Attribution Theory and the Fundamental Attribution Error

Explaining Why People Act

Every day we act as amateur scientists, asking why someone did what they did. Attribution theory studies how we assign these causes.

We attribute behavior to either the person (dispositional or internal causes like personality) or the situation (situational or external causes like luck or pressure).

We do this with a systematic slant. The fundamental attribution error (FAE) is our tendency, when explaining other people's behavior, to overestimate dispositional causes and underestimate situational ones.

The driver who cuts you off is a reckless jerk (disposition), rarely someone rushing to a hospital (situation).

Biases in Attribution

The bias flips when we explain ourselves. The actor–observer bias is that we attribute our own behavior to the situation, but others' behavior to disposition.

$$\text{others} \to \text{disposition}, \; \text{self} \to \text{situation}$$

The self-serving bias adds another twist: we claim credit for successes (disposition: I am skilled) while blaming failures on circumstances (situation: the exam was unfair).

Common pitfall: Thinking the FAE applies to everyone. It specifically describes how we judge others. For ourselves, the tendency reverses.