What constitutes a self-serving attributional bias? A reply to Bradley.

In a response to G. W. Bradley's (see record 1979-26025-001) article, the value of his "broadened self-serving bias formulation" is examined, and a case is made for clearly delineating different types of self-serving attributions. It is contended that there is still little support for the hypothesis that individuals alter their perception of causality so as to protect or enhance their self-esteem. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-serving biases in the attribution process: A reexamination of the fact or fiction question.

Examines the empirical evidence related to the notion of self-serving biases in causal attributions. D. T. Miller and M. Ross's (see record 1975-21041-001) reinterpretations of data that presumably reflect bias are discussed. The studies reviewed show relatively strong support for the causal asymmetry generally cited as evidence for self-serving, or defensive, attributions. Futhermore, a broadened self-serving bias formulation is presented, which suggests that under certain conditions, esteem needs may be best served by making counterdefensive attributions. Conditions that may be expected to elicit defensive or counterdefensive attributions are delineated. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive illusions about the self: Short-term benefits and long-term costs.

Two studies addressed parallel questions about the correlates and consequences of self-enhancement bias. Study 1 was conducted in a laboratory context and examined self-enhancing evaluations of performance in a group-interaction task. Study 2 assessed students' illusory beliefs about their academic ability when they first entered college and then followed them longitudinally to test claims about the long-term benefits of positive illusions. Both studies showed that self-enhancement bias was related to narcissism, ego involvement, self-serving attributions, and positive affect. Study 2 found that self-enhancement was associated with decreasing levels of self-esteem and well-being as well as with increasing disengagement from the academic context. Self-enhancement did not predict higher academic performance or higher graduate rates. Thus, the findings suggest that self-enhancing beliefs may be adaptive in the short term but not in the long term. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-awareness, probability of improvement, and the self-serving bias.

Evidence for the self-serving bias (attributing success internally and failure externally) is inconsistent. Although internal success attributions are consistently found, researchers find both internal and external attributions for failure. The authors explain these disparate effects by considering the intersection of 2 systems, a system comparing self against standards and a causal attribution system. It was predicted that success and failure attributions are moderated by self-awareness and by the ability to improve. When self-focus is high (a) success is attributed internally, (b) failure is attributed internally when people can improve, (c) failure is attributed externally when people cannot improve, and (d) these attributions affect state self-esteem. Implications for the self-serving bias are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new look at motivated inference: Are self-serving theories of success a product of motivational forces?

People construct idiosyncratic, self-serving models of excellence or success in social domains, in part, to bolster self-esteem. In 3 studies, participants tended to articulate self-serving theories of success under experimental conditions in which pressures to maintain self-esteem were present, but not under conditions in which such pressures were absent. Participants assigned to role-play being a therapist were more self-serving in their assessments of the characteristics needed to be a "successful therapist" than were participants assigned to observe the role play (Study 1). Participants failing at an intellectual task articulated self-serving theories about the attributes crucial to success in marriage (Study 2) and evaluated targets similar to themselves more favorably than they did dissimilar targets (Study 3), tendencies not observed for participants succeeding at the task. Discussion centers on issues for future research suggested by these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of grading leniency and low workload on students' evaluations of teaching: Popular myth, bias, validity, or innocent bystanders?

Two studies debunk popular myths that student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are substantially biased by low workload and grading leniency. A workload bias is untenable because the workload–SET relation is positive. The small grade–SET relation (.20 for overall ratings) has many well-supported explanations that do not involve bias. Some SET factors (e.g., Organization, Enthusiasm) are unrelated to grades, and the highest relation is with Learning (.30), implying valid teaching effects rather than bias. Structural equation models confirmed that perceived learning and prior characteristics (course level, prior subject interest) account for much of the grade–SET relation. The relation is also nonlinear, so that high grades (sometimes misused as a leniency measure) are unrelated to SETs. Contrary to dire predictions based on bias claims, Workload, expected grades, and their relations with SETs were stable over 12 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School experiences predicting changes in self-esteem of sixth- and seventh-grade students.

The impact of school experiences on students' self-esteem was estimated using a longitudinal study of sixth- and seventh-grade students. Self-esteem was measured in the fall and spring of each year, at three levels—global, academic, and discipline specific. A multiple regression analysis assessed the impact of grades, school climate, teacher evaluations of work habits and social habits, awards and participation during the year, and student ratings of teachers on self-esteem changes from fall to spring. In all tests, school climate and evaluations by teachers had significant effects on self-esteem. Grades were more important for discipline-specific self-esteem than for global or academic self-esteem. The influences were not constant from year to year, which suggests the importance of specific teachers and specific experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's in a name: Implicit self-esteem and the automatic self.

