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It was your Fault! Self-Serving Biases in Autobiographical Accounts of Conflicts in Married Couples

University of Bamberg, Germany

Accounts of naturally occurring interpersonal conflicts were collected in interviews with 25 married couples from a community sample. The findings suggest that even in non-distressed close relationships accounts of conflict are distorted in a self-serving manner. Both partners tended to emphasize their own needs and hurt feelings, and to refer to aspects that excused or justified their own behaviour. Each partner also tended to blame the other for initiating the conflict, to describe the partner’s behaviour as irrational and incomprehensible, and to refer to prior negative partner behaviour. Results are interpreted in terms of self-serving biases and favourable self-presentation. Effects of self-focused attention and actor observer biases are discussed.

Key Words: accounts • autobiographical narratives • couples • marital conflict • self-serving biases

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