Fundamental Attribution Error

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

What is the Fundamental Attribution Error

Fundamental Attribution Error Explained

Examples of the Fundamental Attribution Error

How to Avoid the Fundamental Attribution
 
WRITTEN BY PAUL BOYCE | Updated 2 November 2020

What is the Fundamental Attribution Error

The fundamental attribution error is where we incorrectly attribute a persons actions. For example, when someone cuts us up on the road, we may think its because of their personality. They are simply not a nice person. However, the error occurs when that action is actually attributed to the situation. For instance, that person may be rushing to see a loved one at the hospital rather than maliciously cutting you up.

Key Points

Fundamental attribution error is where we confuse dispositional attributions with situational attribution or visa versa.
We often believe peoples actions are as a result of their character, but can be attributed to their situation – which is the most common form of attribution error.
In order to explain the fundamental attribution error, it is important to define what an ‘attribution’ is. Attribution simply refers to how we explain other people’s behavior, or, what we attribute that behavior too.


There are two types of attribution. They are dispositional attribution (internal) and situational attribution (external). The fundamental attribution error occurs when we confuse the cause of an individual’s actions with the wrong attribution. Let us look at these two types below.

Dispositional Attribution
Dispositional attribution is where an individual’s actions are explained by their personality, beliefs, or opinions. In other words, something that is inherently characteristic of that person. For instance, Johnny may always insist on putting his socks on before his pants because it brings him good luck.

Situational Attribution
Situational attribution is where an individual’s actions are explained by their environment, people, or perhaps their circumstances. In other words, their actions are driven by external factors from them as a person. For instance, Jill loses her temper at one of the staff at Walmart. However, she had just been fired which resulted in an emotional reaction.

Fundamental Attribution Error Explained

So we have looked at dispositional and situational attribution, which leads us to the fundamental attribution error. This occurs when we interpret an individual’s actions to be driven by the opposite attribution.

For example, you get cut up whilst driving to work. You may think ‘this guy is a horrible person’, or perhaps something of that nature. We may instinctively think that the drive cut us up because he is an unpleasant person. In other words, a dispositional attribution that lies within his personality, beliefs, or opinions.

This is a far easier conclusion to reach, rather than understanding that it may be because he is driving to see his wife giving birth. So it is a situational attribution that caused reckless driving, not part of his personality.

We call this a fundamental attribution error as we believe that the action is caused by the incorrect attribution. Now, this could also come around the other way. We may think that people act due to their situation, but it is in fact due to their disposition.

With that said, it is far more common for us to believe that actions are driven by a person’s disposition. The reason? Well, it’s far simpler for us to understand that a person does something because they are bad. However, it is much more difficult to comprehend a situation that we have no idea about. If we go back to the reckless driven, for example, it is virtually impossible for us to know his wife was in the hospital giving birth.

https://boycewire.com/fundamental-attribution-error-definition/

[guest587]

I like this one and try to practice it when possible...

Let me say that there are also plenty of assholes behind the wheel.  Good people, sure- but different creatures when behind the wheel. I remember two instances of coming home after a beautiful yoga practice. In the one instance, a man behind me at a red light was intentionally trying to stir me by inching ever so close to my bumper- so close that his car was just touching my car. When the light went green he brushed his car against mine, gave me the bird and started yelling out his window. I still haven't a clue as to why.

In another I remember seeing a man in front of me get angry because I was looking at him. He kept staring at me through his rear view- for whatever reason. Our eyes locked and he started going crazy. I remember the scene vividly because I was coming home from yoga listening to this beautiful music and I had this epiphany about choice. I could choose to be angry and follow this guy like a magnet or I could choose to continue to enjoy the music in my car- while this man would be left to his own disproportionate rage. It was almost painted out to me like a cartoon. Here is this angry cloud in one car- and the mans face red and brainwaves shortened and excited- and here was this light blue cloud in another, with peaceful music playing and slow brainwaves moving about. I gently hit my brakes and let him carry on. It was rather comical...

Yes I also know people think they own the road here- sometimes those who don't understand basic road etiquette get angry when others don't obey- obey what you might ask? Well whatever skewed understanding these folks think they have about road courtesies- never mind what they teach you in drivers ed. My high school principle lost his son because some guy was angry and it was simply put that the angry guy did not understand basic rules for driving. This guy killed the principles son by getting out of his car and shooting him.

This is taking the example you've shared and putting it in reverse. Although I have been guilty of getting angry at people who behave rudely on the road- I practice not letting it get to me anymore. I've seen where taking it can lead you- having my life threatened on multiple occasions. But looking at the example provided- reckless driving is still reckless driving. Nothing about understanding reckless driving is an error in ones thinking- and reckless driving often angers people, whether your wife is pregnant or not. Seems everyone could work on their anger when behind the wheel-

[guest587]

I have another example... I parked my motorcycle once in a time limited parking area at a grocery store. I didn't know I'd run into a friend that would cause me to talk with him and exceed the allotted time in the parking space. As we walked towards my motorcycle some passerby goes... "Nice bike... FOR A DOUCHE BAG!!!" I asked him, "what? come again?" To which he replied, "OH YOU WANNA GO BRO!?!" "ILL KICK YOUR FUCKIN ASS." "IVE BEEN WATCHING YOU AND YOU TOOK THIS SPOT FOR MORE THAN 30 MINUTES AND DENIED AN OLD LADY FRONT ROW PARKING!!" Tempted to engage in a fight I saw some children and realized it wasn't worth it... When I told him he wasn't worth it he started shouting "THATS WHAT I THOUGHT PUSSY." Embarrassingly enough I threw some weak insults his way only to realize it was pretty dumb- I ended up shaking it off and laughing about it with my friend.

