Understanding self-serving bias

What are self-serving biases?

A self-serving bias is a type of cognitive bias where we try to find ways to blame external reasons for our own negative outcomes. This also applies to when we take credit for positive outcomes and claim that they are wholly a result of our skills. While negative outcomes aren’t always your fault and positive outcomes do happen as a result of your knowledge and efforts, a claim becomes a self-serving bias when it is not entirely accurate.

What does a self-serving bias look like?

Let’s say you are playing a pickup basketball game against someone. If you lose the game, you might feel inclined to blame other circumstances for your loss. You could say things like “I didn’t get enough sleep last night,” or “The court was too slippery” to give your opponent additional context on why you may have lost. Even blaming your opponent by claiming that they weren’t playing fairly is an option. Whatever the cause was, the point of a self-serving bias is to let others know that your loss or failure was not entirely on you.

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Why are self-serving biases bad?

As common as self-serving biases are, they should not be used all the time. When you resort to finding other reasons for your failures, you do not take accountability for your actions. Doing so makes it harder to learn from mistakes or accept constructive criticism. As a result, it becomes much harder to make self-evaluations and grow as a person.

Using self-serving biases can lead to other consequences to affect other parts of your life. It can also make it harder to navigate mistakes at work, which can have a negative impact on productivity and your motivation to do better.

How to avoid self-serving biases

One key strategy for avoiding self-serving bias is to regularly engage in reflective practices, like journaling or seeking feedback from others, to gain a more balanced perspective on your actions and decisions. It also helps to actively challenge assumptions and question your personal interpretations of events. By embracing a mindset where challenges are viewed as opportunities for learning and improvement, you can eventually break the habit of relying on a self-serving bias every time you make a mistake.

Self-serving biases are a natural reaction to errors, but it’s important to use them as little as possible. By consciously working to understand and overcome self-serving bias, you can create a more realistic and unbiased view of your own capabilities and contributions. Find more organization tips to learn how you can make improvements to your daily habits.