"Say It Ain't So, Ben": Attributions for a Fallen Hero

Abstract

This study examines some well-known attributional tendencies in a unique situation. Specifically, it examines attributions for the unexpected fall of a Canadian hero, Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his Olympic gold medal for the use of anabolic steroids. The results reveal a reversal of the fundamental attributional bias and the use of base rate information in observers' attributions. The findings are interpreted and discussed in terms of Pyszczynski and Greenberg's (1987) biased hypothesis-testing model.