Tina's Self-Serving Attribution Theory

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1. According to the Self-Serving Attribution theory, how will Tina explain the situation if she wins? Will she make an internal or external attribution?

According to self-serving attribution theory states that people typically take credit for successes by making internal attributions. In contrast, they blame situations (external attribution) for failures (Aronson, et al., 2016). If Tina were to win against Phil she would most likely make an internal attribution. She would associate her winning with her skill as a bowler.

2. According to the Self-Serving Attribution theory, how will Tina explain the situation if she loses? Will she make an internal or external attribution?

On the other hand, if Tina were to lose against Phil she would …show more content…

Therefore, Tina could explain dropping his ball and breaking his little toe as justice for him taunting her. Due to his negative behavior (taunting her) he was punished by breaking his little toe.

4. According to your textbook, what are the three reasons people make self-serving attributions and how does each reason apply to this situation?

One reason people make self-serving attributions to preserve self-esteem, the second is to present ourselves positively towards others and the third is based upon personal knowledge about past performances (Aronson, et al., 2016). In the scenario above Tina would use a self-serving attribution to preserve her self-esteem because she feels like she is a good bowler. The second would be to present herself positively to the other bowlers. She would want them to also recognize she is a good bowler and if she were to lose would want them to assume it was due to circumstances. The final reason Tina would use self-serving attribution would be based upon her knowledge of her past games. Tina has experience as being a good bowler so if she were to lose this time, despite prior wins, she would assume an external factor resulted in her

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