Fundamental attribution error

In attribution theory, the fundamental attribution error (sometimes referred to as the actor/observer bias) is the tendency for humans to over-emphasize dispositional, or personality-based, explanations for behaviors observed in others while under-emphasizing the role and power of situational influences on the same behavior. In other words, people tend to have a default assumption that what a person does is based more on what "kind" of person she is, rather than the social and environmental forces at work on that person. This default assumption leads to people sometimes making erroneous explanations for behavior. This general bias to over-emphasizing dispositional explanations for behavior at the expense of situational explanations is far less likely to occur when people evaluate their own behavior. The fundamental attribution error is conceptual bedrock for the field of social psychology.

Table of contents

1 Classic Demonstration Study: Jones and Harris (1967) 2 Everyday Example 3 Why the fundamental attribution error occurs 4 Related Findings

Classic Demonstration Study: Jones and Harris (1967)

Subjects listened to pro and anti-Castro speeches. Subjects were asked to rate the pro-Castro attitudes of both. When the subjects believed that the speech makers freely chose which position to take (for or against Castro), they naturally rated the people who gave the pro-Castro speeches as having a more positive attitude toward Castro. BUT, when the subjects were specifically told that the speech makers gave either a pro or an anti-Castro speech solely as the result of a coin flip (random), the subjects STILL rated the people who gave the pro-Castro speeches as having, on average, a more positive attitude towards Castro then those giving anti-Castro speeches. Thus, even when subjects were aware that the speeches made were solely because of the flip of a coin, they still committed the fundamental attribution error when it came to judging pro or anti-Castro attitudes of the speech makers.

Everyday Example

You are walking up to a cashier at the grocery store to check out when a man with two children cuts directly in front of you, arriving to pay the cashier before you. You are likely to grumble and think "What an incredible jerk!" Your default assumption is that the person is ill-mannered. You do not realize that the man did not even see you as his attention was largely focused on keeping his two children with him and moving to the cashier. Thus, your dispositional attribution for his behavior was, in this instance, incorrect. The man simply did not see you as his attention was focused on his children.

Why the fundamental attribution error occurs

One theoretical view holds that the error results largely from perspective. When we observe other people, the person is the primary reference point. When we observe ourselves, we are more aware of the forces acting upon us. So, attributions for others’ behavior is more likely to focus on the person we see, not the situational forces acting upon that person that we may not be aware of.

Related Findings

1. Persons in a state of cognitive load are more likely to commit the fundamental attribution error.

2. There is some evidence to support the contention that cultures which tend emphasize the individual over the group ("individualistic" cultures) tend to make more dispositional attributions then do the "collectivist" cultures. Persons living in more individualistic societies may be more likely to commit the fundamental attribution error.

Compare to ad hominem arguments.