Fundamental Attribution Error
The fundamental attribution error is judging others by their personality or character while judging our own behavior by external circumstances.
Why the double standard?
We see others’ behavior without their context, but we live our own context, so dispositional explanations come cheap for them and expensive for us.
Negative case
Sally is late to class: she’s lazy. You’re late to class: it was a bad morning.
Positive case (mirrored)
He got into Harvard because he was born rich and privileged. I got into a good school because I worked my ass off.
- External factors: environmental, out of our control
- Internal factors: personality, dispositions, moral character, mental states
- Fix: weigh both kinds of factor for both yourself and others