Answer the following statements true (T) or false (F)

Question

1. Lee has hired two new employees for her team, Jim and Judy. Jim is outgoing and attractive, while Judy is very bright but seems quiet and unsure. Lee immediately expects Jim to outperform Judy at the job. Lee is likely experiencing the halo effect.
2. "Joe drinks too much because he has no willpower; but I need a few drinks after work because I'm under a lot of pressure" is an example of an attribution statement.
3. After a recent exam, students earning Ds blamed factors such as bad luck, unclear lectures, and unfair testing for their poor performance. These students are engaged in self-serving bias.
4. One of the ways to create a Pygmalion effect is to encourage employees to visualize failing at executing tasks and use their fear of failure to motivate them.

Answer 1

1. TRUE
The halo effect occurs when we form an impression of an individual based on a single trait, such as being attractive. "Employers (wrongly) expect good-looking workers to perform better than their less-attractive counterparts under both visual and oral interaction," says the research, "even after controlling for individual worker characteristics and worker confidence." Here, Lee is experiencing the halo effect.
2. TRUE
Causal attribution is the activity of inferring causes for observed behavior. Rightly or wrongly, we constantly formulate cause-and-effect explanations for our own and others' behavior. Attribution statements such as the following are common: "Joe drinks too much because he has no willpower; but I need a few drinks after work because I'm under a lot of pressure."
3. TRUE
In self-serving bias, people tend to take more personal responsibility for success than for failure. In this example, the students who earned Ds blaming factors such as bad luck, unclear lectures, and unfair testing for their poor performance is a clear example of self-serving bias.
4. FALSE
Positive self-expectations are the foundation for creating an organization-wide Pygmalion effect, and managers can create positive performance expectations in a variety of ways, including encouraging employees to visualize the successful execution of tasks.