Self Bias

Notes

Claim

Self bias is when we have a strong tendency to prefer ourselves to others Me vs them.

Explanation

While naturally it is reasonable to have this preference, for example it is unjust to expect you to give up your life for a stranger, we often push it too far.

Self bias can also happen when we try to estimate our knowledge and capabilities. We often have Overestimating abilities blinds us to genuine risks in our own abilities and undervalue others. Similarly, it can cause us to fall for Conformation bias makes us accept confirming evidence without scrutiny because we subconsciously wish to avoid anything that can harm us.

Why it matters

Examples

Having a small inconvenience for a great benefit of another, such as donating from developed to developing countries, where the currency difference means that a relatively small donation for us is huge for them Altruism. Essentially, this means that we in some sense think that others have less Moral worth than we do, or that we misjudge our own Self-worth is accurate assessment of your capabilities.

Supporters

Opposers

Self bias can also lead to avoiding being You are responsible for what happens under your watch for our consequences, at least when it comes to our failures, while also projecting blame on others We attribute our emotions to others and misread theirs.

Unfortunately, in attempts to defend ourselves (or more accurately - our ego), we more likely just hurt ourselves Excessive striving produces the opposite of intended outcomes. We are more susceptible of feelings of victimhood and a Fixed mindset assumes capabilities are unchangeable from birth.

Open questions

Visual

Overview

🔼Topic:: Attribution Bias ↩️Origin:: 🔗Link::