Fundamental Attribution Error Research Articles

Cultural Variation and Similarities in Cognitive Thinking Styles Versus Judgment Biases: A Review of Environmental Factors and Evolutionary Forces

Cultural psychological research has compellingly demonstrated that reliable East-West differences exist in basic cognitive styles: in contrast to the analytic, focal, linear thinking prevalent in the West, East Asians prefer to engage in more holistic, contextual, and intuitive thinking. However, despite the consensus on these cultural differences in thinking style, the literature on cross-cultural variation in actual cognitive biases is far more equivocal. The Fundamental Attribution Error (and by extension the Ultimate Attribution Error) has received the most attention among cognitive biases in the cultural arena; multiple studies have shown both evidence for cultural differences and evidence for universality. Similarly equivocal findings have emerged for other cognitive biases like the hindsight bias, positive illusions, and social exchange. Error Management Theory offers to reconcile this paradox of why consistent variation in thinking style do not necessarily lead to similarly consistent differences in cognitive biases; different mechanisms drive preferences (i.e., for how to think) versus actual behaviors (i.e., involving judgments/decisions). While different features of the physical environment likely gave rise to differences in preferences, pressures from the social environment likely pushed cognitive processing in common judgment tasks (like inferring another person’s mind or one’s own) in similar directions.

Misogyny and the Continuity Crisis: Is Social Science Research Responsible?

Misogyny and the Continuity Crisis:Is Social Science Research Responsible? Leonard Saxe (bio) This response to Berman, Rosenblatt, and Stahl's indictment of social science and its role in promoting misogyny in the US Jewish community is being written in the midst of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 has already resulted in more than 180,000 deaths worldwide, and most of us are self-isolating to mitigate propagation of the virus.1 Members of the Jewish community have not been spared the consequences of the pandemic, as it has disrupted not only our health, but also our personal, professional, and religious lives. For many, Passover was spent separated from loved ones, as the apex of the pandemic upended the family gatherings that normally pass on the formative story of Judaism to the next generation. I situate my comments within the Covid-19 crisis because the underlying theme of the authors' critique is that the demographic study of Jewish continuity—essentially the study of families—is inherently misogynistic. Their thesis is that social scientists created "a continuity crisis paradigm" that acts to subjugate women's agency. By extension, the construct, adopted by Jewish communal leaders, helps to explain why exploitation and sexual harassment has been tolerated in the Jewish community. Berman, Rosenblatt, and Stahl's provocative argument conflates a number of issues. One is the focus of the scholarship of Jewish life on families and, in particular, marriage. A second is the application of sociodemographic methods to the study of Jewish life. A third concerns the inferences and policy conclusions drawn from that research. The linkage between these elements is complex, far more so than the authors suggest. In particular, their assessment rests on a narrow perspective on the production of social scientific knowledge. As a postpositivist, who nevertheless values empirical research, my comments focus on a set of alternative explanations for the phenomena described by the authors. Although I reject the authors' argument that a particular way of studying Jewish continuity promotes misogyny, I concur with their [End Page 221] contention that individual behavior—in this case, sexual harassment—needs to be understood in a larger context. Attributing responsibility solely to individuals is a "fundamental attribution error"2 and deflects attention from collective responsibility. If we are to redress gender-based harassment, we must understand the underlying attitudes and policies that promote or tolerate such behavior. As social scientists, we have an obligation to explore how and whether our discipline contributes to an inequitable environment, Berman, Rosenblatt, and Stahl take issue with quantitative sociodemographic studies in particular and their role in promoting the perception of a continuity crisis. To place this work in context, the discussion below considers aspects of the authors' argument separately. In part, I assess the role of research in shaping discourse in the Jewish community. I suggest improvements in research design, analysis, and interpretation so that the diversity of the Jewish experience can be better understood. IS MARRIAGE AND FAMILY RESEARCH INHERENTLY PROBLEMATIC? Given Judaism's focus on childbearing and child-rearing, it is difficult to accept the premise that the social scientific study of marriage and family is not a legitimate focus of research on the Jewish community.3 To note the obvious, family issues frame Judaism's most sacred text. From the origin story of Adam and Eve, to the story of Abraham, Sarah and their progeny, to the journey of the tribes of Israel who fled from Egypt, the Biblical narrative features sibling rivalry, spousal jealousy, deceit, and a host of human failings. Intimate relationships are at the foreground of Jewish history and culture. Demography is also part of the Jewish story. Censuses of the Jewish people occurred even as they wandered in the desert. Described in the kind of detail that would be worthy of a dissertator's methodology section, the census is a kind of stratified sample (by family) of the tribes. A longstanding focus of commentary has concerned who and what might have been missed in the accounting, but notably other debates have focused on the censuses' accuracy.4 Even today, when the Torah portion [End Page 222] (B'midbar) describing the census is recited, we also read...

