Self-serving biases can be either beneficial or harmful to individuals.

Self-serving bias is a process by which an individual distorts their perception of reality or ignores negative feedback in order to maintain their ego. To put it simply: “people want to feel positive about themselves, and most manage to see themselves favorably much of the time” (Baron, Byrne, Branscombe, 2007, p. 136). This bias often manifests as a failure to identify oneself as the source of errors, instead placing the blame on external, uncontrollable factors.

Despite the fact that it represents a discrepancy in perception and reality, self-serving bias can be viewed as a sense of optimism about one’s life and abilities, and may be an important part of the maintenance of self-esteem. Perhaps the most significant evidence that self-serving bias is not maladaptive is that it is ubiquitous in nearly all parts of the population, yet there is no associated dysfunction with average levels of expression. If the level of self-serving bias seen in the general population was maladaptive, there would be an expected associated disorder or dysfunction. Self-serving bias is an effective method of maintaining and even raising self-esteem and confidence
Although an “average” amount of self-serving bias may be adaptive and important in maintenance of one’s mental well-beingone can imagine there are situations in which exhibition of self-serving bias may have negative consequences. One way self-serving bias can result in a negative outcome is due to overconfidence. If self-serving bias is an adaptive trait that serves to keep one’s self-esteem (and thus confidence) from being eroded, what happens when this process is utilized too frequently? The result is overconfidence, which can lead to excessive risk taking and poor judgment.

Other factors that may affect levels of self-serving attributions,