Editing Self-serving bias (section)

==History==
The theory of self-serving biases first came to attention in the late 1960s to early 1970s. As research on this topic grew, some people had concerns about it.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Miller|first=Dale|author2=Michael Ross|date=1975|title=Self-serving Biases in the Attribution of Causality: Fact or Fiction?|url=http://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/biases/82_Psychological_Bulletin_213_(Miller).pdf|journal=Psychological Bulletin|volume=82|issue=2|pages=213–225|doi=10.1037/h0076486}}</ref> In 1971, a fear emerged that the hypothesis would prove to be incorrect, much like the perceptual defense hypothesis by Dixon. However, the theory now holds strong. When this theory was still being developed it was during the research of [[attribution bias]]. [[Fritz Heider]] found that in ambiguous situations people made attributions based on their own needs, in order to maintain a higher self-esteem and viewpoint. This specific tendency became what we now know as the self-serving bias. Miller and Ross conducted a study in 1975 that was one of the earliest to assess not only self-serving bias but also the attributions for successes and failures within this theory.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Larson|first=James|author2=Rutger U |author3=Douglass Coll |title=Evidence for a self-serving bias in the attribution of causality|journal=Journal of Personality|volume=45|issue=3|pages=430–441|doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.1977.tb00162.x |year=1977}}</ref> They argued that the self-serving bias people create is rational and not dependent on one's need for self-esteem. This means that if the outcome of an event is consistent with the person's expectation, then they will attribute dispositional (internal) factors. On the other hand, if the outcome of the event does not match the person's expectations, they will make situational attributions by blaming their surroundings instead of themselves.