Final answer:
The question addresses psychological and sociological reasons behind attributing success and failure, aligning with Social Studies. It involves concepts like fundamental attribution error and defensive attribution, showcasing how biases and external events influence our explanations for our actions and those of others.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question at hand seems to be less about academic content and more focused on understanding the psychological and sociological elements behind the attribution of success or failure. This falls under the category of Social Studies, specifically within the psychological realm of attribution theory. The student's inquiry pertains to why individuals, like Amy and Jack, might assign different reasons for their own failures versus the failures of others.
In the context provided, Amy attributes her failure to an external cause, her stomachache, while assigning Jack's failure to an internal cause, his lack of effort. This difference in attribution can be related to the fundamental attribution error, a concept in social psychology that suggests people tend to (erroneously) attribute others' actions to their character or disposition, while attributing their own actions to external circumstances.
In another example, Kim blames his failure in history on the professor's dislike of him, which echoes the defensive attribution where people attribute their failures to external factors to protect their self-esteem. Similarly, Jarrett uses his daughter's illness as a justification for his academic withdrawal, showcasing the complex interplay between personal responsibility and external life events.
All these examples underline the importance of understanding how personal biases and external factors contribute to one's rationale behind success and failure, which has implications for individual behavior and relationships between people.