Fundamental Attribution Error

intermediate6 min readeducation · psychology · sociology · business

We can overestimate personality and underestimate circumstances when explaining another person’s behavior. Looking at the pressures, information and opportunities they faced can change the judgment. The studies described here also examine how attention to context varies across settings and cultural groups.

THE IDEA

The Power of the Situation

We often underestimate—or fail to notice—important situational influences that markedly affect beliefs and behavior. This 'context blindness' leads us to exaggerate the influence of personal, 'dispositional' factors—preferences, personality traits, abilities, plans, and motives—on behavior. The tendency to assign a person’s behavior to some intrinsic quality of their identity rather than to the circumstance they are in is called the fundamental attribution error.

The Fundamental Attribution Error

When a stranger bumps into you on the street and walks away without an apology, your immediate thoughts are likely a litany of negative personality traits: rude, inconsiderate, careless. He might instead be distracted by a family emergency, lost in thought or having an exceptionally bad day. Treating a single moment as a permanent disposition can hide these possibilities. The same happens when we label a colleague “angry” after she snaps at us, overlooking the fact that she just stubbed her toe moments before.

Accounts of Bill Gates’s success often emphasize his decision to leave Harvard and start Microsoft. His unusual access to computers as a teenager is another part of the explanation. Similarly, the economist Smith may have more publications than Jones simply because he earned his PhD in a 'fat year' for academic jobs. In a classic experiment by Jones and Harris, participants read essays about Cuba that were allegedly written by a student as a requirement. Even when told the student was required to write a pro- or anti-Cuba essay, participants still assumed the writer's true attitudes matched the essay's position.

Powerful situational determinants of behavior can be staring us in the face, yet we remain oblivious. In the 'bystander intervention' studies by Darley and Latané, the presence of others drastically reduced helping behavior: 86% helped when alone, but only 31% when four bystanders were present. Darley and Batson's Good Samaritan study with theological students showed that being in a hurry reduced helping from 63% to 10%. When people hear about the study, they do not think the situation would matter, so they attribute failure to help to poor character.

Hidden situational factors also influence how smart a person seems. In a quiz show study by Lee Ross, questioners (randomly assigned) displayed esoteric knowledge, and both contestants and observers rated the questioners as unusually knowledgeable—ignoring the role advantage. In an office role simulation by Ronald Humphrey, managers and clerks rated each other differently based on arbitrarily assigned roles.

Social influence is one of the most powerful yet invisible situational factors. We do things because others do them: smoking, buying Saabs, taking up tennis, drinking alcohol. The economists Kremer and Levy found that college students assigned a roommate with a history of heavy drinking got grades a quarter point lower, and if the student himself had been a drinker, a full point lower. The account also describes students whose political views shifted leftward in college. They attributed the change to independent reasoning, while the researchers emphasized the influence of peers and professors.

Goethals and Reckman showed massive social influence on attitudes toward busing. Participants who discussed the issue with a ringer shifted their opinions and even 'recalled' their original opinions as having been different—they were unaware of the influence. This suggests that people may reconstruct past opinions in light of what they now believe.

Actor-Observer Differences in Assessing the Causes of Behavior

People generally think their own behavior is a sensible response to the situation, but they attribute others' behavior to dispositional factors. For example, murderers in prison attribute their homicides to the situation, while observers see personality. When asked why they date someone, people cite the partner's qualities; when asked about an acquaintance, they cite the acquaintance's needs. The actor's situation is salient to the actor, but the observer focuses on the actor's behavior. When we fail to apologize because we are racing to an appointment, that pressure is obvious to us. The person we bumped into may know nothing about it.

Culture, Context, and the Fundamental Attribution Error

The studies described here report cultural differences in attention to people and their surroundings. In experiments by Masuda, Japanese students rated the central figure's emotion as influenced by surrounding faces more than Americans did. When describing an underwater scene, Japanese reported 60% more background objects than Americans. In another reported comparison, Korean participants adjusted their attributions after personally experiencing a coercive situation, while American participants did not. These findings concern the groups and tasks studied; they do not describe every person from those cultures.

Considering the Circumstances

Pay more attention to context. Realize that situational factors usually influence behavior more than they seem, and dispositional factors less. Don't assume behavior in one or two situations is predictive of future behavior. Recognize that others think their behavior is responsive to situation—and they are often right. Before settling on a character judgment, ask what situational pressures could explain the behavior and what evidence would help you distinguish the possibilities.

