Self-Serving+Bias

toc = = = Definition: = The tendency to attribute one's successes to dispositional causes and one's failures to situational causes. Gen Psych, Chapter 14, Pg. 441

= Examples: = If you interview for a job and get it, you tell yourself it is because you have the right qualifications; if someone else gets the job, it is because he or she knew the right people. In [one of] the Presidential Election[s], Obama said that he inherited a bad economy that was getting worse (situational cause), but that he has already improved it in the last four years by adding jobs and the like (dispositional cause).

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=In the News:= [|The Self Serving Bias in Athletics] The world of competitive athletics is filled with a myriad of factors that contribute to the success or failure of the endeavor. The most variable element contained in any sporting activity is the human element. This paper focused on looking at one aspect in particular of the human element to determine the extent of its impact on the success or failure of the athletic competition. That aspect was the Self-Serving Bias. As defined by Baron, Byrne, and Branscombe in their textbook (2006), the self-serving bias is when an individual attributes positive outcomes to their own actions and negative outcomes to external factors. It is a common occurrence of individuals to unduly take credit for a success and deny responsibility for any failures.

[|Self-Serving Bias: Why Some Leaders Don't Learn From Their Mistakes] In prepared remarks before the panel investigating the roots of the financial crisis, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan blames the subprime crisis on foreign investors, nonbank lenders, the spread of securitized mortgages and financial firms for failing to manage their risk. The one person he did not blame was himself, or his institution -- the Fed.

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