Correspondence bias of Chinese and American undergraduates: similar initial trait attributions but different situational corrections

Correspondence bias (CB) refers to individuals’ tendency to make trait inferences regarding the constrained behavior of others. To investigate the influences of the attitude diagnosticity of behavior and situational constraints on CB in a cross-cultural context, a sample of 357 Chinese undergraduates (140 males, 39.2%) aged 17–27 years old (M age = 21.13, SD = 1.94) and 252 American undergraduates (111 males, 44%) aged 16 to 24 years old (M age = 20.39, SD = 1.70) took part in a modified attitude attribution task. The results of analysis of covariance showed that (a) Americans and Chinese undergraduates produced similar patterns in which CB decreased with the attitude diagnosticity of behavior, while (b) only Chinese undergraduates’ CB decreased as situational constraints increased. These results indicated that the initial trait attributions were similar for individuals in America and China, but there were cultural differences in the stage with situational constraints.

Playing a Bad Character but Endorsing a Good Cause: Actor-character Fundamental Attribution Error and Persuasion

The study examines the implications of fundamental attribution error, wherein viewers misattribute qualities of the fictional characters onto the actors who portray them. In an experiment, individuals watched an actor playing a role of either a hero or a villain. Then, participants watched the same actor in a public service announcement. In line with the attribution theory, viewers rated the actor’s personality less positively, reported a weaker parasocial relationship with the actor, and listed more negative thoughts about the advertisement after exposure to the actor playing a villain.

The limits of certainty in the oral history of philosophy: the problem of memory

The article argues that the oral history of philosophy (OHP) will not produce reliable results unless it develops effective methods of counteracting cognitive biases related to human memory. So far, this problem has not even been raised. I highlighted the main cognitive memory biases that affect the validity of the UIF: choice-supportive bias, hindsight bias, fundamental attribution error. Describing the nature of their detrimental effects on the interview, I suggested ways to counteract it: (1) multi-level verification of all actual data; (2) checking of the interview's previous judgment; (3) mandatory data validation for the potential impact of nostalgia; (4) co-creation interviewing; (5) a sequence of questions that will problematize the possible impact of bias during the interview itself. As OHF is still a theoretically unspecified discipline, I have proposed a concept that includes (a) its definition, (b) its place among other historical and philosophical disciplines, (c) its main genres and their specificities; (d) the irreplaceability of its data for the history of philosophy as a science (the ability to engage the interviewer in an active non-self-reflection situation). Interviewer answers often cannot be obtained from traditional sources (articles, books, drafts, letters, margins, etc. ). In the end, I outlined five main arguments in favor of the broad involvement of students of the philosophical faculties in organizing and conducting interviews within the OHF.

