The Effects of Self-Serving vs. Other-Serving Claims of Responsibility on Attraction and Attribution in Groups

Reactions to others' claims of responsibility were investigated by assessing group members' evaluations of a fellow group member who took high, moderate, or low personal responsibility for a positive or negative outcome. As predicted, individuals whose attributions were self-serving (blaming others for failure or claiming credit for success) were liked less than (1) group members who allocated responsibility equally, and (2) members whose "other-serving" attributions indicated they took the blame for failure or credited others for success. These results suggest that attributions-when exchanged among group members-significantly influence social perceptions and group relations.