#80: Perceptual errors at work - part 3

Here is the third in our series on perceptual errors. It is called the self-serving bias. We tend to view success or good outcomes as due to our own doing or personal characteristics, while we tend to blame failure or bad outcomes on external causes or bad luck.

Why do we do this? If we can claim responsibility for good things, then our self-esteem and our public image are enhanced. And if we can blame failure on external factors then we can protect our self-esteem and our public image.

Another problem caused by the self-serving bias is that when we make a mistake, we don’t see it as serious. But if someone else makes a mistake, we tend to view it as serious. In other words, ‘I can do no wrong and you can do no right’.

Research has shown that men are more likely than women to show the self-serving bias. As I said, we can do no wrong.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
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