The U.S. Misunderstanding of India During the 1971 South Asia Crisis

This paper is interdisciplinary in nature, dealing with the issues of history, international relations, and cognitive psychology. Its purpose is to use these intersections to highlight the flaws in the Nixon administration’s approach to the South Asian region during the Crisis of 1971. The South Asia Crisis of 1971 created a humanitarian crisis which required India’s intervention in the Pakistani Civil War for regional stability. Due to Pakistan’s role in aiding the Nixon administration’s opening of relations with China, there was a United States (U.S.) tilt towards Pakistan that was based not only off self-interest, but also an incorrect assessment of India’s intentions which ultimately created a discrepancy between desired policy outcome and result. Two key cognitive psychological paradigms will be used in this paper. Theory of Fundamental Attribution Error underscores the Nixon administration’s framework for selecting facts and processing information to feed their preconceived notions of the countries in South Asia. Similarly, Theory of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy explains how the foreign policy actors enforced a Pygmalion Effect where the beliefs of the U.S. and India influenced their actions towards each other, reinforcing an endless cycle of preconceived ideas and contributing to an escalation of tensions during the crisis. The U.S. misunderstood India’s intentions in the South Asia Crisis and incorrectly aligned with Pakistan based on flawed intelligence, despite human rights’ violations and outcry from dissenters of the State Department who held regional expertise. This brought their relationship to its nadir.

A Systematic Review of Teachers' Causal Attributions: Prevalence, Correlates, and Consequences.

The current review provides an overview of published research on teachers’ causal attributions since 1970s in the context of theoretical assumptions outlined in Weiner’s (2010) attribution theory. Results across 79 studies are first examined with respect to the prevalence of teachers’ interpersonal causal attributions for student performance and misbehavior, as well as intrapersonal attributions for occupational stress. Second, findings showing significant relations between teachers’ attributions and their emotions and cognitions, as well as student outcomes, are discussed. Third, an overview of results showing the prevalence and implications of teachers’ causal attributions to be moderated by critical background variables is also provided. Finally, observed themes across study findings are highlighted with respect to the fundamental attribution error and the utility of Weiner’s attribution theory for understanding how teachers’ explanations for classroom stressors impact their instruction, well-being, and student development.

Cultural Differences in Correspondence Bias Are Systematic and Multifaceted

Cultural Differences in Correspondence Bias Are Systematic and Multifaceted

Methodological Errors in Attitude Attribution Paradigm and Their Possible Consequences in Fundamental Attribution Error and Correspondence Bias: Biased Response and Reduced Confidence in Attitude Judgments

Methodological Errors in Attitude Attribution Paradigm and Their Possible Consequences in Fundamental Attribution Error and Correspondence Bias: Biased Response and Reduced Confidence in Attitude Judgments

From the Fundamental Attribution Error to the Truly Fundamental Attribution Error and Beyond: My Research Journey

This essay traces continuities and changes in focus of research and theory in my career. I describe early work on insensitivity to role-conferred advantages in self-presentation (and the personal experiences that prompted that work) and the subsequent identification and naming of the “fundamental attribution error.” I next describe my work on the role that construal processes play in determining responses to various decision-making and attributional contexts. That work, in turn, culminated in identification and exploration of what I now deem the truly “fundamental attribution error”: the illusion of superior personal objectivity and its various consequences for interpersonal and intergroup interactions. I conclude with the lessons I have drawn from my applied work on conflict resolution.

The nexus between attribution theory and racial attitudes: a test of racial attribution and public opinion of capital punishment

ABSTRACTResearch has shown that attribution theory and racial attitudes are among the most consistent attitudinal predictors of capital punishment opinion. This study explores the overlap of these two constructs, racial attribution, and its ability to account for support and opposition to the death penalty. Using data from the 1972–2016 cumulative data file of the General Social Survey, three logistic regression models were used to analyze the effect of internal and external racial attribution on capital punishment opinions for (a) the aggregate sample, (b) White respondents only, and (c) Black respondents only. Respondents were asked whether racial inequalities were due to structural disadvantages or personal deficiencies of Black Americans. Findings showed that respondents in all three models were more likely to support the death penalty when they attributed racial inequalities to personal deficiencies of Blacks and less likely to support the death penalty when they endorsed structural disadvantages, although the effects were somewhat muted for Black respondents. These findings suggest that ongoing public support for capital punishment in the United States is based at least in part on a fundamental attribution error in which Whites and some Blacks alike blame Blacks for their own deprivation.

