The Fundamental Attribution Error in Attributing Fictional Figures' Characteristics to the Actors

Abstract

Two studies attempted to document the occurrence of the psychological phenomenon known as the fundamental attribution error (FAE) in the audiovisual medium. The FAE refers to the human tendency to attribute people's behavior to internal traits more than to external factors. In Study 1, we demonstrated that in the audiovisual medium, viewers tend to attribute an actor's behavior in television dramas to the actor's personality, ignoring the existence of a script dictating the actor's behavior. Study 2 replicated this finding and also demonstrated that the tendency to make the FAE is related to the degree to which the person reports being transported into the narrative of the television drama. Furthermore, we showed that the tendency to attribute character traits to the actor is not diminished following exposure to the same actor playing 2 opposing roles. The last scene viewed was found to determine the evaluation of the actor's characteristics.