But I have been the one to accuse others without taking time to understand... So I'm not always the "victim" in these situations. Sometimes I am the antagonizer. As a youth, I intentionally egged angry people on but I had my come-uppins doubled as a response. I have to say thank God for meditation and yoga, which seems to have liberated me from this puzzling animalistic behavior people get when driving. In the end, there is no one outside our self to put blame on anything. How do we choose to live and respond... That's what's most important.

[mccoy]

What really surprises me about this episode, is that the guy apparently spent more than 30 minutes of his time watching your bike and waiting for your return. Am I missing something?

[guest587]

Nope, you got it right. It's a true story, and I wish I could say I was exaggerating. Looking back, that's kind of funny 

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Nope, you got it right. It's a true story, and I wish I could say I was exaggerating. Looking back, that's kind of funny 

Yea people really misinterpret a tremendous amount of behaviors of other people … it can even result in murder or death!

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

I think we as spiritual searchers need to be careful that we do not make Fundamental Attribution Error when we rely entirely on our ‘intuition’ with the egotistical notion it is always right.

It is often quite revealing to see what is in another persons head and how they look at events. It can be quite different than our way. It often reveals the mindsets of others that we didn’t anticipate and can also reveal something about our own. I’m going to elaborate on this in the next post here with an example from my life.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

This idea of fundamental attribution  error I believe extends to issues and events happening around us and even in political spheres. I could be stretching the meaning a bit. However people come to ways of looking at life and mindsets due to their own personal experiences, which may be quite different than those of others. When we understand how a person arrives at certain conclusions we begin to understand them even more than the issues at hand which quite often can never be resolved. But maybe 🤔 we need to understand others even more than the controversial and sometimes even contentious differences of opinion.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Very often in everyday life one sees that by losing one's temper with someone who has already lost his, one does not gain anything but only sets out upon the path of stupidity. He who has enough self-control to stand firm at the moment when the other person is in a temper, wins in the end. It is not he who has spoken a hundred words aloud who has won; it is he who has perhaps spoken only one word.
Hazrat Inayat Khan, Mastery through Accomplishment

Tags: anger, argument, inspirational, self-control

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

I have met many people who explain the behavior of themselves as similar to what they attribute to the practice of my own and others.

For instance they may say they meditate while, fishing, ⛳️ golfing or jogging. When others tell you they are meditating, yet their respiration is normal or faster do not believe them. In meditation, the breath slows, the body is still (  no fidgety activity ) and the energy directed ourwards is internalized. Their is stillness observed in the body and limbs.

This can also be a fundamental attribution error because people interpret what we may be doing through the lens of their own conscious awareness and not ours.

[guest587]

I can't say I've experienced that. Typically when someone tries to relate to me I don't have a guard up or keep a look out for deception. I do think even washing the dishes has yielded a meditative experience so I believe someone who says they've had similar experiences to mine while exercising or connecting in nature. Vedanta philosophy is not so common here in the West. Every journey is unique, especially in regards to ones spiritual evolution- and no doubt others may see some of you in them and maybe something to be desired. Even those who do practice meditation do not always exemplify the physical traits you say to look out for. I meditate, I have at times shown stillness- yet I have also been very restless despite my practices. It IS a practice after all- maybe people relate to you because they admire you or feel you are someone they can look up to/confide in.
In your example, I would believe them- and if you have the knowledge like respiratory states you can share that with those confiding to you. You might be helping them expand their practice and this could be seen as a loving service. I've had a friend share one of his visualization exercises as we opened up to one another about meditation and I still use it today. He is the one who invited me to see Gurunath. I am blessed he did not think me a phony or someone as being boastful and instead saw me as someone who took an interest in his life experiences and vice versa.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

I can't say I've experienced that. Typically when someone tries to relate to me I don't have a guard up or keep a look out for deception. I do think even washing the dishes has yielded a meditative experience so I believe someone who says they've had similar experiences to mine while exercising or connecting in nature. Vedanta philosophy is not so common here in the West. Every journey is unique, especially in regards to ones spiritual evolution- and no doubt others may see some of you in them and maybe something to be desired. Even those who do practice meditation do not always exemplify the physical traits you say to look out for. I meditate, I have at times shown stillness- yet I have also been very restless despite my practices. It IS a practice after all- maybe people relate to you because they admire you or feel you are someone they can look up to/confide in.
In your example, I would believe them- and if you have the knowledge like respiratory states you can share that with those confiding to you. You might be helping them expand their practice and this could be seen as a loving service. I've had a friend share one of his visualization exercises as we opened up to one another about meditation and I still use it today. He is the one who invited me to see Gurunath. I am blessed he did not think me a phony or someone as being boastful and instead saw me as someone who took an interest in his life experiences and vice versa.