Social Psychological Skill and Its Correlates

Abstract. In six studies (N = 1,143), we investigated social psychological skill – lay individuals’ skill at predicting social psychological phenomena (e.g., social loafing, attribution effects). Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated reliable individual differences in social psychological skill. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, attributes associated with decreased cognitive and motivational bias – cognitive ability, cognitive curiosity, and melancholy and introversion – predicted social psychological skill. Studies 4 and 5 confirmed that social psychological skill is distinct from other skills (e.g., test-taking skills, intuitive physics), and relates directly to reduced motivational bias (i.e., self-deception). In Study 6, social psychological skill related to appreciating the situational causes of another individual’s behavior – reduced fundamental attribution error. Theoretical and applied implications are considered.

Serious Efforts at Bias Reduction

Abstract. As research on serious games continues to grow, we investigate the efficacy of digital games to train enhanced decision making through understanding cognitive biases. This study investigates the ability of a 30-minute digital game as compared with a 30-minute video to teach people how to recognize and mitigate three cognitive biases: fundamental attribution error, confirmation bias, and bias blind spot. We investigate the effects of character customization on learning outcomes as compared with an assigned character. We use interviews to understand the qualitative differences between the conditions. Experimental results suggest that the game was more effective at teaching and mitigating cognitive biases than was the training video. Although interviews suggest players liked avatar customization, results of the experiment indicate that avatar customization had no significant effect on learning outcomes. This research provides information future designers can use to choose the best medium and affordances for the most effective learning outcomes on cognitive processes.

Interactive Experience and Identification as Predictors of Attributing Responsibility in Video Games

Abstract. This study examines the effect of interactivity on the attribution of responsibility for the character’s actions in a violent video game. Through an experiment, we tested the hypothesis that identification with the main character in Grand Theft Auto IV mediates the effect of interactivity on attributions of responsibility for the main character’s antisocial behavior. Using the framework of the fundamental attribution error, we demonstrated that those who actually played the game, as opposed to those who simply watched someone else playing it, identified with the main character. In accordance with the theoretical expectation, those who played the game and came to identify with the main character attributed the responsibility for his actions to external factors such as “living in a violent society.” By contrast, those who did not interact with the game attributed responsibility for the character’s actions to his personality traits. These findings could be viewed as contrasting with psychological research suggesting that respondents should have distanced themselves from the violent protagonist rather than identifying with him, and with Iyengar’s (1991) expectation that more personalized episodic framing would be associated with attributing responsibility to the protagonist.

Digitizing the chemical senses: Possibilities & pitfalls

Review paper assesses the possibilities and pitfalls around the digitization of the chemical senses.Possibilities include delivery of ambient fragrance, digital flavour experiences.We highlight how the majority of the attempts at successful commercialization have failed, often in the face of consumer ambivalence over the perceived benefits/utility.Ultimately, we suggest that mixed reality solutions are currently the most plausible as far as delivering (or rather modulating) flavour experiences digitally is concerned.The identify key problems with digital fragrance delivery related to attention and attribution (i.e., being aware of stimulation and believing that it is doing the work). Many people are understandably excited by the suggestion that the chemical senses can be digitized; be it to deliver ambient fragrances (e.g., in virtual reality or health-related applications), or else to transmit flavour experiences via the internet. However, to date, progress in this area has been surprisingly slow. Furthermore, the majority of the attempts at successful commercialization have failed, often in the face of consumer ambivalence over the perceived benefits/utility. In this review, with the focus squarely on the domain of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), we summarize the state-of-the-art in the area. We highlight the key possibilities and pitfalls as far as stimulating the so-called lower senses of taste, smell, and the trigeminal system are concerned. Ultimately, we suggest that mixed reality solutions are currently the most plausible as far as delivering (or rather modulating) flavour experiences digitally is concerned. The key problems with digital fragrance delivery are related to attention and attribution. People often fail to detect fragrances when they are concentrating on something else; And even when they detect that their chemical senses have been stimulated, there is always a danger that they attribute their experience (e.g., pleasure) to one of the other senses this is what we call the fundamental attribution error. We conclude with an outlook on digitizing the chemical senses and summarize a set of open-ended questions that the HCI community has to address in future explorations of smell and taste as interaction modalities

