

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the concept of self-serving bias: it is a common cognitive bias where individuals attribute their successes to internal factors (like their own abilities) and their failures to external factors (like bad luck or unfair circumstances).
2. Analyze each option by identifying whether the person is attributing success and failure differently based on internal or external causes.
3. For the first option, note that the student credits their high exam score to their intelligence (an internal factor) but blames a poor score on unfair test questions (an external factor), which fits the definition of self-serving bias.
4. For the other options, check if the attributions are balanced or do not show this pattern of internalizing success and externalizing failure.
5. Conclude that the example demonstrating self-serving bias is the one where success is attributed internally and failure externally, as in the first option.