Barbara Krahé

• Inhalt: 1. Zur Konzeptualisierung des bias in der Attributionstheorie 2. Self-serving bias-Hypothese und informationstheoretische Alternativerklärung:Theoretische Kontroverse und empirische Befunde - Selbstwertbezogene Attributionen eigener Handlungsergebnisse - Kausalattributionen von Erfolg und Mißerfolg bei Wettbewerb und Kooperation - Kausalattributionen für Erfolg und Mißerfolg aus der Beobachterperspektive - Kontradefensive Attributionen und Selbstdarstellungsbedürfnisse - Zum Stand der Kognitions-Motivations-Debatte im Lichte der neueren Ergebnisse 3. Ansätze zum Abbau des gegenwärtigen Theoriedefizits der self-serving bias-Forschung
• It is proposed that the introduction of the concept of self-serving bias marks a shift in the predominantly cognitive orientation of attribution theory towards greater attention to motivational variables. The "fact or fiction" controversy about self-serving attributional biases is discussed under three aspects: 1) The lack of a clear conceptual definition of "bias" referring to cognitive models of causal attribution which specify unbiased, rational modes of causal inference. 2) The more recent empirical evidence with regard to the decision whether attributional distortions are due to self-protective and self-enhancing motives rather than errors and biases in Information processing. 3) The need for a theoretical specification of the motivational concepts inherent in the self-serving bias hypothesis such as self-esteem relevance, ego-enhancement, and egodefense and the functional properties of attributional differences as a function of success and failure. It is concluded that progress in self-serving bias research is conditional upon aIt is proposed that the introduction of the concept of self-serving bias marks a shift in the predominantly cognitive orientation of attribution theory towards greater attention to motivational variables. The "fact or fiction" controversy about self-serving attributional biases is discussed under three aspects: 1) The lack of a clear conceptual definition of "bias" referring to cognitive models of causal attribution which specify unbiased, rational modes of causal inference. 2) The more recent empirical evidence with regard to the decision whether attributional distortions are due to self-protective and self-enhancing motives rather than errors and biases in Information processing. 3) The need for a theoretical specification of the motivational concepts inherent in the self-serving bias hypothesis such as self-esteem relevance, ego-enhancement, and egodefense and the functional properties of attributional differences as a function of success and failure. It is concluded that progress in self-serving bias research is conditional upon a theoretical clarification and operational definition of self-serving biases explicitly derived from a rational Standard of causal inference and based on a motivational analysis of the functions of causal attributions.…