Sonia is a 7th grade student who has been struggling academically and getting into trouble at both home and school. In contrast, her twin sister Trina, with whom she frequently fights, is very successful academically and is popular with both teachers and other students. Sonia frequently blames others for her own failures. According to Bernard Weiner's attribution theory, Sonia would make which of the following attributions for Trina's success?

• A. She would acknowledge that her sister is successful because of her own effort and innate talent
• B. She would argue that Trina is only succeeding in order to make her look bad
• C. She would insist that Trina's success is only due to external factors like luck, rather than a results of her own efforts
• D. She would deny that Trina is more successful academically and socially than she is

Answer: (C)

Weiner's attribution theory looks at how people explain outcomes in terms of internal versus external causes, as well as stability and controllability. Someone who tends to blame others for their own failings is likely to make external attributions when evaluating others' success, as a way to protect self-esteem and distance themselves from the outcome.

So Sonia would attribute Trina's success to external factors like luck, rather than to Trina's own effort or talent. This external-locus explanation fits Sonia’s pattern of deflecting responsibility for failures onto situational factors. The other ideas would imply internal causes (Trina’s effort or talent), a motive-based claim about appearances, or outright denial, none of which align as neatly with Sonia’s established tendency.