Explain the fundamental attribution error. Provide examples to illustrate the attributions associated with this concept
Answer:
Most individuals are harsher judges of other people's behavior than they are of their own. We tend to attribute others' negative behavior to internal causes (such as their personality) and their positive behavior to external causes (such as the situation). This tendency is referred to as the fundamental attribution error (Schwarz, 2006). For example, when you are driving during rush hour traffic and someone cuts in front of you abruptly as two lanes merge, what attribution do you make about the other driver? According to fundamental attribution error, people are more likely to attribute the behavior to some trait internal to the other driver ("That driver is a jerk and is deliberately trying to get ahead of me") rather than to something external ("That driver is distracted by a child in the car and doesn't realize the lane is merging"). But if the other driver slows down to let you enter the merged lane first, most people might assume the driver was simply following the rules of the road rather than deliberately attempting to be thoughtful.
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