Talk:Self-serving bias/Archives/2012

Falls image and caption
Does this really help understanding of the article's topic? It just seems irrelevant. At least, the caption goes into unnecessary detail. MartinPoulter (talk) 16:34, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

I never really edit Wikipedia, but...
"Self-serving bias may be associated with the better-than-average effect, in which individuals are biased to believe that they typically perform better than the average person in areas important to their self-esteem" --> That's ridiculously worded. It's the other way around. The "better-than-average" effect is an *example* of Self-serving bias.

So, yeah, self-serving bias is associated with the better-than-average effect, but it's more correct to say that the better-than-average effect is associated with self-serving bias. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.136.37.85 (talk) 05:12, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Actually, that seems not very correct. You guys are conflating the definition of THE self-serving bias (in which you succeed because you're awesome and fail because the world is against you) with the much broader, logically constructed English term of A self-serving bias (which would be a bias which exists basically to, well, be self-serving), which has an article titled "Positive Illusions". The lack of a citation and the stretch required to make that statement has led to me just removing it entirely. Zanotam (talk) 02:26, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia participation and self-serfing bias in computer technology
The last paragraph on the self-serfing bias not fully applying to computer technology might be on the decline. I was recently watching video from Wikimania of last year and they were talking about how the hurdle of learning how to deal with WikiText has increased since people are less accepting op the low user friendliness. Can't site a paper though -- Vera (talk) 11:48, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

APS Wikipedia Initiative
I am a psychology student and am in a senior capstone class that is participating in the APS Wikipedia Initiative. I have found this page as one that can be updated and added to, so here is a general plan. Any feedback is welcomed and would be greatly appreciated.

The opening section has a few wording issues, and things are never "proven" in psychology. The opening should have a bit more added to it, such as basic examples to help the reader understand if they want to continue on with the article.

The Use and Purpose section is a bit confusing. The word "inference" should be more along the lines of "attribution," and self-handicapping is a premeditated self-protective behavior, while self-serving bias is a behavior exhibited after the outcome, so they are in fact not the same thing. The student example is good, though, and may be helpful as the example added to the opening section.

The examples section has good examples, but there are many more examples of self-serving bias that should be added. The examples all fall under different populations or constructs that can be split up into specific headings. I will begin by identifying the more general populations in which self-serving bias is observed and then delve into some application/clinical populations. So, the examples section will be turned into more of an overview with headings moving from the general (i.e. Cultural, Interpersonal, Role, Gender, Age) to more specific and application-based (i.e. Workplace, Classroom, Consumers, Depression). The innumerable moderators of self-serving bias will be embedded in the explanations under such headings (i.e. self-esteem, self-focus, interpersonal competition, status, affect, locus of control) as appropriate from the evidence within studies of each construct.

After the behavioral evidence of the self-serving bias is presented, there will be a section on the more recent biological findings. These studies employ EEG's and fMRI's to trace the neural correlates of self-serving bias.

Here is a list of articles I plan on using:

Brysbaert, M., & Smyth, S. (2011). Self-enhancement in scientific research: The self-citation bias. Psychologica Belgica, 51(2), 129-137.

Campbell, W. K., & Sedikides, C. (1999). Self-threat magnifies the self-serving bias: A meta-analytic integration. Review of General Psychology, 3(1), 23-43. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.3.1.23

Campbell, W. K., Sedikides, C., Reeder, G. D., & Elliott, A. J. (2000). Among friends? an examination of friendship and the self-serving bias. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39(2), 229-239. doi:10.1348/014466600164444

Coleman, M. D. (2011). Emotion and the self-serving bias. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, 30(4), 345-354. doi:10.1007/s12144-011-9121-2

De Michele, P. E., Gansneder, B., & Solomon, G. B. (1998). Success and failure attributions of wrestlers: Further evidence of the self-serving bias. Journal of Sport Behavior, 21(3), 242-255.

Duval, T. S., & Silvia, P. J. (2002). Self-awareness, probability of improvement, and the self-serving bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(1), 49-61. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.1.49

Friedrich, J. (1996). On seeing oneself as less self-serving than others: The ultimate self-serving bias? Teaching of Psychology, 23(2), 107-109. doi:10.1207/s15328023top2302_9

Gordon, R. A., Holley, P. W., & Shaffer, C. L. (1990). Effect of transient mood state on the self-serving bias. The Journal of Social Psychology, 130(4), 565-567.

Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T., Burling, J., & Tibbs, K. (1992). Depression, self-focused attention, and the self-serving attributional bias. Personality and Individual Differences, 13(9), 959-965. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(92)90129-D

Knee, C. R., & Zuckerman, M. (1996). Causality orientations and the disappearance of the self-serving bias. Journal of Research in Personality, 30(1), 76-87. doi:10.1006/jrpe.1996.0005

Krusemark, E. A., Campbell, W. K., & Clementz, B. A. (2008). Attributions, deception, and event related potentials: An investigation of the self-serving bias. Psychophysiology, 45(4), 511-515. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00659.x

McAllister, H. A. (1996). Self-serving bias in the classroom: Who shows it? who knows it? Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 123-131. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.88.1.123

McAllister, H. A., Baker, J. D., Mannes, C., Stewart, H., & Sutherland, A. (2002). The optimal margin of illusion hypothesis: Evidence from the self-serving bias and personality disorders. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 21(4), 414-426. doi:10.1521/jscp.21.4.414.22593

McPeek, R., Nichols, A. L., Classen, S., & Breiner, J. (2011). Bias in older adults’ driving self-assessments: The role of personality. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 14(6), 579-590. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2011.06.001

Mezulis, A. H., Abramson, L. Y., Hyde, J. S., & Hankin, B. L. (2004). Is there a universal positivity bias in attributions? A meta-analytic review of individual, developmental, and cultural differences in the self-serving attributional bias. Psychological Bulletin, 130(5), 711-747. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.5.711

Moon, Y. (2003). Don't blame the computer: When self-disclosure moderates the self-serving bias. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13(1-2), 125-137. doi:10.1207/153276603768344843

Pal, G. C. (2007). Is there a universal self-serving attribution bias? Psychological Studies, 52(1), 85-89.

Sedikides, C., Campbell, W. K., Reeder, G. D., & Elliot, A. J. (1998). The self-serving bias in relational context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(2), 378-386. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.2.378

Seidel, E., Eickhoff, S. B., Kellermann, T., Schneider, F., Gur, R. C., Habel, U., & Derntl, B. (2010). Who is to blame? neural correlates of causal attribution in social situations. Social Neuroscience, 5(4), 335-350. doi:10.1080/17470911003615997

Seidel, E., Satterthwaite, T. D., Eickhoff, S. B., Schneider, F., Gur, R. C., Wolf, D. H.,. . . Derntl, B. (2012). Neural correlates of depressive realism — an fmri study on causal attribution in depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, doi:10.1016/j.jad.2012.01.041

Shepperd, J., Malone, W., & Sweeny, K. (2008). Exploring causes of the self-serving bias. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(2), 895-908. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00078.x Van Winkle, C. M., & MacKay, K. J. (2008). Self-serving bias in visitors' perceptions of the impacts of tourism. Journal of Leisure Research, 40(1), 69-89.

Walther, J. B., & Bazarova, N. N. (2007). Misattribution in virtual groups: The effects of member distribution on self-serving bias and partner blame. Human Communication Research, 33(1), 1-26.

Anna B. Smith (talk) 02:28, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Student edit timeline, Spring 2012
As a senior capstone project, students are working improve the content of selected articles. More details are on the course page. Student first edits are due April 20, then we'll spend a week reviewing. Final project is due by May 14, 2012. Thanks for your encouragement and support. Greta Munger (talk) 15:09, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

Senior Capstone Peer Edit #1
I would recommend the following changes/edits:

-In the introduction, sentence could use rewording--I think that the motivational and cognitive processes are the moderating and situational variables (as far as I can tell from your headings), but the sentence does not really convey that, to me.

-In the Factors and Variables section, I would suggest putting "Motivation" first, followed by the locus of control, culture, role, etc., because it gives an explanation why all people show the attribution before showing how the presence of the attribution differs in varying contexts.

