essay question - fundamental attribution error

Fundamental attribution error

the tendency to attribute people’s behavior to elements of their character or personality, even when powerful situational forces are acting to produce that behavior is known as

Van Boven, Kamada & Golovich 1999

an example of a study for fundamental attribution error

study in which responders are given a script to reply to questioners questions that do not align with their true personalities

Van Boven, Kamada & Gilovach 1999

What are the causes of the fundamental attribution error

we believe people's behavior reflects something internal about them while disregarding situations because the fact that negative things happen by fate or chance scares us so we attribute them to something about those who suffer from them

Just world hypothesis

people get what they deserve in life

An example of fundamental attribution error

during hurricane Katrina some people had the means to escape and evacuate and some did not. Commenters typically ignored such differences when explaining the “choice” to evacuate in advance of the hurricanes arrival.