What characterizes the Self-serving bias?

The self-serving bias refers to the cognitive tendency to attribute personal successes to internal or personal factors while attributing failures to external or situational factors. This bias helps individuals maintain a positive self-image and can protect self-esteem, as people are inclined to take credit for their achievements (thereby reinforcing their abilities or efforts) and deflect blame for their shortcomings (thereby avoiding a negative self-assessment).

In this context, option B accurately characterizes the self-serving bias, capturing the essence of how individuals delineate the responsibility for their outcomes. This tendency is particularly relevant in various domains, including academic performance, workplace achievements, and sports. It highlights a psychological mechanism where individuals might manipulate their perceptions of success and failure to align with their self-concept.

The other options do not encapsulate the essence of the self-serving bias effectively. While external circumstances may indeed influence our judgments about others, that pertains more to the fundamental attribution error rather than self-serving bias. The notion of universal ethics relates to moral reasoning rather than self-perception in success and failure. As for the favoring of internal attributions in others, this describes a different attributional style that does not directly align with the self-serving bias framework.