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. The self-serving attributional bias—attributing success internally and failure externally—appears for many psychologists to have achieved the status of an empirical fact (Brown & Rogers, 1991). Researchers indeed find a consistent tendency for individuals to attribute success to self (e.g., Miller & Ross, 1975). Yet the literature on failure attributions shows a lot of variability. Many experiments find external attributions for failure (e.g., Snyder, Stephan, & Rosenfield, 1976, 1978). Many other studies, however, find internal attributions for failure (e.g., Ames, 1975; Ross, Bierbrauer