Final answer:
The tendency for individuals to relate external events to themselves is known as personalization. The self-serving bias is attributing successes internally and failures externally, to maintain self-esteem. Confirmation bias leads to seeking information that confirms existing beliefs and creating illusory correlations, like the effect of the moon's phases on human behavior.
Step-by-step explanation:
The tendency for individuals to relate external events to themselves, even when there is no basis for making this connection, is known as personalization. This cognitive distortion involves taking things personally that may have little or nothing to do with you. An individual with this bias might blame themselves for external events that they had no control over, or believe that events are related to them when they are not.
Making internal attributions for successes and external attributions for failures is known as the self-serving bias. This tendency helps to protect one's self-esteem by taking credit for positive events and distancing oneself from negative outcomes.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that supports pre-existing beliefs and ignore information that contradicts them. It is a cognitive bias that can result in illusory correlations, such as believing in stereotypes without sufficient evidence or the presumption that the moon's phases affect human behavior—a widely held, yet unfounded belief.