When to use it

When evaluating a colleague's mistake at work, consider workload or personal stress rather than assuming incompetence.
During a conflict with a friend, reflect on external circumstances that may have contributed to their behavior before concluding they are a bad person.
In hiring, avoid judging a candidate's nervousness during an interview as a lack of skill; instead, consider the pressure of the situation.
When reading news about a public figure's misconduct, remember to account for situational pressures and avoid overly personal attacks.
When evaluating an employee's poor performance, consider situational factors such as workload, team dynamics, or personal stressors before attributing it to lack of ability.
In a negotiation, recognize that the other party's behavior may be heavily influenced by the constraints of their role or organizational pressures, not just their personality.
When a friend’s political views change, asking about both their reasoning and the social influences around them.
In cross-cultural interactions, checking how each person understands the situation instead of assuming that background determines their interpretation.
Workplace: A manager assumes an employee’s missed deadline is due to laziness, overlooking that the employee was dealing with a family emergency.
Driving: You get angry at a driver who cuts you off, labeling them as aggressive, while they might be rushing to a hospital.
Education: A teacher interprets a student’s poor performance as lack of ability, ignoring that the student is struggling with inadequate resources at home.

FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE

In practice

Bumping into a stranger

When a man bumps into you and does not apologize, you immediately assume he is rude or inconsiderate, ignoring the possibility that he might be distracted by an important matter.

The Luck Behind Bill Gates' Success

Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to found Microsoft and became the richest person in the world. However, his precollege life was exceptionally lucky: he had access to a computer terminal in 8th grade, free programming time, and late-night access to a university computer center. An account focused solely on intelligence and drive would miss these situational advantages.

Attributing Attitudes from Assigned Essays

In a classic experiment by Jones and Harris, participants read essays about Cuba that were allegedly written by a student as a requirement. Even when told the student was required to write a pro- or anti-Cuba essay, participants still assumed the writer's true attitudes matched the essay's position, demonstrating the fundamental attribution error.

The Good Samaritan Study

Darley and Batson sent Princeton theological students to deliver a sermon on the Good Samaritan. Some were told they were late, others had plenty of time. On the way, they passed a man in distress. Only 10% of those in a hurry helped, compared to 63% of those with time. Observers attributed failure to help to character, not the situational factor of being in a rush.

Quiz Show Study

In a study by Lee Ross, students were randomly assigned to be questioners or contestants. Questioners asked challenging questions and contestants answered poorly. Both groups rated the questioners as having superior general knowledge, ignoring the inherent role advantage.

Misattributing Anger

You see a colleague snap at someone and assume she's an angry person, when in fact she just stubbed her toe and is in pain.

✳

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Put it to work.

Think of a recent situation where you judged someone's character based on a single action. What situational factors might have influenced their behavior?
How can you train yourself to pause and consider environmental influences before attributing someone's actions to their personality?
Recall a time when you were misunderstood by others due to the fundamental attribution error. What context were they missing?
What information would help you distinguish a recurring behavior from a response to unusual pressure?
Consider a successful person you know. What 'lucky breaks' or contextual advantages might have contributed to their success beyond their personal qualities?
How might your background influence whether you notice a person’s behavior or the circumstances around it first?
When have you explained your own mistake by circumstances but someone else’s similar mistake by character?
How can you remind yourself to consider circumstances before making judgments about others?
Recall a time when someone misjudged you due to this error. How did it affect you, and what could have been a more accurate assessment?

Often confused with

References

Attitude attribution from assigned essays — Jones, E. E. & Harris, V. A. (1967)
Bystander intervention in emergencies — Darley, J. M. & Latané, B. (1968)
From Jerusalem to Jericho: A study of situational and dispositional variables in helping behavior — Darley, J. M. & Batson, C. D. (1973)
The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition — Triplett, N. (1898)
Social facilitation — Zajonc, R. B. (1965)
How work roles influence perception: A study of role-induced attribution — Humphrey, R. (1985)
Peer effects and alcohol use among college students — Kremer, M. & Levy, D. (2008)
The persistence of political attitudes: A study of college students — Liu, A. et al.
The roles of discussion and memory in attitude change — Goethals, G. R. & Reckman, R. F. (1973)
The influence of social context on the perception of emotional expressions — Masuda, T. (2002)
Cultural differences in attention to context: The case of the underwater scene — Masuda, T. & Nisbett, R. E. (2001)
Culture and causal attribution: A comparative study of Koreans and Americans — Choi, I. & Nisbett, R. E. (1999)
The Geography of Thought — Nisbett, R. E. (2003)

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

Source texts

60 Cognitive Biases That Ruin Everything We Do by David Scott
Mindware Tools for Smart Thinking (Richard E. Nisbett)
The 25 Cognitive Biases Uncovering The Myth Of Rational Thinking (Charles Holm)

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