¶ … Fun with the Fundamental Attribution Error

Hockenbury and Hockenbury (2006) explain the fundamental attribution error as "the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal, personal characteristics, while ignoring or underestimating the effects of external, situational factors; an attribution bias that is common in individualistic cultures" (515). Simply put, Hockenbury and Hockenbury (2006) mean that the fundamental attribution error occurs when one judges more about personality than the external factors of a situation may warrant.

My own conscious experiences with the fundamental attribution error have been thankfully few and far between, but I can recall one instance particularly clearly due to the embarrassment I felt afterwards. A new employee had recently started where I work, and they always appeared to be mopey and disconnected form their work. I assumed that this person was lazy and a bit of a whiner from the expression on her face and the way she moved and went about her job. The fact that she always got everything done that she needed to failed to impress itself on my mind because of the manner in which everything was accomplished. It never seemed like she was working that hard or cared especially about her job, and I almost instantly decided that this was due simply to a laziness in her personality before deliberating on any other possible outcomes. Several days after she was hired, I learned that she had recently suffered an immense personal tragedy, and that this was the primary cause of her demeanor.

This was a very poignant case of the fundamental attribution error because I instantly labeled a person based on my perception of their personality, rather than realizing -- or even entertaining the possibility -- that there was a simple (albeit profound) external explanation for another's behavior. Hockenbury and Hockenbury (2006) stress that this error is more common in highly individualistic societies, and this incident supports this statement.