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 __________.

Question

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 __________.

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question presents Pamela attributing her own failure to external factors (bias of the interviewer and a nasty day) while Kaitlin’s failure is attributed to her not being qualified. This setup points to a common pattern where individuals explain their own outcomes in a biased way that protects self-esteem, typically by blaming external factors for failures and downplaying personal responsibility, which is the essence of self-serving bias.

Option 1: construct differentiation. This term generally refers to the process of distinguishing between concepts or categories in cognitive processing, not about making biased explanations for one’s own outcomes. It does not capture the scenario described.

Option 2: stereotyping. Stereotyping involves ascribing generalized beliefs about a group to individuals, not specifically about how one explains one’s own or others’ outcomes in a personal attribution pattern. It’s not the focus here.

Option 3: self-serving bias. This is the correct recognition: the passage illustrates a tendency to explain one’s own failure by external factors ( Pamela) and a different internal reason for another person’s failure, reflecting the bias that serves self-esteem rather than objective accuracy.

Option 4: internal attributions. While Kaitlin’s lack of offer is described as internal (not qualified), the overall example includes Pamela’s external attribution for her own outcome and Kaitlin’s internal attribution for hers. This mix demonstrates attribution patterns but does not define the overall scenario as “internal attributions” alone; the framing aligns more with self-serving bias as a pattern of biased attributions about one’s own outcomes.

CMN 010V A01-A05 SS1 2025 Exam 2 (on Canvas/proctored by Honorlock)

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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