What does self-serving bias entail?

Self-serving bias refers to the tendency of individuals to attribute their successes to internal factors, such as their own skills and efforts, while blaming external factors for their failures. This cognitive bias helps protect their self-esteem and maintain a positive self-image.

When a person experiences success, they might attribute it to their intelligence, hard work, or talent, reinforcing their sense of competence. Conversely, when faced with failure, they may point to situational variables, such as bad luck or unfavorable conditions, to explain away their lack of success. This selective attribution allows individuals to enhance their self-perception and mitigate feelings of inadequacy.

The other choices do not accurately portray self-serving bias. For instance, believing that everyone shares the same skills as oneself implies a lack of self-awareness or an inaccurate assessment of one’s abilities, rather than the defensive reasoning involved in self-serving bias. Attributing personal successes to external factors and claiming failures result from uncontrollable factors also lack the dual nature of self-serving bias, which specifically involves taking credit for successes (internal attribution) and blaming external factors for failures (external attribution).