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Cited by 101Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesFree Will and AgencyAction Observation and Synchronization

Self-responsibility and the self-serving bias: an fMRI investigation of causal attributions

Blackwood, N.J, Bentall, R.P, ffytche, D.H, Simmons, A, Murray, R.M, Howard, R.J·2003·NeuroImage
DOI 10.1016/s1053-8119(03)00331-8
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Abstract

We use causal attributions to infer the most likely cause of events in the social world. Internal attributions imply self-responsibility for events. The self-serving bias describes the tendency of normal subjects to attribute the causation of positive events internally ("I am responsible em leader ") and negative events externally ("Other people or situational factors are responsible em leader "). The self-serving bias has been assumed to serve a positive motivational function by enhancing self-esteem. Abnormalities of attributional style have been implicated in both depression and psychosis. We examined the neural basis of both self-responsibility and the self-serving bias using functional magnetic resonance imaging during the performance of attributional decision tasks. We found that the determination of self-responsibility recruits areas previously implicated in action simulation (bilateral premotor cortex and cerebellum), suggesting that such higher order social cognition is related to simpler internal models of goal-directed action. The dorsal striatum, previously implicated in motivated behavior, mediates the self-serving bias.

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  • Blackwood et al. (2003) found activation in the lateral PFC for stories involving self attributions.

    “Contrary to BlackWood et al. (2003) who found activation in the lateral PFC for stories involving self attributions, Harris et al., (2005) found activation in the mPFC, just as we had seen earlier for trait inferences.”

    From Social cognition and the brain: A meta-analysis (2009) · cites this paper as BlackWood et al. (2003)

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Authors
Blackwood, N. J., Bentall, R. P., ffytche, D. H., Simmons, A., Murray, R. M., & Howard, R. J.
Affiliations
  • King's College London (GB)
  • University of Manchester (GB)
Corresponding author
Blackwood, N.J
ORCID
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2003-10
Volume
20
Issue
2
Pages
1076-1085
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s1053-8119(03)00331-8
OpenAlex
W1970431674
Cited by
101
References
10
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 5
FWCI
0.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Free Will and Agency
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Keywords
self-serving bias, personal responsibility, causal attribution, attributional style, self-esteem, action simulation, premotor cortex, cerebellum, dorsal striatum, motivation, social cognition
MeSH terms
Adult, Basal Ganglia, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Internal-External Control, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Psychomotor Performance, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reaction Time, Social Environment

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