Discuss research into one error of attribution (self serving bias)

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Discuss research into one error of attribution (self serving bias)

Jones and Nisbett argue that observers are more likely to make dispositional attributions when explaining the behaviour of others whilst the actors themselves are more likely to consider the full range of causes of their own behaviour and are thus more likely to make situational or external attributions. However, Miller and Ross (1975) indicate that the soc-called actor-observer bias is most applicable to negative events and may in fact be reversed completely when actors consider their own achievements or successes. They describe two biases which have collectively been termed the self serving bias. This encompasses the self enhancing bias, where the individual explains his or her achievements in terms of internal factors or disposition and the self protecting bias where s/he ‘blames’ negative outcomes or failures upon situational factors outside of his or her own control.

This form of attributional bias is very well supported and there are many examples of self serving bias in the literature. For example Lau and Russell (1980) explored this concept by conducting a content analysis of attributions made in the sports pages of American newspapers. They compared the explanations given by sportswriters with interviews with the America Football coaches and players. They found that the coaches and players were more likely to credit their wins to internal factors such as hard work, the good shape of the team, natural talent etc and losses to external factors such as injuries, weather, foul play from the opposing team, etc. This is a useful study as its demonstrates the use of self serving bias in qualitative data that has been gathered in the real world and not as part of a laboratory study, suggesting that the conclusions may be considered to be high in ecological validity and less likely to result from demand characteristics where participants are aiming to please the interviewer by answering in a way which they believe suits the purpose of the study. Another strength of the study is that the fact they analysed the explanations given by the sportswriters meaning that they also have some baseline data with which to compare the explanations given by the coaches and players. This means the researchers have a more accurate picture of the extent of the bias exhibited.

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The reliability of this finding is further supported by work by Johnson et al (1964) in a study where teachers were asked to explain the reasons behind their pupils success and failure; when pupils did badly teachers attributed this to the pupils’ lack of effort or ability and saw it as the pupils’ responsibility (self-protecting bias) however over time as the pupils began to improve, the teachers altered their attributions and explained their pupils’ successes as down to their own efforts as teachers; they saw themselves as responsible for the pupils improvement, (self enhancing bias). This study also has its ...

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