The fundamental attribution error in social psychology and situational factors

Sommers

The Power of the Situation and the Fundamental Attribution Error

As noted by Sommers (2009), while there is a tendency within our culture to view the human character as stable and unalterable, the contextual power of a situation can cause individuals to behave in unexpected ways. Perhaps the most powerful example of situational influence is during times of war, where individuals are socialized to become obedient to a commanding officer's orders and to put aside their own ethical codes as they can view other human beings as 'the enemy.' This can be seen at the notorious Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib, where ordinary American soldiers from otherwise stable, normal backgrounds committed human rights abuses against prisoners. This was in violation of military protocols, but the 'us vs. them' culture in which the soldiers were immersed clearly had an influence upon their behavior. The soldiers became so habituated to the abuses they were committing they took pictures of themselves "in military uniforms, posing with naked Iraqi prisoners. There are shots of the prisoners stacked in a pyramid, one with a slur written on his skin in English. In some, the male prisoners are positioned to simulate sex with each other. And in most of the pictures, the Americans are laughing, posing, pointing, or giving the camera a thumbs-up" (Leung 2004:1). Even in everyday personal life, this tendency to 'go along' with others when obeying authority figures can be seen when students bully another child under the instigation of a more powerful, popular leader.

The tendency of many people, particularly Westerners, to minimize the effects of a situation and to over-emphasize innate character is also seen in the Fundamental Attribution Error. As Markman (2009) writes: "we attribute other people's actions to their personality characteristics but our own actions to the situation." When we behave callously, we may say, "oh, I was busy," but the callousness of another human being is seen as a reflection of the individual being a 'bad person.' A good example of this is when we are in the supermarket, waiting in the express lane and the shopper in front of us has a full order. We mutter to ourselves "what an inconsiderate human being." However, when we have a few items over the required limit, we are inclined to rationalize that we are in a hurry, are basically a considerate person, and are only doing it 'just this once.' On a societal level, this psychological phenomenon is evident when people who have always opposed welfare, justify accepting the benefit when they are unemployed. They rationalize they need to do so, because of the economy and state that they are a hard-working and deserving, as opposed to an undeserving, citizen.