Psychology and society week 2
The fundamental attribution error:
- People prioritize people over situations- see people first then their situation
- People tend to attribute cause to person- people are in their situation because of
them
- Person is the causal agent rather than other situational factors
Jones & Harris (1967)
• Correspondent Inference Theory:
• We infer dispositions from action where action is freely chosen
• Where action is not freely chosen, we do not infer dispositions
• Participants read student essay and infer author’s attitudes
• Direction of behavior: Pro-Castro vs Anti-Castro
• Choice: Free choice vs Required by course tutor
- People have positive attitudes towards action you freely chose
- Observers inferred pro-Castro attitude even where informed that author had no
choice over direction of essay
Ross (1977)
• ‘Naïve psychologists’ are prone to error
• Fundamental attribution error:
• ‘a general tendency to overestimate the importance of personal or
dispositional factors relative to environmental influences’ (p184)
- We tend to put more weight on person than other factor when attributing causality
Jones & Nisbett (1971):
- Actor-observer effect:
- The way people attribute cause to their behaviour differ from how observers
attribute cause
- Actor attributes causality to situational influences
- Observers attribute causality to actor’s dispositions
- Difference between actors and observers due to where attention is focused
Fundamental- rule of all humanity
, Psychology and society week 2
- Non-western culture may not be prone to FAE
- 70 Indian ppts, 60 US ppts
- Aged 8, 11, 15, or adult- effects of culture less pronounce in when younger
- Describe 2 prosocial and 2 antisocial behaviors, and why they occurred
- Adults in the US attribute greater causality to individuals
- Adults in India attribute greater causality to contextual factors
- Similar results for 15- year olds
- No difference in causal attributions among 8 and 11-year olds
- Important cultural differences in susceptibility to FAE
- Cultural differences are learned
- Occur between 11 and 15 years
Updating the FAE:
• Fundamental attribution error:
• ‘a general tendency, acquired through socialization into Western culture, for
observers to overestimate the importance of personal or dispositional factors
relative to environmental influences’
The fundamental attribution error:
- People prioritize people over situations- see people first then their situation
- People tend to attribute cause to person- people are in their situation because of
them
- Person is the causal agent rather than other situational factors
Jones & Harris (1967)
• Correspondent Inference Theory:
• We infer dispositions from action where action is freely chosen
• Where action is not freely chosen, we do not infer dispositions
• Participants read student essay and infer author’s attitudes
• Direction of behavior: Pro-Castro vs Anti-Castro
• Choice: Free choice vs Required by course tutor
- People have positive attitudes towards action you freely chose
- Observers inferred pro-Castro attitude even where informed that author had no
choice over direction of essay
Ross (1977)
• ‘Naïve psychologists’ are prone to error
• Fundamental attribution error:
• ‘a general tendency to overestimate the importance of personal or
dispositional factors relative to environmental influences’ (p184)
- We tend to put more weight on person than other factor when attributing causality
Jones & Nisbett (1971):
- Actor-observer effect:
- The way people attribute cause to their behaviour differ from how observers
attribute cause
- Actor attributes causality to situational influences
- Observers attribute causality to actor’s dispositions
- Difference between actors and observers due to where attention is focused
Fundamental- rule of all humanity
, Psychology and society week 2
- Non-western culture may not be prone to FAE
- 70 Indian ppts, 60 US ppts
- Aged 8, 11, 15, or adult- effects of culture less pronounce in when younger
- Describe 2 prosocial and 2 antisocial behaviors, and why they occurred
- Adults in the US attribute greater causality to individuals
- Adults in India attribute greater causality to contextual factors
- Similar results for 15- year olds
- No difference in causal attributions among 8 and 11-year olds
- Important cultural differences in susceptibility to FAE
- Cultural differences are learned
- Occur between 11 and 15 years
Updating the FAE:
• Fundamental attribution error:
• ‘a general tendency, acquired through socialization into Western culture, for
observers to overestimate the importance of personal or dispositional factors
relative to environmental influences’
