After reading this little section in chapter 4, I now know
what can impede my thinking and the pursuit of truth. There are three self
serving biases. The first one is the misperception that we are in control. I
noticed that sometimes, I do have this misperception that I am in control for
instance my grade on a test. I would easily say, I knew I would fail this test
but in reality I have no control over what I got wrong or right. The lotto is
the perfect example of thinking we have control over the chances of
winning. A second bias that is
quite common is the tendency to overestimate ourselves in comparison to others.
I tend to compare myself a lot especially when it comes to school. I misjudge
my capabilities and myself most frequently after a test. A last bias is the tendency
to exaggerate our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. This bias tends to be
used a lot also because when I describe my strengths in an interview, I tend to
over exaggerate in order to make myself shine in front of the interviewers.
Hi Brian Robles! I really enjoyed reading your post. I think that you did a great job on giving examples to better describe the biases and to provides a deeper understanding for your audience. I think that the most important aspect to take away from this information about self serving biases is what we choose to do with it. It can possibly detriment us like overestimating or misperception. However with your example of exaggeration in an interview, I would say most people do exactly the same thing! Thanks for the great post, it really clarified the self serving biases for me and I am sure others too.
ReplyDeleteThe different biases are a little confused to me. Because technically don't you have control over your grade based on the amount that you study/ what you study? The lotto is a very good example of a misperception. People will buy like a thousand lotto tickets for years and never win. I too tend to overestimate myself in comparison to others. I think the bias of over exaggerating our strengths vs minimizing weaknesses is what gets us the job! No employer wants to know that a person is incompetent,late, and does not have the ability to learn quickly.
ReplyDeleteHey Brian!
ReplyDeleteI thought your interpretation of this section was quite interesting as well as your personal standings of misperception. I also sometimes feel like I misperceptions that I have something under control when I easily do not. For example just as you stated grades are one of the easiest things that you can thing you are doing very good or ok at and then the next minute you find out you are failing half of your classes. This last semester I worked very had to keep up with my grades but at the end of the semester I found out that I failed 2 of my 4 classes and they were the 2 classes that I tried as hard as I could but they were just of a subject that I did not understand.
-Mike Ross