Wendy is walking down the street when she suddenly falls down and lands squarely on her backside. A group of girls standing about 50 feet away start laughing hysterically, telling each other what a klutz Wendy is
The unsympathetic girls in this group are making a(n) __________ attribution to explain why Wendy fell down.
A) situational
B) negative
C) positive
D) dispositional
Answer: D
Rationale: Internal attribution (also known as a dispositional attribution), is when the observer explains the actor's behavior as due to some intrinsic quality of the actor. In contrast, an external attribution (also known as a situational attribution), is when the observer explains the actor's behavior as the result of the social context. In this example, the girls assume that Wendy fell because she is inherently clumsy (internal factor), as opposed to an external cause like having the heel on her shoe break suddenly.
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