Final answer:
The process of creating explanations for events is called attribution, which is related to how we assign causes to behaviors. It is often influenced by cognitive biases like self-serving bias and can lead to an unfair attribution of success or failure in personal and public domains.
Step-by-step explanation:
The process of creating explanations for events is called attribution. This term refers to the ways in which we assign causes to behaviors and events. There are various cognitive biases associated with this process, including the actor-observer bias, the fundamental attribution error, and the self-serving bias. The self-serving bias, in particular, is the tendency to attribute our successes to internal, dispositional factors, and our failures to external, situational factors. This bias helps to protect and enhance our self-esteem.
Another related concept is confirmation bias, which is when we seek out information that supports our stereotypes. In the context of media and sports, we often see self-serving attributions for winning or losing wherein players or coaches may attribute wins to their own skill or hard work, and losses to factors out of their control, such as incorrect referee calls.
In summary, attribution is an important concept in understanding how we interpret and explain our own and others' behavior, and it's influenced by various biases that can distort our perception and interpretation of events.