This article explores the links between implicit self-esteem and the automatic self (D. L. Paulhus, 1993). Across 4 studies, name letter evaluations were positively biased, confirming that implicit self-esteem is generally positive (A. G. Greenwald & M. R. Banaji, 1995). Study 1 found that this name letter bias was stable over a 4-week period. Study 2 found that positive bias for name letters and positive bias for birth date numbers were correlated and that both biases became inhibited when participants were induced to respond in a deliberative manner. Studies 3–4 found that implicit self-evaluations corresponded with self-reported self-evaluations, but only when participants were evaluating themselves very quickly (Study 3) or under cognitive load (Study 4). Together, these findings support the notion that implicit self-esteem phenomena are driven by self-evaluations that are activated automatically and without conscious self-reflection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The pathogenesis of persecutory delusions in the light of the attribution theory

Among the present pathogenetic hypotheses of delusions the cognitive model based on the attribution theory presents interesting assumptions. The attribution theory describes the ways in which we explain causes of events and human behaviour from the point of view of common sense psychology, as well as biases found in explaining everyday events, known as attribution errors. One of them is self-serving bias, which protects self-esteem and distorts attribution processes. Kaney, Bentall and co-workers revealed the defensive attributional style in the patients with persecutory delusions and after empirical research they suggested that delusions are the extreme forms of self-serving bias. After presenting the studies of Kaney-Bentall the authors of the article express their doubts regarding attributional hypothesis of persecutory delusions.     

Correlation between student satisfaction and grades: A case of mistaken causation?

The correlation between grades of instruction and student satisfaction has been interpreted as providing support for a grading leniency bias model; that is, easy graders receive better evaluations than hard graders because they are easy graders. Two alternative models that explain the correlation of grades with satisfaction are delineated. A student characteristics model (student motivation) is contrasted with the grading leniency bias model in 2 studies. Study 1 considered between-class relationships among grades, satisfaction, performance, and student motivation for the IDEA (Instructional Development and Effectiveness Assessment System) data from several thousand college and university classes across the US. Study 2 considered within-class relationships among grades, satisfaction, performance, and motivation for 19 large university classes. Both studies demonstrate that the relationship between grades and student satisfaction might be viewed as a welcome result of important causal relationships among other variables rather than simply as evidence of contamination due to grading leniency. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-threat magnifies the self-serving bias: A meta-analytic integration.

Experiments testing the self-serving bias (SSB; taking credit for personal success but blaming external factors for personal failure) have used a multitude of moderators (i.e., role, task importance, outcome expectancies, self-esteem, achievement motivation, self-focused attention, task choice, perceived task difficulty, interpersonal orientation, status, affect, locus of control, gender, and task type). The present meta-analytic review established the viability and pervasiveness of the SSB and, more important, organized the 14 moderators just listed under the common theoretical umbrella of self-threat. According to the self-threat model, the high self-threat level of each moderator is associated with a larger display of the SSB than the low self-threat level. The model was supported: Self-threat magnifies the SSB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do grading standards affect student evaluations of teaching? Some new evidence on an old question.

The relationship between the grade a student receives and the evaluation the student gives to the instructor has been a topic of concern and extensive investigation in educational research. Ideally, teaching evaluations should be based on teaching effectiveness and not on leniency of grading standards. Previous studies using a variety of methodologies and statistical analyses have found inconclusive results. The present study, after factor analyzing teacher evaluations by 5,878 graduate and undergraduate students into 3 dimensions, found significant relationships between expected grade and the dimensions of Course Effectiveness, Teacher Effectiveness, and Course Difficulty. The 1st set of relationships is viewed as support for a nonbias interpretation of why grades and ratings correlate, whereas the latter 2 sets support a bias interpretation. Correlations between grades and evaluations varied across types of courses, with required courses showing the strongest correlations between grades and ratings. Since these courses are typically less popular than electives, grading leniency may have a greater influence on course evaluations. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intuition and the correspondence between implicit and explicit self-esteem.

