Unintentional Egocentric Biases in Attributions

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Abstract
Psychological research concerning sport attributions has devoted much attention to motivational explanations of egocentric bias phenomena. Some theoretical explanations suggest bias is intentional in order to fulfill certain self-oriented needs. However, there is also evidence that cognitive processes such as memory can contribute to unintended egocentric biases. Two studies were conducted to investigate biases (a) in the available information used to make attributions, and (b) in the attributions of responsibility for actions or events. The subject samples examined were 12 men's doubles tennis teams and 32 coach-athlete pairs. Subjects responded to questions requiring recall of either important events and turning points during tennis matches (Study 1) or examples of joint interaction inputs (Study 2). Estimates of perceived responsibility for both dyad members were gathered from each subject. The data provided evidence for egocentric biases in available information and in responsibility attributions. A subject's own inputs to team efforts or to a two-person interaction were more easily and frequently remembered. Subjects consistently remembered more of their personal contributions than those of others, and accepted more responsibility for joint efforts than granted them by others regardless of event outcomes. Failure to include others' inputs in the recall of joint endeavors is explained by processes affecting memory. Implications for future research are discussed as well as the problems these unintended biases create for participant interaction.

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