- In the culture section, there is a stray reference. Also, I think the section would benefited by having one sentence making it clear that Western cultures do show the bias and that there is either mixed reviews about collectivist cultures or that collectivist cultures do not show the attribution.

-Is the role section explaining the "actor-observer bias?" If so, there is a good page to link to actor observer asymmetry

-Why is the interpersonal relations section under real-world implications? It seems that this is another factor/variable, to me.

-It may be helpful to add a picture to the neural research section.

Overall, you did a fantastic job! I love all of the divisions that you have made, the information is organized well and makes for quite a coherent encyclopedia entry in general. Your introductory paragraph is easy to understand by itself and sums up the major points of the rest of the page. You use a wide range of sources and provide a really comprehensive picture of the self-serving bias, so good job!

--Laura Renaud (talk) 02:01, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Peer Edit #2
Hey Anna, Here are my recommendations:

-In the intro you mention moderating and situational variables that may affect self-serving bias. I would give an example of one of those cases to help the reader understand those two variables and how they may impact the self-serving bias.

-You may want to mention a specific consideration for clinical and cross cultural populations. You do later in the article, but it may be helpful to state one (like depression) in the intro, as well.

-I had the most difficulty understanding the culture section. I would add a sentence clarifying the significance of your sentence "In contrast to the family and group goals important in collectivistic cultures, the individual goals and identity focused on in individualistic societies increases the need for people within those cultures to guard and boost their personal self-esteem." What does this directly mean for the self-serving bias?

-I agree with Laura, I think the motivation section should be first, as it is the most general and applicable to the entire population.

-You may want to reword the second to last sentence in the Locus of Control section. I particularly thought the phrase, "is not as marked in successful outcomes" a little wordy and confusing.

-I liked your emotion section a lot, but have you considered renaming it "Self-Esteem". You mentioned only self-esteem in that section, and have brought it up in many other sections, and perhaps may be a more applicable title. Or were you planning on adding to the "Emotion" section with anything other than self-esteem?

-In the gender heading, you may want a sentence to describe "dyad" and what it specifically means for this article. I think a reader (myself included, hah!) may get a little confused if they do not understand what you mean by "dyadic interaction".

-Finally, I wasn't positive on this, but I think you may need to put in a citation after any sentence where you specifically mention a study. Often you said "One study" and did not put a citation in until a sentence or so later. I'm guessing you're referring to the same citation, but it would be helpful for the reader to know that for sure if he/she wanted to check out the citation.

I thought you did a really great job Anna! Your introduction section was very strong, and the overall organization was logical and easy to follow. I particularly liked when you explained a finding or term with an example to ground what you're saying. I thought that made the subject easier to follow and more applicable to the real world. Your language was also really easy to understand and you covered quite a few topics in psych that are related to the self-serving bias. I think with just a few word changes, citation additions, and explanations this is going to be a really good page! Let me know if you need me to clarify any of my suggestions.

Maxwellshaw (talk) 01:36, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Final Submission for APS Wikipedia Initiative
This is the final draft for the Senior Capstone Wikipedia project. I have added Methods, Factors and Variables, Real-World Implications, and Neural Research Findings. I also reworded and added examples to the introduction section. All of the references that I added are listed below.

References:

Al-Zahrini, S.; Kaplowitz, S. (1993). "Attributional Biases in Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures: A Comparison of Americans with Saudis". Social Psychology Quarterly 56 (3): 223-233.

Blackwood, NJ; Bentall RP, Fytche DH, Simmons A, Murray RM, Howard RJ (2003). "Self-responsibility and the self-serving bias: an fMRI investigation of causal attributions". Neuroimage 20 (2): 1076-85.

Campbell, W. Keith; Sedikides, Constantine (1999). "Self-threat magnifies the self-serving bias: A meta-analytic integration.". Review of General Psychology 3 (1): 23–43. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.3.1.23.

Campbell, W. Keith; Sedikides, Constantine, Reeder, Glenn D., Elliot, Andrew J. (2000). "Among friends? An examination of friendship and the self-serving bias". British Journal of Social Psychology 39 (2): 229–239. doi:10.1348/014466600164444.

