Fundamental Attribution Error II

Fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to over estimate the internal and underestimate the external factors when explaining the behaviors of others. This may be a result of our tendency to pay more attention to the situation rather than to the individual (Heider, 1958) and is especially true when we know little about the other person. For example, the last time you were driving and got cut off did you say to yourself "What an idiot" (or something similar), or did you say "She must be having a rough day." Chances are that this behavior was assigned mostly internal attributes and you didn't give a second thought to what external factors are playing a role in her driving behavior.

Explaining The Fundamental Attribution Error
The fundamental attribution error has been itself attributed to several factors that influence causal analysis. These include the actor and observer's divergent perspectives; one's degree of self-awareness; and the attributional effects of cultural values.

Divergent Perspectives
In the typical attributional scenario, there are two characters: the actor whose behaviour is being analyzed and the observer who is analyzing it. The actor's perspective on his or her own behaviour is different or divergent from the observer's view of the addition. The actor is likely to be focusing on the surrounding situation and its demands and details. In contrast, the observer is focusing primarily on the actor him- or herself. Not surprisngly, the actor's explanation for his or her own behaviour tends to blame "the situation", while the observer's explanation blames "the actor". Their different explanations are due to their divergent perspectives, a result of focusing their attention in different directions.

Self-Awareness
Can the actor recognize that there might be different perspecgtives on his or her own behaviour? Research says that this is difficult when we are involved in what we are doing. We are not aware that we are being observed, and so we fail to consider how our actions might look to others.

However, if our self-awareness is increased, we are more likely to see our actions as due to internal rather than external factors. Self-awareness, a self-consious state of focusing our attention on ourselves, can be increased by a variety of conditions. Research has shown that hearing one's own voice(eg. on a tape recording), seeing oneself in a mirror or on a video screen, or hearing one's name repeated can all result in an increase of self-awareness. Increased self-awareness focuses our attention inward -- making us self-conscious instead of situation-conscious. As a result, we make internal rather than external attributions for our own behaviour and are less likely to commit the FAE.

Cultural Values
So-called Western societies (like Europe, the United States and Canada) traditionally favour seeing people rather than circumstances as the cause of events. Rationalist and religious values have emphasized the idea of people as doers who freely choose their actions and deserve the consequences. Thus in Western cultures we would expect more internal attributions and trait-ascriptions in explaining behaviour, such as blaming minorities for being discriminated against or looking for someone to blame or sue when a disaster occurs.

Non-Western cultures, on the other hand, may be less individualistic and more accepting of ideas like fate or uncontrollable circumstances. The FAE is less likely to occur where this nonblaming attitude prevails.



Wish We Were All Like This

Dear Friend,
If you can start the day without caffeine
If you can get going without pills;
If you can always be cheerful ignoring aches and pains;
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles;
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it;
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time;
If you can forgive a friend's lack of consideration;
If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when, through no fault of your own, something goes wrong;
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment;
If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him;
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend;
If you can face the world without lies and deceit;
If you can conquer tension without medical help;
If you can relax without liquor;
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs;
If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against anyone based on creed, color, religion, politics or sexual orientation,

then,

You are almost as good as your dog.