Who Takes the Blame: Self-Serving Bias Amongst Undergraduates

Abstract

There have been consistent findings with internal success attributions, but not many studies that focus on internal or external attributions for failure (Duval & Silvia, 2002). This study looks into the correlation amongst self-esteem and mindset and its effects on failure attributions. It was predicted that those with low self-esteem and or fixed mindset will attribute failure externally versus those who have high self-esteem and or a growth mindset. Undergraduates participated in an online survey that measured, self-serving bias, mindset, and self-esteem. Results showed that self-esteem and mindset did not significantly impact failure attributions. There are several reasons that results might not have been significant in this study. Limitations and future direction for understanding self-serving bias are discussed.