Four studies tested whether the perceived validity of intuition increases the correspondence between implicit and explicit self-esteem. Studies 1 and 2 found, with 2 different measures of implicit self-esteem, that people who chronically view their intuition as valid have more consistent implicit and explicit self-esteem. In contrast, people with relatively low faith in their intuition had a negative relation between implicit and explicit self-esteem, suggesting that they may overcorrect their explicit self-views for the potential bias posed by implicit self-esteem. In Studies 3 and 4, participants who were induced to view their intuition as valid reported explicit self-views (self-evaluations made under time pressure, or state self-esteem) that were more consistent with their implicit self-esteem. These results suggest that people experience implicit self-esteem as intuitive evaluations. The correspondence between implicit and explicit self-esteem among individuals who view their intuition as valid may suggest that these individuals incorporate implicit self-esteem into their explicit self-views. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem and the relation between risk behavior and perceptions of vulnerability to unplanned pregnancy in college women.

This article reports 2 studies testing the hypothesis that individuals with high self-esteem are more likely than those with low self-esteem to interpret information about their personal vulnerability to health risks in a self-serving manner. Study 1 used an experimental paradigm to demonstrate that self-esteem moderates the influence of review of sexual and contraceptive behavior on college women's perceptions of vulnerability to unplanned pregnancy (N?=?125). Study 2 used a longitudinal design to demonstrate that self-esteem also moderates the relation between naturally occurring changes in college women's sexual behavior and changes in their risk perception (N?=?273). Together, these studies provide evidence that people with high self-esteem use self-serving cognitive strategies to maintain their risk perceptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-serving attributional biases: Perceptual or response distortions?

Examines D. T. Miller's (see record 1980-09658-001) analysis of what constitutes a self-serving attributional bias. It is argued that his delineation of different types of self-serving attributions is not supported by the empirical evidence collected to date and that what previous authors (e.g., D. T. Miller and M. Ross, 1975) have viewed as a perceptual bias in the causal inference process may be better seen as a response bias or as a strategic self-presentation designed to maximize public esteem. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cultural construction of self-enhancement: An examination of group-serving biases.

Self-serving biases, found routinely in Western samples, have not been observed in Asian samples. Yet given the orientation toward individualism and collectivism in these 2 cultures, respectively, it is imperative to examine whether parallel differences emerge when the target of evaluation is the group. It may be that Asians show a group-serving bias parallel to the Western self-serving bias. In 2 studies, group-serving biases were compared across European Canadian, Asian Canadian, and Japanese students. Study 1 revealed that Japanese students evaluated a family member less positively than did both groups of Canadian students. Study 2 replicated this pattern with students' evaluations of their universities. The data suggest that cultural differences in enhancement biases are robust, generalizing to individuals' evaluations of their groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived learning in relation to student evaluation of university instruction.

A continuing problem with student evaluation of college instruction is the replicated correlation between course ratings and student grades. The finding has been variously interpreted as an indication of validity, as a grading leniency effect, or as an indirect result of student selection variables. In this article, I show that a considerably larger portion of rating variance can be explained by students' subjective assessment of learning than by actual course grades. Summative data from 50 sections showed that perceived learning correlated .88 with course evaluations and .86 with instructor evaluations. These results are viewed as support for the validity hypothesis. The statistics were not reduced by partialling out the effects of anticipated letter grade, which preserved the idea that leniency or student characteristics could account for at least a small portion of the rating-grade effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observers and participants in an intergroup setting.

High- and low-self-esteem participant and observer (control) Ss received feedback about the performance of in-groups and out-groups. Self-evaluations and evaluations of the groups were assessed. Results suggest that participant group members (vs observers) enhance evaluations of both groups under conditions of failure feedback. Intergroup bias was obtained over and above these effects for participant high-self-esteem Ss. However, participant low-self-esteem Ss favored failing out-groups. Results suggest that individuals with different levels of self-esteem may differ in terms of their inferred status within groups. Intragroup comparisons may then influence one's choice of group for social identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leniency, learning, and evaluations.

Comments that previous studies have yielded mixed results concerning the relationships between the amount students learn, instructor leniency, and student evaluations of instructors. One reason for the conflicting results is that grades and learning are highly correlated, and the effect of leniency and learning have not yet been separated precisely. A 3-equation model is presented that disentangles learning from leniency and relates the results to evaluations. The 1st equation measures the impact of each instructor on the amount of knowledge students have acquired; the 2nd measures the leniency of the instructor; the 3rd relates these 2 measures to student evaluations of instructors. For a sample of 617 undergraduates in 14 sections of a course, there was no significant relationship between either leniency or learning and evaluations. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)