Self-Serving Bias Quotes

Men quickly find a theory that adapts itself to their desires.

Men condemne the same things in others, which they approve in themselves; on the other side, they publickly commend what they privately condemne;

If you ask two people to remember a specific event, the stories are going to vary wildly because we always make ourselves out to be the hero.

As to memory, it is known that this frail faculty naturally lets drop the facts which are less flattering to our self-love - when it does not retain them carefully as subjects not to be approached, marshy spots with a warning flag over them.

Everyone, including skeptics, will generate delusions that match their views. That is how a normal and healthy brain works. Skeptics are not exempt from self-delusion.

Everyone realizes that one can believe little of what people say about each other. But it is not so widely realized that even less can one trust what people say about themselves.

Of course you want to drive that out of yourself because you want to be wise, not foolish. You also have to allow for the self-serving bias of everybody else because most people are not going to remove it all that successfully, the human condition being what it is. If you don't allow for self-serving bias in your conduct, again you're a fool.

All know the influence of interest on the mind of man, and how unconsciously his judgement is warped by that influence.

Of course the self-serving bias is something you want to get out of yourself. Thinking that what's good for you is good for the wider civilization and rationalizing all these ridiculous conclusions based on this subconscious tendency to serve one's self is a terribly inaccurate way to think.

Self-justification is a treacherous servant.

People had an illogical, self-serving rationale when it came to interpreting the behavior of others.

The mind's ability to rationalize it's own shortcomings is unlimited; I am no exception.

The truth is, narratives of self-justification burble beneath more of our relationships and endeavors than we would care to admit.

People assign much higher probability to the truth of their opinions than is warranted.

We are often confident even when we are wrong, and an objective observer is more likely to detect our errors than we are.

If you don't allow for self-serving bias in the conduct of others, you are, again, a fool.

Selfish interest is one of the most common obstructions to the advance of truth.

It's hard to avoid 'unconscious overclaiming.' In unconscious overclaiming, we unconsciously overestimate our contributions relative to others. This makes sense, because we're far more aware of what we do than what other people do. Also, we tend to do the work that we value.

Dishonesty is all about the small acts we can take and then think, 'No, this not real cheating.' So if you think that the main mechanism is rationalization, then what you come up with, and that's what we find, is that we're basically trying to balance feeling good about ourselves.

It's easy to sound good. All you do is leave in the parts where you act tough and forget the parts where you get shoved around.

Human beings will justify anything.

Suppose you like someone very much. Then, by a familiar halo effect, you will also be prone to believe many good things about that person - you will be biased in their favor. Most of us like ourselves very much, and that suffices to explain self-assessments that are biased in a particular direction.

Every ignoramus imagines that all that exists, exists with a view to his individual sake; it is as if there were nothing that exists except him. And if something happens to him that is contrary to what he wishes, he makes the trenchant judgement that all that exists is an evil.

Overconfidence is a powerful source of illusions, primarily determined by the quality and coherence of the story that you can construct, not by its validity.

Evolutionary psychologists seem to want to unmask our noblest motives as ultimately self-interested - to show that our love for children, compassion for the unfortunate and sense of justice are just tactics in a Darwinian struggle to perpetuate our genes.