Which option correctly distinguishes fundamental attribution error from self-serving bias with workplace examples?

• A. Fundamental attribution error overemphasizes situational factors while self-serving bias emphasizes internal factors.
• B. Fundamental attribution error attributes successes to internal factors; self-serving bias attributes failures to internal factors.
• C. Fundamental attribution error overemphasizes personal traits and underestimates situational factors; self-serving bias attributes successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.
• D. Both biases attribute outcomes to random chance.

Answer: (C)

Fundamental attribution error shows up when we judge others’ behavior by who they are rather than by the situation they’re in. In the workplace, if a teammate misses a deadline, we’re quick to think they’re careless or lazy, discounting factors like a sudden priority shift, unclear instructions, or a heavy workload. That tendency to emphasize internal traits and downplay situational factors is what characterizes FAE.

Self-serving bias, on the other hand, is about how we interpret our own outcomes. When we succeed, we attribute it to our own abilities or effort. When we fail, we blame external factors—things like a difficult boss, bad luck, or poor resources. This pattern—crediting internal factors for success and external factors for failure—captures self-serving bias.

So the option that describes FAE as overemphasizing personal traits and underestimating situational factors, while describing self-serving bias as crediting internal factors for successes and external factors for failures, fits the distinctions between the two biases.