Mr. Carlson is a politician who credits his past election victories to his own effective communication and hard work; he attributes his past election losses to factors beyond his control. His assessments best illustrate

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When analyzing this scenario, we examine how the person explains his successes versus his failures and what cognitive bias or concept best fits that pattern.
Option a: self-serving bias. This choice fits well because the politician takes personal credit for past victories (effective communication and hard work) while blaming factors beyond his control for losses. Self-serving bias describes the tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors, which matches the described behavior.
Option b: reciprocal determinism. This concept comes from social cognitive theory and suggests a dynamic, reciprocal interaction between personal factors, behavior, and the environment. While it could influence political outcomes, it does not specifically capture the asymmetric attribution pattern (taking credit for successes and blaming external factors for failures) emphasized in the vignette.
Option c: narcissism. Narcissism involves an inflated sense of self-importance and a need for admiration. Although the scenario hints at self-enhancement, it does not necessarily indicate a pervasive personality trait of narcissism, which would require broader patterns of grandiosity and self-centeredness beyond attribution of past outcomes.
Option d: the spotlight effect. The spotlight effect refers to overestimating how much others notice our appearance or behavior. This is about perceived social attention, not about causal explanations for successes and failures, so it does not apply to the described assessment.
In summary, the behavior described—crediting self for wins and blaming external factors for losses—most directly aligns with self-serving bias, while the other options describe distinct theories or phenomena that do not specifically capture this attribution pattern.

PSY 200 (003) Fall 2025 Introduction to Psychology (TR, 1:30pm)

Mr. Carlson is a politician who credits his past election victories to his own effective communication and hard work; he attributes his past election losses to factors beyond his control. His assessments best illustrate

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PSY 200 (003) Fall 2025 Introduction to Psychology (TR, 1:30pm)

Mr. Carlson is a politician who credits his past election victories to his own effective communication and hard work; he attributes his past election losses to factors beyond his control. His assessments best illustrate

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

Pamela says, “I didn’t get a job offer because the interviewer was biased and it was a nasty day. However, Kaitlin didn’t get an offer because she isn’t qualified.” This is an example of __________.

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Pamela says, “I didn’t get a job offer because the interviewer was biased and it was a nasty day. However, Kaitlin didn’t get an offer because she isn’t qualified.” This is an example of __________.

When Jon scored a 95 on his first psychology exam, he reported that he had spent a great deal of time studying. When he scored a 60 on his second psychology exam, he stated that the exam was poorly written. These responses are an example of:

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