What is the Fundamental Attribution Error?
Understand how you can truly stop judging books by their cover
Alright so before I dive into explaining what the Fundamental Attribution Error is, let us first take a quick look at what the word attribution means in Psychology.
What is ‘Attribution’ in Psychology?
The word “attribution” in psychology refers to the method by which the cause of a behavior or event is explained. The question that a psychologist asks when they see an individual’s behavior or an event, is, “what should I attribute this behavior or event to?” Models that explain this process are collectively classified under the umbrella of attribution theory.
Now there are- what I like to think of as- three types of attributions that one can make.
(1) Dispositional attribution refers to the attribution of one’s behavior to their personal predispositions such as traits, habits, abilities, or feelings.
(2) Situational attribution refers to the attribution of one’s behavior to the situational or environmental influences that they might be in
(3) Hybrid attribution: There is great evidence to show that the influences on an individual’s behavior is a combination of their behavioral predispositions as well as situational influences. And so hybrid attribution refers to the attribution of one’s behavior to a combination of behavioral predispositions and situational cues.
Defining Fundamental Attribution Error
Fundamental attribution error is the error that people make of attributing one’s behavior to their personal behavioral predispositions, without considering how situational influences could have affected their behavior. This often gives the observer a biased and improper depiction of the subject’s personality and traits, which could lead to a whole host of subsequent problems.
An example of the Fundamental Attribution Error
There are various real-life scenarios where this manifests itself. In this article we shall go over one such study that authors Thomas Gilovich and Lee Ross make a mention of, in their book, “The Wisest One in the Room.”
In the study, spectators were made to watch numerous pairs of students- one quizzing the other on a set of random questions. Since these questions were devised by the questioner without taking into consideration the answerer’s subjects of choice, nearly eight out of ten questions asked were answered wrongly. When the spectators were asked for their opinion on the two students, nearly all of them thought that the questioner was better intellectually abled and smarter than the answerer. They did not take into consideration the situational advantage that the questioner had, as there was no seemingly evident test of his intellect taking place, while the answerer’s intellect was put on the spot to be tested. Had the spectators considered this situational advantage they would have realized that the questioner is just as likely to be unable to answer questions that are beyond his knowledge, should he switch roles with the answerer.
Benefits of understanding the Fundamental Attribution Error
By understanding the fundamental attribution error, you will find yourself better abled to draw conclusions about others not just based on their seeming behavioral predispositions but also taking into consideration their situational influences. You will find yourself becoming a practitioner of the ever-popular idiomatic expression, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and start looking deeper into why the people around you behave the way they do.
For more such psychology insights, I’d recommend you grab your own copy of the book, The Wisest One in the Room, by Thomas Gilovich and Lee Ross and follow along as we break down several key topics from the book, on this blog.
Until next time.
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