Describe some factors that affect the occurrence of the Fundamental attribution error.

Describe some factors that affect the occurrence of the Fundamental attribution error.

Differing Perspectives: Perhaps not surprisingly this has been a focus of a substantial amount of social psychological research. Researchers have discovered that perspective and situational awareness are important elements to how we react to the behaviour of others. Our perspective differs when we observe others relative to when we act ourselves.

This is called the actor-observer bias. When we are the actor, we tend to attribute behaviour to the environment, whereas when we observe others, we tend to underestimate the impact of the environment. There is also a fact which has been called the correspondence bias: this is a tendency for people to view behaviour as coming from inner dispositions. Because of this natural disposition, it takes some effort to overcome our pre-existing tendencies. Therefore, it is easier to make dispositional inferences particularly when we are less motivated to find situational excuses (i.e. when it is me, versus someone else).

Perspectives Change with Time: An important issue to remember is that perspectives change over time. Immediately after hearing someone argue an assigned position, people assume that's how the person really felt. But a week later they are much more ready to credit the situational constraints (Burger, 1991).

Cultural Differences: There are important cultural issues that play a role in the occurrence of the fundamental attribution error. We have talked about the difference between independent and interdependent selves, as well as the distinctions between individualist and collectivist societies.

What would you predict here?

Who would be more likely to make the fundamental attribution error? What may surprise you is that in some cultures, the FAE effect can even be reversed. As noted in the text, language plays an important role as well. For example there is a Spanish idiom which states that "the clock caused me to be late" rather than saying "I was late". Clearly an external attribution. Overall, in collectivist cultures, people less often perceive others in terms of personal dispositions, and are more likely to view their behaviour as being caused by situational aspects.