Fundamental Attribution Error notes PDF

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Professor Sandra Street...

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Fundamental Attribution Error Attribution 2 types of attribution Dispositional or internal attribution or internal attribution Situational or external attribution or external attribution Dispositional Attribution You attribute the behavior to the person’s internal You attribute the behavior to the person’s internal characteristics Situational Attribution Behavior may be due to Behavior may be due to situational influences that you situational influences that you can’t see. Fundamental Attribution Error Research on the Fundamental Attribution Error on the Fundamental Attribution Error Many empirical studies support the concept of this common Many empirical studies support the concept of this common error Classic study from the 60s – Jones & Harris (1967) Participants given essay either in Participants given essay either in favor of or against Fidel Castro favor of or against Fidel Castro (former Prime Minister of Cuba) Participants were to guess the Participants were to guess the author’s true opinion on the topic Some participants were told the author was assigned a position. They were not given a choice as the whether to write a pro-Castro or anti-Castro essay. Research on the Fundamental Attribution Error Many years of research since that 1967 study Researchers looking at the fundamental attribution in different ways Cultural differences Cultures also influence attribution errors An individualistic Western worldview predisposes people to assume that people, not situations, cause people to assume that people, not situations, cause events. events. The fundamental attribution error occurs across varied cultures. varied cultures. Fundamental Attribution Error Situations are sometimes invisible. We don’t see the external circumstances We overestimate the internal or dispositional factors We underestimate the external or situational factors This leads us to make this common Fundamental Attribution Error...