The Self-Serving Bias Essay - 624 Words

In this comic strip by Matt Groening, the main character, Bongo, is being picked on by another character that is telling him that everyone in the world hates your guts. Generally, most individuals perceive their selves as being better than average. We are familiar with our own talents, thoughts, feelings, and emotions more so than anybody elses. This leads to a self-serving bias. In the comic, Bongo reassures himself of his greatness until he looks in the mirror. The mirror causes Bongo to be more self-aware of his uncertainty. I chose this particular comic not only because it illistrates the self-serving bias, but also because of the way it incorporates the mirror and Bongos self-awareness. The text defines self-serving bias as†¦show more content†¦If an undesirable action cannot be forgotten or undone, then often it is justified. Social psychological research has established, that our past actions influence our current attitudes. Every time we act, we increase the idea behind what we have done, especially when we feel some responsibility for having committed the act. In experiments, people who oppress someone, take the Stanford prison simulation by Dr. Phillip Zimbardo for example, tend later to criticize their victim. The self-serving bias is universal. Even education does not eliminate this bias. Lets discuss some elements of the self-serving bias. First individuals often seem to have an unrealistic optimism. You can call this the It wont happen to me attitude. Optimism predisposes a positive approach to life. Sometimes this unrealistic optimism can make an individual seem larger than life. For example, students who are overconfident tend to under prepare. Another example of unrealistic optimism can be seem in newly weds. Most couples marry feeling confident of long term love when in reality half of all marriages fail. The false consensus effect is the tendency to overestimate the commonality of ones opinions and ones undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors. When we behave badly or fail in a task we reassure ourselves by thinking that such mistakes are common. Individuals presume that others have the sameShow MoreRelatedThe Theory Of Self Serving Bias1072 Words   |  5 Pageswill explain the concept of self-serving bias and provide examples of how we use self- serving bias in our daily lives. Two articles will be presented in this paper showing how researchers suggested the presence of self-serving attributional bias with people making more internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events, rather than for negative events. The second article will discuss how emotions, judgement, and attributions influence the self-serving bias. The methods used, and researchingRead MoreAttribution Error And Self Serving Bias2175 Words   |  9 Pagesanything such as, behavior of others or self, in order to make the world more foreseeable. But those explanations could involve bias and often incorrect. Two errors of attribution is the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias. Fundamental attribution error (FAE) is the tendency of an observer to overestimate the influence of personal dispositional factors and underestimate the influence of situational factors causes for behavior. And self-serving bias (SSB) is the tendency to attribute successesRead MoreHuman Beings Use Self Serving Bias1878 Words   |  8 Pagesuse self-serving bias within our daily lives, and explain why we tend to identify, or focus on our successes, and refuse to acknowledge or own up to our failures. The question here is why do we as individuals tend to avoid, blame, or ignore the inadequacies within our lives. Many researchers â€Å"believed that our emotions played a role in self-serving bias†, and many studies were conducted to â€Å"determine how emotions, judgement, and attributions†, can strongly influence us into self-serving bias. AttributionRead MoreThis Essay Will Cover Topics On Psychopathology, Conformity1645 Words   |  7 PagesThis essay will cover topics on Psychopathology, conformity as an effective behavioral response, as well as touch on three different bias, the self-centered bias, the unassuming bias, and the group-serving bias. Psychopathology is defined as the origin of mental disorders, the symptoms they reveal them selves as, and how they develop. In this essay, I will be going over 2 perspectives on Psychopathology. They are the Relativist Perspective, and the Universalist Perspective. The Relativist PerspectiveRead MoreIs It Possible That We Focus Too Much On Heightening Children s Self Esteem? Essay774 Words   |  4 Pagestoo much on heightening children’s self-esteem? Are there any hazards? Describe them and suggest alternatives. I believe it is possible that we focus too much on heightening children’s self-esteem. From my perspective, I would only heightening children’s self-esteem to build self-confidence, help children to be able to discover their true identity, and prevent negativity of children’s self-worth. The hazards could be the result of children to become too self-love, or become arrogant, which couldRead MoreErrors in Attribution1404 Words   |  6 PagesDiscuss two errors in attributions Attribution bias is the illogical reasoning behind people’s decisions about one’s own and others’ behaviour by giving objective views on situations, it is essentially faults in a process of elucidation and can lead to errors in interpretation of our own and other’s behaviour because: a) People are ‘cognitive misers’ – we do not examine all the evidence provided or we take mental shortcuts (linking to social cognition) to reach a conclusion, leading to wrongRead MoreThe Dangers Of Self Esteem948 Words   |  4 Pagesthere are many possible hazards if we focus too much on heightening the self-esteem of children. One example is that children with very high self-esteem could have a lack of motivation in regards to academic assignments and exams. They may not feel the need to study or put in the work to try their best due to the fact that they have the mentality of â€Å"I’m so smart, so I don’t need to study.† Another example is that high self-esteem could lead children to losing respect towards authority. When childrenRead MoreBarriers to Critical Thinking941 Words   |  4 Pagesfrom thinking critically, even though you may not be aware of it. Though there are more barriers that inhibit critical thinking then I can coun t on my fingers and toes, some familiar and popular barriers one may face are egotistical thinking, self-serving bias, and of course, emotional influences. The Ego Defense â€Å"Ego Defenses are psychological coping strategies that distort reality in order to protect ourselves from anxiety, guilt, and other bad feelings† (Goodpastor amp; Kirby, 2007, ChapterRead MoreAttribution Theory On The Decision Making Process Of Tom And Amy1228 Words   |  5 Pagestend to manipulate their behaviours, such as eye contact, smiling, gesture, to impress interviewers. In this interview scenario, three biases may affect decision making and selection made by Tom and Amy are the confirmation bias, anchoring bias and stereotyping. Conformation bias is the tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradict past judgement. (Robbins, Judge, Millet Boyle, 2011). In the case of Greg, as Tom already has the opinion ofRead MoreHow Do People Explain Their Own And Other People s Behavior?1444 Words   |  6 Pagesbehaviour is the motivated tactician explanation. This is the explanation that we sometimes apply logical thought â€Å"in the interests of adaptability and accuracy, and sometimes [the motivated tactician chooses] defensively, in the interests of speed or self-esteem† (Fiske Taylor, 2013, p. 13). For example, we may be more motivated to attempt to explain the behaviour of ourselves and those close to us than the behaviour of acquaintances, because the latter is of less importance and rel evance to us; trying