cognitive bias / heuristic

Fundamental attribution error

This is not a diagnosis or a personality trait. A heuristic is a normal shortcut of the mind; a bias arises where it leads to a systematically wrong judgement. If you recognise yourself here, it is an invitation to gently check rather than to label yourself.

What it is

Other people's actions are explained by their character, while our own are explained by circumstances; the same behaviour in oneself and in another gets different causes.

How it arises and is maintained

Watching another's behaviour, we see only the act itself, while the context is hidden; so the mind attributes it to the person's «nature». In our own case, the context is obvious from the inside and explains the action. It is sustained because internal causes come to mind faster and more vividly, while external circumstances have to be reconstructed by effort.

How it may look

  • «A colleague is late — «he is irresponsible»; I am late — «traffic».»
  • «A stranger snaps — «rude»; I snap back — «a hard day».»

Soft signs in yourself

  • Other people's actions quickly get a character judgement («he is like that»).
  • Your own similar actions are explained by the situation, without a character judgement.
  • The context of another's behaviour is hard to reconstruct or you do not want to.
  • After a conflict, responsibility for the behaviour is more often assigned to the other.

Questions for a Socratic dialogue

  1. What do I know about the context in which this action took place?
  2. If I were in the same circumstances, how would I explain my own action?
  3. What external causes could have influenced this person?
  4. What stops me from giving another's behaviour the same «situational» explanation I give my own?

Self-directed exercise

Switch the point of view

  1. Write down the other person's action and the character trait you attributed to them.
  2. Describe the situation: what came before, what was not visible from the outside.
  3. Formulate how you would explain the same action in yourself.
  4. Through the day, notice quick judgements «he is like that» and add «in these circumstances».

Core beliefs it may be linked to

  • ««People are the way they are, and that does not change».»
  • ««My actions are explainable, others' are not».»
  • ««Character is more visible than context».»
  • ««Giving a situation means excusing».»