What is the tendency to credit oneself for successes and blame external factors for failures?

The tendency to credit oneself for successes and blame external factors for failures is known as self-serving bias. This psychological phenomenon reflects a common cognitive distortion where individuals perceive themselves in a more favorable light. When they achieve something positive, they often attribute that success to their own abilities or efforts, thereby reinforcing their self-esteem and sense of competence. Conversely, when faced with failures or negative outcomes, they tend to externalize blame, attributing those outcomes to situational factors, luck, or other people's actions.

This bias serves to protect and enhance one’s self-image, as it allows individuals to maintain a positive sense of self regardless of circumstances. It is also significant in social psychology because it showcases how our perspectives and evaluations of events can be influenced by our motivations to preserve a positive view of ourselves. The other options represent different concepts in attribution theory but do not specifically capture the idea of attributing successes to oneself while placing the blame for failures elsewhere.