7 Examples of Self-interest Bias

When something good happens to us, we may tend to think this way: “I have worked hard. I am a very talented person. I did a great job”.

But when things go wrong, people often start thinking about some external factors that could be responsible for this failure.

Can you think of something you were given credit for and praised for when you did it, but when things went wrong you blamed other possible causes?

People talk a lot about blaming others for things that go wrong. However, today we're going to look at a cognitive bias that offers some explanations for why we tend to do this. Self-interest bias is very common. It is important to know this so that you can make an honest and inclusive assessment when you are not achieving the results you were hoping for.

First, let's take a look at the profound definition of self-interest bias and why it's important to learn about it. Then, we'll discuss some examples of when you might encounter it in your daily life.

What is self-interest bias?

Simply put, self-interest bias is a pattern of thinking in which people attribute positive outcomes to internal factors (such as talent and hard work), and negative outcomes to external factors (such as bad luck or the difficulty of a task).

The self-interest bias arises from a larger concept in social psychology known as "causal attribution", which refers to the way we interpret and explain the reasons behind daily events. Social psychologist Fritz Heider posited the attribution theory, which explains that people either attribute their results to ability and effort (the internal factor) or to difficulty and luck (the external factor).

It is important to note that the self-interest bias is complete only when people find a reason to attribute their own behavior, not when they judge others. When an individual's personal outcomes are positive, people tend to form internal reasons to which they attribute their results. On the contrary, when the outcome is negative, people tend to build external reasons to which they attribute their results. Therefore, the reasons for which results are attributed are biased depending on the outcome.

Interestingly, studies show that self-interest bias is more common in competitive Western culture, as feelings of self-esteem are often closely linked to success or failure. While it is less common in Eastern cultures, as people tend to attribute success to luck or chance.

People associate outcomes in a self-serving way. There are three reasons why people do this, apart from cultural and demographic factors:

1. Self-esteem: Attributing credit for our success to ourselves and blaming others for our failure protects us from criticism. The self-interest bias distorts the way we perceive ourselves. This allows us to believe that we can do nothing wrong, which maintains our self-esteem.
2. Self-presentation: We like to present ourselves in positive ways to promote a certain self-image, whether it is defined by oneself or made to suit society's choices and expectations. Our self-esteem is affected by the opinions of others. Therefore, we act in appropriate ways to support our socially desirable image, in order to help us feel good about ourselves.
3. Optimism: People are naturally optimistic. This means that negative results are usually unexpected, which prevents us from attributing negative results to personal reasons.

Why is this kind of cognitive bias important?

Although this common bias may seem harmless, it is important to be aware of it and its potential impact on your life. Knowing about this type of bias can help you identify critical mistakes that lead to inappropriate results. If you don't confess your mistakes, you won't be able to learn from them or fix them in the future.

As we know, a big part of success is learning from your failures and then making appropriate improvements. But you will never improve if you don't know what you need to work on.

The self-interest bias certainly allows us to protect our self-esteem. However, after we continually miss the opportunity to deal with our deficiencies, we become used to looking for external factors to determine what is wrong.

You will notice in the examples below, particularly the first example, how this false logic is not associated with bad intentions. People push their minds away from searching inward for possible mistakes and assume that their failure is the result of something else. Therefore, when you are aware of the self-bias, you are less likely to unconsciously maintain this limited mindset.

7 examples of self-interest bias you see throughout life

1. Winning and losing

An individual's performance in sports is so clearly linked to a particular outcome that it is common for players to show a bias towards their own interests. This is particularly true in individual sports, as the only winner in the game is clearly defined.

When an athlete wins a game, they are more likely to praise themselves for their talent, practice, and commitment to their chosen sport. If they lose the next match, they may begin to question the judge’s decision.

For example, suppose you are playing baseball, and you hit your third goal. If you think that the umpire dealt with your strikes unfairly, when they should have recognized the bad throws you were receiving from the other side, then the self-interest bias appeared to help you maintain your self-esteem regarding your hitting skills.

A comprehensive 2020 meta-analysis of 69 studies that reviewed 10,515 athletes found that athletes display a self-interest bias through their tendency to attribute success to personal factors and failure to external factors.

2. Bad test results

The self-interest bias can help students maintain a sense of pride associated with their hard work after they get a good score in exams. They can attribute their success to their study habits and experience in this subject.

However, their acceptance of responsibility may not be the same if test scores are lower than expected. After a student receives a low score, they may remember that the test was unfair or badly worded, or they may see that the questions have nothing to do with the subject. This does not mean that the student is not honest, as they may actually be studying and learning the subject, but they are not thinking about studying it enough.

