Fundamental Attribution Error: How we judge others vs. Ourselves but does it show up in real life

“Let's say your name is J...You reach the office a little late, catching your breath and before anyone can ask what happened, you say, “The traffic was horrible today, I was stuck on the road for such a long time on the main road.” And the truth is, the traffic indeed was horrible, forcing everyone to move at a snail’s pace. But there is another side to this, you might have also woken up later and hurried as much as you could to reach your office on time."

A week later, one of your colleagues is late; he too comes into the office out of breath, saying the same thing you did, but your first thought is, “He probably overslept today, even though we are supposed to work on the project together.”

We might have done this at least once, where we assumed that when a person did something (they made a mistake, or were late for something), it was because of things like their personality (who they are as a person) and similar dispositional factors, but we focused more on the situational factors when we did something similar (focussing on the external factors that led to us being late or making a mistake). 

But, these assumptions are hardly ever accurate and even though not everybody thinks in this way for every situation, we may have done it often to be studied by social psychologists. You see, we all use rules of thumb to go about our lives, so make decisions faster and act accordingly. These rule-of-thumb situations are called heuristics, and one of them is the Fundamental Attribution Error.

What is FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR?

“This cognitive bias happens when we assume that factors like personality or other dispositional factors (factors that are a person’s internal characteristics) affect their actions more, but we put more emphasis on the situational factors when we take actions.”

Is this really an error?

One of the criticisms that has been highlighted about this cognitive bias is that there is a lack of clear objective norms about why we behave the way we do- instead, our own subjective worldview can shape a lot of our behaviours, so it can feel disingenuous to label this as an error. But we can still label it as a bias because it is not always accurate.

So why do we experience Fundamental Attribution  Error Bias?

It can be difficult to pinpoint the reasons we experience attribution errors, but one of the possible reasons discussed by researchers is that we are much more aware of the situational factors we are facing, but when we see others' behaviour, we only see their actions, and we don't necessarily see them as reactions to their surroundings either.

"When J (from the example at the beginning of this post) is late for the office, they can be aware of the fact that, despite being late, they would have reached the office on time, had the traffic been less heavy. But they did not know what their co-worker was going through when they were late; they only saw the behaviour of being late"

This could also mean that we are perceived in similar ways by others (they see our actions as a result of who we are, but their own actions as a result of the situation. But then, is there a way to avoid this bias?

Is there a way around the Fundamental Attribution Error?

Empathy: It can seem evident to most people that empathy is one of the core tenets of a healthy social life. This can be true for reducing fundamental attribution error, too. This cognitive bias can affect relationships by leading people to jump to conclusions about others in their lives, undermining relationship quality. Looking at others, especially their actions, through a lens of empathy can help us avoid assuming things about them (this does not include abusive scenarios) and consider external factors, such as what they are going through in life or traffic, that influenced their actions.

Self-Awareness: Self-awareness can help highlight our own behavioural patterns and then use that knowledge to acknowledge others' actions. Being able to tell- "Hey, I was late because of the horrible traffic and maybe what my co-worker is saying is also true"- can happen when we are aware of our own feelings, thoughts and biases. 

Curiosity & Communication: Fundamental Attribution Error can be avoided when we approach other people with curiosity rather than believing our assumptions are the only correct way of thinking. Being curious about the reasons behind someone's action and communicating that can make us aware of different shared and unique perspectives of why we do what we do. Curiosity and communication also open doors to being able to empathise with each other better.