Paul, a project manager in a software development company, recently led a team through a highly anticipated project launch. The project was initially successful, garnering praise from stakeholders and clients alike. However, a few weeks post$-$launch, critical bugs were discovered, leading to customer dissatisfaction and negative feedback. In team meetings and discussions with management, Paul consistently highlights the initial success and positive reviews, attributing them to his leadership and the innovative strategies he implemented. When addressing the issues and negative feedback, Paul shifts the focus to external factors, such as unrealistic client expectations and unforeseen technical challenges, and occasionally points to team members' execution errors, avoiding any implication of his own leadership decisions in the project's shortcomings. This scenario best exemplifies which psychological construct?

A$.$ halo effect

B$.$ fundamental attribution error

C$.$ self$-$serving bias

D$.$ projection

E$.$ confirmation bias