Christensen, A.; Sullaway, M., & King, C. E. (1983). "Systematic error in behavioral reports of dyadic interaction: Egocentric bias and content effects". Behavioral Assessment 5 (2): 129-140.

Coleman, Martin D. (2011). "Emotion and the Self-Serving Bias". Current Psychology 30 (4): 345–354. doi:10.1007/s12144-011-9121-2.

De Michele, P.; Gansneder, B., Solomon, G. (1998). "Success and failure attributions of wrestlers: Further Evidence of the Self-Serving Bias". Journal of Sport Behavior 21 (3): 242.

Furnham, A. (1982). "Explanations for Unemployment in Britain". Journal of European Social Psychology 12: 335-352.

Gordon, R.; Holley, P., Shaffer, C. (2001). The Journal of Social Psychology 130 (4): 565-567.

Greenberg, Jeff; Pyszczynski, Tom, Burling, John, Tibbs, Karyn (1992). "Depression, self-focused attention, and the self-serving attributional bias". Personality and Individual Differences 13 (9): 959–965. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(92)90129-D.

Hooghiemstra, R. (2008). "East--West Differences in Attributions for Company Performance: A Content Analysis of Japanese and U.S. Corporate Annual Reports". Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 39 (5): 618–629. doi:10.1177/0022022108321309.

Krusemark, Elizabeth A.; Keith Campbell, W., Clementz, Brett A. (2008). "Attributions, deception, and event related potentials: An investigation of the self-serving bias". Psychophysiology 45 (4): 511–515. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00659.x.

Lachman, M. (1990). "When Bad Things Happen to Older People: Age Differences in A ttributional Style". Psychology and Aging 5 (4): 607-609.

McAllister, Hunter A. (1996). "Self-serving bias in the classroom: Who shows it? Who knows it?". Journal of Educational Psychology 88 (1): 123–131. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.88.1.123.

Miller, Dale T.; Ross, Michael (1975). "Self-serving biases in the attribution of causality: Fact or fiction?". Psychological Bulletin 82 (2): 213–225. doi:10.1037/h0076486.

Moon, Youngme (2000). "Intimate exchanges: Using computers to elicit self-disclosure from consumers". Journal of Consumer Research 26: 324–340.

Moon, Youngme (2003). "Don't Blame the Computer: When Self-Disclosure Moderates the Self-Serving Bias". Journal of Consumer Psychology 13 (1): 125–137. doi:10.1207/153276603768344843.

Pal, G.C. (2007). "Is there a universal self-serving attribution bias?". Psychological Studies 52 (1): 85-89.

Schuster, B.; Forsterlung, F., Weiner, B. (1989). "Perceiving the Causes of Success and Failure: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Attributional Concepts". Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 20 (2): 191–213. doi:10.1177/0022022189202005.

Seidel, Eva-Maria; Eickhoff, Simon B., Kellermann, Thilo, Schneider, Frank, Gur, Ruben C., Habel, Ute, Derntl, Birgit (2010). "Who is to blame? Neural correlates of causal attribution in social situations". Social Neuroscience 5 (4): 335–350. doi:10.1080/17470911003615997.

Seidel, Eva-Maria; Satterthwaite, Theodore D., Eickhoff, Simon B., Schneider, Frank, Gur, Ruben C., Wolf, Daniel H., Habel, Ute, Derntl, Birgit (2011). "Neural correlates of depressive realism — An fMRI study on causal attribution in depression". Journal of Affective Disorders 138 (3): 268–276. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2012.01.041.

Shepperd, James; Malone, Wendi, Sweeny, Kate (2008). "Exploring Causes of the Self-serving Bias". Social and Personality Psychology Compass 2 (2): 895–908. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00078.x.

Walther, J. B.; Bazarova, N. N. (2007). "Misattribution in virtual groups: The effects of member distribution on self-serving bias and partner blame". Human Communication Research 33 (1): 1-26.

Wichman, Harvey; Ball, James (1983). "Locus of control, self-serving biases, and attitudes towards safety in general aviation pilots". Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 54 (6): 507-510.

I have truly enjoyed working with this Wikipedia page for the APS Initiative, and hope that Wikipedia continues to evolve as more information arises! Anna B. Smith (talk) 21:22, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

Impact of recent student edits
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