Mark and Sarah are two eighth-grade students who have just failed a math test. Considering gender differences in students' explanations for failure, how are the two students likely to explain their poor test performance?
A)Mark will think that he failed because he "just can't do math." Sarah will think, "I got an F because I didn't work hard enough on this subject-I could have studied more."
B)Mark will attribute his failure to a lack of effort, thinking, "I didn't study very hard because I don't need to get good grades." Sarah will think, "I'm just not very good at math."
C)Mark will think that he isn't very lucky when it comes to tests, and Sarah will think that she failed because she didn't have her friends help her study.
D)Mark will think, "I got an F because I'm not smart enough to do this math." Sarah will think, "I failed because the teacher hates me and the test wasn't fair."

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to research on gender differences in explanations for failure, boys are more likely to attribute their failure to a lack of effort or a lack of motivation, while girls are more likely to attribute their failure to a lack of ability or a lack of natural talent. Therefore, it is likely that Mark will attribute his failure to not studying hard enough, while Sarah will attribute her failure to not being good at math.

Mark and Sarah Are Two Eighth-Grade Students Who Have Just