Psychology I / Attribution Theory and the Fundamental Attribution Error
Practice question · Sort into groups

Sort each explanation by the kind of cause it appeals to.

Groups: Dispositional (something about the person) · Situational (something about the circumstances)

Hints
  1. Ask whether the cause named would still be there if a different person had been in that exact position.
  2. Traits, abilities and character are dispositional; pressures, luck and circumstances are situational.
Show the answer

Dispositional (something about the person): She won because she is exceptionally talented, He gave up because he lacks persistence, They volunteered because they are generous people

Situational (something about the circumstances): He was short with me because he had just been given bad news, They failed the task because the instructions were ambiguous, I was late because the roads were flooded

Why

Talent, lack of persistence and generosity are properties of the person and travel with them; bad news, ambiguous instructions and flooded roads would have affected anyone in that position. Sorting them is the raw material for the biases: the errors consist of choosing the wrong column depending on whose behaviour is being explained.

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