The fundamental attribution error is a cognitive bias in social psychology where internal personality characteristics are emphasized over external situational factors to explain behavior. Actor-observer bias is the opposite. Awareness of these biases can help individuals better understand behavior and make better decisions. To avoid the fundamental attribution error, individuals should consider situational factors and put themselves in the other’s shoes.
Fundamental attribution error is a common type of cognitive bias in social psychology. Essentially, it involves placing a strong emphasis on internal personality characteristics to explain someone’s behavior in a given situation, rather than thinking about external situational factors. The flip side of this fallacy is actor-observer bias, where people tend to overemphasize the role of a situation in their behaviors and underestimate the role of their own personalities.
Some people think of this cognitive bias as one of the core tenets of social psychology. It illustrates several interesting things about cognitive biases, such as the fact that people tend to view their own behavior in a different light than the behavior of others. It also illustrates the brain’s genuine desire to understand a situation and the behavior that occurred in that situation in a logical way. The fundamental attribution error can also lead to other cognitive biases.
For an example of this type of mistake at work, a person might imagine walking down a crowded sidewalk, carrying loaded bags from stores. If someone meets him, he’s probably inclined to think “what an idiot! That person has no respect for others, he saw me clearly!” In this assessment of the other person’s behavior, the individual does not take into account situational factors, such as bumping into someone else or the first person’s inability to realize that their bags take up more space than they think, thus forcing people to bump into him as they try to get around him.
Many people want to understand the reasons for human behavior, out of natural curiosity and in an attempt to avoid uncomfortable situations. Cognitive biases are one way the brain processes human behavior; while a cognitive bias is often wrong, it can provide quick insight into a situation that will enable the person to make a quick decision. People should be careful to be aware of cognitive biases, however, so they can consider that a behavior might have more than one explanation.
To avoid making the fundamental attribution error, one of the best things an individual can do is “put themselves in the other’s shoes,” as the old saying goes. By thinking about what he might do in the same situation, the person might find some situational factors for behavior that might shed light on the matter. Awareness of this common cognitive bias can help a person look for hidden behavioral factors, making them a better observer and better able to read people and situations. When an individual is trying to explain his own behavior, he should avoid indulging in the actor-observer effect and be sure to give credence to her personality.
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