Editing Self-serving bias (section)

{{short description|Distortion to enhance self-esteem, or to see oneself overly favorably}}
A '''self-serving bias''' is any cognitive or perceptual process that is distorted by the need to maintain and enhance [[self-esteem]], or the tendency to perceive oneself in an overly favorable manner.<ref>Myers, D.G. (2015). ''Exploring Social Psychology'', 7th Edition. New York: McGraw Hill Education.</ref> It is the belief that individuals tend to ascribe success to their own abilities and efforts, but ascribe failure to external factors.<ref name="Campbell & Sedikides"/> When individuals reject the validity of negative feedback, focus on their strengths and achievements but overlook their faults and failures, or take more credit for their group's work than they give to other members, they are protecting their self-esteem from threat and injury. These cognitive and perceptual tendencies perpetuate illusions and error, but they also serve the self's need for esteem.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author-link1=Donelson R. Forsyth|last=Forsyth|first=Donelson|entry=Self-Serving Bias|url=https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~dforsyth/pubs/forsyth2008selfserving.pdf|title=International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences|isbn=9780028661179|edition=2nd|publisher=Macmillan Reference USA|date=2007}}</ref>  For example, a student who [[Attribution (psychology)|attributes]] earning a good grade on an exam to their own intelligence and preparation but attributes earning a poor grade to the teacher's poor teaching ability or unfair test questions might be exhibiting a self-serving bias. Studies have shown that similar attributions are made in various situations, such as the workplace,<ref name="Pal">{{cite journal|last=Pal|first=G.C.|year=2007|title=Is there a universal self-serving attribution bias?|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311450773|journal=Psychological Studies|volume=52|issue=1|pages=85–89}}</ref> [[interpersonal relationships]],<ref name="Campbell et al.">{{cite journal|last=Campbell|first=W. Keith |author2=Sedikides, Constantine |author3=Reeder, Glenn D. |author4=Elliot, Andrew J.|title=Among friends? An examination of friendship and the self-serving bias|journal=British Journal of Social Psychology|year=2000|volume=39|issue=2|pages=229–239|doi=10.1348/014466600164444|pmid=10907097 |citeseerx=10.1.1.559.7984 }}</ref> sports,<ref name="DeMichele">{{cite journal|last=De Michele|first=P.|author2=Gansneder, B.|author3=Solomon, G.|year=1998|title=Success and failure attributions of wrestlers: Further Evidence of the Self-Serving Bias|url=http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-10476-002|journal=Journal of Sport Behavior|volume=21|issue=3|pages=242}}</ref> and consumer decisions.<ref name=Moon>{{cite journal|last=Moon|first=Youngme|title=Don't Blame the Computer: When Self-Disclosure Moderates the Self-Serving Bias|journal=Journal of Consumer Psychology|year=2003|volume=13|issue=1|pages=125–137|doi=10.1207/153276603768344843}}</ref>

Both motivational processes (i.e. [[self-enhancement]], [[self-presentation]]) and cognitive processes (i.e. [[locus of control]], self-esteem) influence the self-serving bias.<ref name=Shepperd>{{cite journal|last=Shepperd|first=James |author2=Malone, Wendi |author3=Sweeny, Kate|title=Exploring Causes of the Self-serving Bias|journal=Social and Personality Psychology Compass|year=2008|volume=2|issue=2|pages=895–908|doi=10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00078.x|s2cid=51959777 }}</ref> There are both cross-cultural (i.e. [[individualistic]] and [[Collectivism and individualism|collectivistic]] culture differences) and special clinical population (i.e. [[Depression (mood)|depression]]) considerations within the bias.<ref name=Hooghiemstra>{{cite journal|last=Hooghiemstra|first=Reggy|title=East-West Differences in Attributions for Company Performance: A Content Analysis of Japanese and U.S. Corporate Annual Reports|journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology|year=2008|volume=39|issue=5|pages=618–629|doi=10.1177/0022022108321309|s2cid=145404974}}</ref><ref name="Greenberg et al">{{cite journal|last=Greenberg|first=Jeff |author2=Pyszczynski, Tom |author3=Burling, John |author4=Tibbs, Karyn|title=Depression, self-focused attention, and the self-serving attributional bias|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|year=1992|volume=13|issue=9|pages=959–965|doi=10.1016/0191-8869(92)90129-D}}</ref> Much of the research on the self-serving bias has used participant self-reports of attribution based on experimental manipulation of task outcomes or in naturalistic situations.<ref name="Campbell & Sedikides" /> Some more modern research, however, has shifted focus to physiological manipulations, such as emotional inducement and neural activation, in an attempt to better understand the biological mechanisms that contribute to the self-serving bias.<ref name="Krusemark et al">{{cite journal|title=Attributions, deception, and event related potentials: An investigation of the self-serving bias|journal=Psychophysiology|year=2008|volume=45|issue=4|pages=511–515|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00659.x|pmid=18282197|last1=Krusemark|first1=E. A.|last2= Campbell|first2=W. Keith|last3=Clementz|first3=B. A.}}</ref><ref name="Blackwood-2003" />