fundamental attribution error?

Question

what is a fundamental attribution error? I need an example.
Thanks

Answer 1

It's when you attribute someone elses behaviour (good or bad) to some internal quality, as opposed to their environment/situation.

An example of this may be calling someone an a__hole when they cut you off in traffic instead of attributing their rude behaviour to some outside influence (eg. in a rush, didn't see you, etc.)

Answer 2

The fundamental attribution error (sometimes known also as the correspondence bias) is a consequence of our tendence to overlook the influence of the situation in another's behavior. When we see someone behave a certain way, we may make 2 different kinds of inferences about that behavior, situational and dispositional. Situational inferences are made when a behavior is attributed to the context in which it occurs, while dispositional inferences occur when we attribute the behavior to the actor's traits or personality. In general, people have a tendency to underappreciate the power of the situation, and so they are more likely to view a behavior as indicative of that person's personality. This is the Fundamental Attribution Error.

For an example, imagine you are at a restaurant and your waitress is rather rude. Usually, the conclusion that most people come to is that she is a mean person, or at least have a negative idea about her personality. What may not be considered is that she was forced to work a double shift, her car broke down, the boss has been hassling her all day, etc. She may normally be a very nice, polite person, but there are situational factors driving her rudeness. The important thing to remember about the Fundamental Attribution Error is that people don't completely ignore situational information, but simply that they don't use it enough, which leads to a greater tendency toward dispositional attributions of behavior.

Answer 3

I don't think you are right on this. To quote from the link on attribution error: "I assume you have not done much today because you are lazy, rather than perhaps tired or lack the right resources." Gun accessibility: A weapon can sit all year long on a shelf in a cabinet without any activity: how does location make any difference? It's like the argument about concealed carry where a layer of cloth over the gun makes it all better "...climate of hatred,..." EVERYONE has or will be exposed to this - pro-gun folks are no different than anyone else in responding to these kinds of emotions.

Answer 4

It's when we attribute behaviors as being caused by internal traits of a person, instead of attributing them to contextual influences. It's a sad bias we tend to have that is a cause of much misunderstanding, even discrimination.

For example, you might think that just because I mispelled DIFIKULT you'd immediately assume I am stupid, you would be less inclined to attribute the typo to an annoying kid pestering me right now as I type.

If your spouse were to bitterly criticize you at the end of the day, you might immediately say he/she is "bitter" and "critical" instead of thinking he/she might have had a bad day at the office.

If you're a racist teacher and you notice a boy with certain physical features fail a timed test, you might assume that the cause was the boy's intelligence or slowness as a function of race, rather than think it was because your tests are in a culture (being rushed due to time pressure) and language (English)somewhat foreign to him at home.

Answer 5

This error happens when you blame a persons behavior on a personal trait as opposed to taking their social situation into consideration. For example:

The bank teller has an attitude and you think to yourself, this women must be a miserable person or she would not be so rude.

This teller actually may lose her job, her car broke down on her way to work, she has no babysitter, and she fought with her husband before work.

The error is that you blamed her rudeness on her personality without taking into consideration her social situation.