4.1 Attribution Theory and Fundamental Attribution Error

Explaining behavior: Attribution Theory

Attribution theory says we explain others' behavior using either situational attributions (external causes, like circumstances) or dispositional attributions (internal causes, like personality/character). How we attribute behavior shapes our judgments of others and ourselves, influencing emotions and social interactions.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The fundamental attribution error (FAE) is our tendency to overemphasize dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors when judging *other people's* behavior. Example: seeing someone trip and assuming they're clumsy, rather than considering an uneven sidewalk. This bias is stronger in individualist cultures that value personal responsibility.

Self vs. others: Actor-Observer bias

We tend to apply situational attributions to our own behavior but dispositional attributions to others' behavior — an inconsistency called the actor-observer bias. We know the context behind our own actions but lack that insight into others, making us quicker to judge them as the 'type of person' who acts that way.

Key terms

Attribution Theory

The idea that we explain behavior using either situational (external) or dispositional (internal) causes.

Dispositional Attribution

Explaining behavior by pointing to someone's personality, character, or internal traits.

Situational Attribution

Explaining behavior by pointing to external circumstances or environmental factors.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to overemphasize dispositional causes and underestimate situational causes when judging others' behavior.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute our own behavior situationally, but others' behavior dispositionally.

Try an AP-style question

What is this?

1. Actor-observer bias
2. False consensus
3. Fundamental attribution error
4. Self-serving bias