3. Teachers

Studies have shown that - like students - teachers can also carry a self-interest bias when it comes to outcomes in their classrooms. This leads to the possibility of conflicts between students and teachers when someone gets a bad grade because neither of them would take responsibility for the bad outcome.

Although the failing student may want to blame the teacher, the teacher is more likely to hold the student accountable for their work, especially if other students are getting passing grades. On the contrary, if the students perform very well, the teacher may praise themselves for their excellent teaching skills.

4. Looking for a job

How do you feel when you are offered a job after passing the interview stage? You may think that your experience, qualifications, achievements, and hard-earned skills have paid off. But, when you get that dreadful message "We're sorry to inform you..." from the hiring manager, you may be thinking that you didn't impress the interviewer, or that they didn't ask the right questions so that you could show off your skills.

Research shows that hiring is often explained by a self-interest bias. Getting a job is attributed to internal factors, while a job rejection (or termination) can be attributed to external factors - whether the hiring manager doesn't think well or anything else -, but it's never the employee's fault.

5. At work

You can think of a situation that happened in your previous job, as you saw a coworker biased to their self-interest, even if you didn't know there was a name for that. The self-interest bias often appears in professional environments, because employees want to present themselves in a positive way to their bosses and colleagues. Employees want to maintain a positive reputation for being qualified, competent, knowledgeable, and accurate in their work.

You may have experience working with a colleague who is always eager to receive praise for positive results they deliver or pursue praise from others while denying blame of any kind when there is a problem. This can be attributed to a self-interest bias, which can result in a toxic work environment when faulty employees lack the self-awareness to recognize their role in the problem.

However, most studies have found that the more distant the relationship between employees and their co-workers, the more failures in the workplace are blamed on others. This means that people who work closely are part of a stable team.

6. Workers’ compensation insurance

This cognitive bias is so common in workplaces that researchers have studied how and when self-bias has negative effects on productivity.

Some of the examples that the researchers found in the case of workers' compensation insurance are those that involve an accident of some kind. The injured employee is likely to blame the accident on external factors, while others see it as the employee's fault.

This suggests that a self-interest bias can emerge in people who generally do not rely on this way of thinking to maintain their egos. It can manifest in isolated cases in rational people who are usually calm.

So how might this affect productivity? If team members have a mysterious judge and they are unable to properly respond or accurately analyze unforeseen problems that arise, their logical decision-making skills may be compromised when faced with difficult work junctures, which can hinder progress of any kind.

7. Traffic accidents

I suspect that most people involved in car accidents do not like to admit their fault. It turns out that 75% of people involved in accidents think they are not at fault and they blame the other driver from the start. This is due to self-interest bias, as people naturally want to protect their self-image and prevent themselves from appearing as neglecters.

In today's world, research has been conducted on the relationship of self-interest bias with the introduction of autonomous cars. Despite the optimistic expectations to reduce the number of car accidents if these cars are used, the introduction of these vehicles in a limited way cannot eliminate accidents caused by cars that are driven by humans.

So, while the owner of an autonomous car has a lower risk of making mistakes that cause a traffic accident, he is still at risk of accidents caused by drivers of regular cars.

This study viewed the concept of self-interest bias regarding drivers' inclinations to own an autonomous vehicle. A survey of 531 drivers showed that as the self-interest bias increased, the perceived risks of owning an autonomous vehicle also increased because the driver never thinks that they will be wrong if an accident occurs. This reduces the individual's desire to own a car of this new type.

How to avoid self-interest bias?

While self-interest bias is common, you can avoid it and minimize its influence on your daily decisions. Start by using awareness to help you identify situations in which you are vulnerable to this bias, such as the previous examples. When you recognize common cognitive biases, you begin to notice them, which gives you the opportunity for self-correction.

By practicing mindfulness, you will also be able to identify, without judging, uncomfortable thoughts where you might be wrong. You can also reduce this bias by practicing self-compassion, which can help you to be less defensive and accept constructive criticism when you are on a journey to self-improvement.

Self-compassion will allow you to show self-kindness, especially when faced with failure.

Researchers have found that being open to increased self-compassion is particularly helpful for athletes. In sports, athletes who have self-compassion have fewer negative thoughts and feelings. This helps them reject self-criticism and negative thoughts after making a wrong move.

In addition, self-compassion allows athletes to benefit from constructive criticism, as they maintain realistic self-assessments and are able to recognize their weaknesses.

In conclusion

The self-interest bias is normal, and it protects self-esteem. However, if this type of bias is not recognized, it can be harmful to personal development and relationships. So think about the examples illustrated in this article, and be aware of the times when you may be at risk of thinking this way.