Olivia forgot to call her friend Robert at the time she promised to call because she was confronted with an emergency situation at home. Because Olivia didn't call, Robert thought she was angry with him, but Olivia realized she had forgotten because of the emergency. This difference in attributions BEST illustrates which of the following?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The actor-observer bias refers to the tendency to attribute one's own behavior to situational factors but attribute others' behavior to stable internal dispositions. In this scenario, Olivia recognized that her failure to call was due to a situational factor (emergency), whereas Robert attributed her behavior to something about their relationship (thinking she was angry with him).

Olivia Forgot to Call Her Friend Robert at the Time