Mary sees Greta trip while walking down an outside flight of steps,and thinks to herself,"What a clumsy person!" Five minutes later,though,Mary trips on the same flight of steps,and says to an onlooker,"It's very icy today!" This is an illustration of the ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The scenario demonstrates the actor-observer effect, as Mary attributes Greta's trip to her clumsiness (observer perspective), but attributes her own trip to external factors, such as the weather (actor perspective). This bias happens because people tend to explain others' behaviors based on their internal traits, but their own behaviors based on external circumstances.

Mary Sees Greta Trip While Walking Down an Outside Flight