We see this pattern of blaming others for bad outcomes and failing to give them credit for good ones all over the place. When someone else at work gets a promotion instead of us, do we admit they worked harder than and deserved it more than we did? No, it was because they schmoozed the boss. If someone does better on a test at school, it was because the teacher likes them more. If someone explains the circumstances of a car accident and how it wasn’t their fault, we roll our eyes. We assume the cause was their bad driving.
