When 15-year-old Valerie discovers that she earned an A on last week's assignment, she expresses pride to her teacher and explains that she worked very hard on it. On the way home from school, however, she tells her friends that she didn't put much effort into the project at all and so is quite surprised about her high grade. From the perspective of research on attributions and image management, how can we best explain Valerie's conflicting statements?
A) She suspects that her friends have performance goals rather than mastery goals, and she is trying to go along with the crowd.
B) She knows that her teacher is more likely than her friends to have an entity view of intelligence, and she tailors her explanations accordingly.
C) She knows that her teacher values hard work but that her friends do not, and she tailors her explanations accordingly.
D) Her social goals are taking precedence over her achievement goals on both occasions.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The conflicting statements can be best explained by the fact that Valerie tailors her explanations based on the specific audience she is speaking to. She knows that her teacher values hard work, so she expresses pride and explains that she worked hard when speaking to the teacher. However, she knows that her friends do not value hard work as much as her teacher, so she downplays the effort she put into the project when speaking to them and expresses surprise about the high grade. This demonstrates her awareness of image management and the importance of tailoring her explanations to fit the values and expectations of different audiences.

When 15-Year-Old Valerie Discovers That She Earned an a on Last