Vendanta ‘philosophy’ is more than a philosophy to me but rather it explains many of the meditative states in the EXPERIENCE of meditation. Therefore I have included this article to help illustrate and perhaps illuminate….

It may or may not be helpful to anyones understanding of meditation if they read some of this information ;

https://vedicfeed.com/stages-of-samadhi/#:~:text=Maharishi%20Patanjali%20has%20elaborated%20eight%20limbs%20of%20yoga,8%20Samadhi%20%28Self-realization%20or%20Nirvana%20per%20Buddhist%20philosophy%29.

Fundamental  attribution errors can easily arise with people who have had little to no experiences with meditation yet they try to explain and describe the experiences of those who have been meditating for much of their lives or for many lifetimes.

When the mind is fixed for understanding the self, it is said to be in Samādhi. According to Paramahansa Yogananda, Samadhi is a soundless state of breathlessness.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Almost at all times in my life I have found that I myself and others I meet get others wrong in our assessment of their thoughts and actions. However, I really think that this will always be the case until we raise our consciousness to the level that we are in tune with the various vibrations and thoughts of those we meet with in life. In the meantime communication is one of the best salves for Fundamental Attribution Error.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

In many situations in life we find friends and those we meet making fundamental attribution errors. People attribute the wrong intentions or different intentions to those around them then what their actions really signify. It is quite often better to reserve speculation till it is more clear to understand why people react the way they do.

Fundamental Attribution Error is really just a fancy way of saying; reading people correctly. In the case of Fundamental Attribution Error people are misread.

I can't say I've experienced that. Typically when someone tries to relate to me I don't have a guard up or keep a look out for deception. I do think even washing the dishes has yielded a meditative experience so I believe someone who says they've had similar experiences to mine while exercising or connecting in nature. Vedanta philosophy is not so common here in the West. Every journey is unique, especially in regards to ones spiritual evolution- and no doubt others may see some of you in them and maybe something to be desired. Even those who do practice meditation do not always exemplify the physical traits you say to look out for. I meditate, I have at times shown stillness- yet I have also been very restless despite my practices. It IS a practice after all- maybe people relate to you because they admire you or feel you are someone they can look up to/confide in.
In your example, I would believe them- and if you have the knowledge like respiratory states you can share that with those confiding to you. You might be helping them expand their practice and this could be seen as a loving service. I've had a friend share one of his visualization exercises as we opened up to one another about meditation and I still use it today. He is the one who invited me to see Gurunath. I am blessed he did not think me a phony or someone as being boastful and instead saw me as someone who took an interest in his life experiences and vice versa.

I’m not sure why you put this entry in this thread Eric. The other entries you have here relate to the subject. Although this one appears to be about breathing and meditation more than, fundamental attribution error. Perhaps 🤔 you can explain. At any rate fundamental attribution error does not mean people have their guard up. I’m talking about people misinterpreting what they see happening in others. I hope that clears up my meaning for you. I always enjoy our talks about meditation. But there is a fundamental difference between for instance washing dishes or golfing and sitting in meditation pose and practicing a discipline called meditation. When people tell me they are meditating while they are fishing all I can think back to are the hours of practicing I’ve done in group meditation. The notion of for instance saying someone is meditating while bowling or fishing becomes laughable. I will say this though…. We can practice being mindful or be practicing the presence of God while washing dishes. And sometimes that is all the further we get when we sit in meditation posture.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Being a manager I thought this may interest you Eric. It can be helpful to us all in dealing with interpersonal issues;

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/the-fundamental-attribution-error?sf55808584=1

HOW TO AVOID THE FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

Think of the last time you thought a co-worker should be fired or a customer service representative was incompetent. How often have you really tried to understand the situational factors that could be affecting this person's work? Probably not often.

The fundamental attribution error is so prevalent because it's rooted in psychology, so completely overcoming it can be difficult. One tool that can be helpful in combating FAE is gratitude. When you become resentful at someone for a bad "quality" they demonstrate, try to make a list of five positive qualities the person also exhibits. This will help balance out your perspective and can help you view your co-worker as a whole person instead of through the lens of a single negative quality.

Another method is to practice becoming more emotionally intelligent. Emotional intelligence has become a buzzword in the business world over the past 20 to 30 years, but it involves practicing self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation, and other methods of becoming more objective in the service of one's long-term interests and the interests of others. Practicing empathy, in particular, such as having discussions with co-workers about their opinions on projects and life out of the office, is a good first step.

FAE is impossible to overcome completely. But with a combination of awareness and a few small tools and tactics, you can be more gracious and empathic with your co-workers. In fact, being able to acknowledge cognitive biases like FAE and make the conscious effort to limit their effects is an essential component of becoming a better manager.