![]() Other researchers have proposed a different explanation, arguing that self-serving bias is related to how closely reality aligns with expectations. Combined with the need to protect our ego, the need to assign responsibility can explain why it’s easier for us to blame external circumstances for our failures. When we attribute someone’s dangerous driving to their poor driving skills (an internal factor), as opposed to an external factor like poor visibility on the road, we are also implicitly or explicitly placing the blame on them. When we make attributions, we are not only interested in what caused a certain outcome, but also in assigning responsibility. At the same time, it is an effective coping strategy that helps us reduce the emotional sting of undesirable outcomes. Taking credit for positive outcomes while attributing negative ones to external causes is a way to protect our self-esteem. Because of this, we default to seeing things in a way that favors ourselves, rather than others. One of the driving forces behind this bias is the (unconscious) need to feel good about ourselves. A number of theories can help explain why self-serving bias occurs: Self-serving bias is caused by several factors. Due to this, we tend to make external attributions when the outcome of our behavior is negative, while we tend to make internal ones when the outcome is positive. Internal (or dispositional) attribution interprets our behaviour as being caused by our personality traits.Īs a result of self-serving bias, our attributions help us feel positively about ourselves.External (or situational) attribution interprets our behaviour as being caused by situational factors beyond our control.These processes occur without us even realising it. ![]() Causal attributions in particular, like those relating to success and failure, are often distorted by feelings (called affective behaviors). Although we like to think that we are rational and objective in our attributions, these are in fact heavily subject to the same distortions as other forms of judgment. In psychology, attribution refers to how we perceive and explain the causes of behaviour. As a result, we make decisions or form judgments that are less than accurate but nevertheless beneficial for us. We tend to attribute positive outcomes to our characteristics or abilities, while negative outcomes are attributed to external circumstances.įor example, we are more likely to take personal credit for a high grade on an exam (positive outcome), but more inclined to blame another driver or the weather for a car accident (negative outcome). Under the self-serving bias, how we explain the root cause of an outcome depends on whether the outcome is positive or negative. Actor-observer bias is a similar type of attribution bias. More specifically, self-serving bias is a type of attribution bias, which occurs when we try to explain certain behaviors or outcomes. This bias frequently manifests as a tendency to attribute success to the self and failure to external causes. Self-serving bias is a type of cognitive bias in which an individual distorts reality in order to protect their ego.
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