Self Bias

Notes

Self bias is when we have a strong tendency to prefer ourselves to others Me vs them. 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. For example, 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 midjudge our own self worth.

Self bias can also happen in when we try to estimate our knowledge and capabilities. We often have over confidence in our own abilities and undervalue others. Similarly, it can cause us to fall for Conformation Bias because we subconsciously wish to avoid anything that can harm us.

Self bias can also lead to avoiding being Accountability for our consequences, at least when it comes to our failures, while also projecting blame on others Emotional Projection.

Unfortunately, in attempts to defend ourselves (or more accurately - our ego), we more likely just hurt ourselves The law of reverse effect. We are more susceptible of feelings of victimhood and a Fixed Mindset.

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Overview

🔼Topic:: Cognitive Bias (MOC) ↩️Origin:: 🔗Link::