Belief in free will affects causal attributions when judging others’ behavior

Free will is a cornerstone of our society, and psychological research demonstrates that questioning its existence impacts social behavior. In six studies, we tested whether believing in free will is related to the correspondence bias, which reflects people's automatic tendency to overestimate the influence of internal as compared to external factors when interpreting others' behavior. All studies demonstrate a positive relationship between the strength of the belief in free will and the correspondence bias. Moreover, in two experimental studies, we showed that weakening participants' belief in free will leads to a reduction of the correspondence bias. Finally, the last study demonstrates that believing in free will predicts prescribed punishment and reward behavior, and that this relation is mediated by the correspondence bias. Overall, these studies show that believing in free will impacts fundamental social-cognitive processes that are involved in the understanding of others' behavior.

The Dark Side of Malleability: Incremental Theory Promotes Immoral Behaviors.

Implicit theories drastically affect an individual’s processing of social information, decision making, and action. The present research focuses on whether individuals who hold the implicit belief that people’s moral character is fixed (entity theorists) and individuals who hold the implicit belief that people’s moral character is malleable (incremental theorists) make different choices when facing a moral decision. Incremental theorists are less likely to make the fundamental attribution error (FAE), rarely make moral judgment based on traits and show more tolerance to immorality, relative to entity theorists, which might decrease the possibility of undermining the self-image when they engage in immoral behaviors, and thus we posit that incremental beliefs facilitate immorality. Four studies were conducted to explore the effect of these two types of implicit theories on immoral intention or practice. The association between implicit theories and immoral behavior was preliminarily examined from the observer perspective in Study 1, and the results showed that people tended to associate immoral behaviors (including everyday immoral intention and environmental destruction) with an incremental theorist rather than an entity theorist. Then, the relationship was further replicated from the actor perspective in Studies 2–4. In Study 2, implicit theories, which were measured, positively predicted the degree of discrimination against carriers of the hepatitis B virus. In Study 3, implicit theories were primed through reading articles, and the participants in the incremental condition showed more cheating than those in the entity condition. In Study 4, implicit theories were primed through a new manipulation, and the participants in the unstable condition (primed incremental theory) showed more discrimination than those in the other three conditions. Taken together, the results of our four studies were consistent with our hypotheses.

Applying lessons from social psychology to transform the culture of error disclosure.

The ability to carry out prompt and effective error disclosure has been described in the literature as an essential skill among physicians that can lead to improved patient satisfaction, staff well-being and hospital outcomes. However, few studies have addressed the social psychology principles that may influence physician behaviour. The authors provide an overview of recent administrative measures designed to encourage physicians to disclose error, but note that deliberate practice, buttressed with lessons from social psychology, is needed to implement further productive behavioural changes. Two main cognitive biases that may hinder error disclosure are identified, namely: fundamental attribution error, and forecasting error. Strategies to overcome these maladaptive cognitive patterns are discussed. The authors note that interactions with standardised patients (SPs) can be used to simulate hospital encounters and help teach important behavioural considerations. Virtual reality is introduced as an immersive, realistic and easily scalable technology that can supplement traditional curricula. Lastly, the authors highlight the importance of establishing a professional standard of competence, potentially by incorporating difficult patient encounters, including disclosure of error, into medical licensing examinations that assess clinical skills. Existing curricula that cover physician error disclosure may benefit from reviewing the social psychology literature. These lessons, incorporated into SP programmes and emerging technological platforms, may improve training and evaluative methods for all medical trainees.

Individual Differences in Correspondence Bias: Measurement, Consequences, and Correction of Biased Interpersonal Attributions

Across consequential attributions of attitudes, ability, emotions, and morality, people make correspondent inferences. People infer stable personality characteristics from others’ behavior, even when that behavior is caused by situational factors. We examined the structure of correspondent inferences and report the development and validation of an instrument measuring individual differences in this correspondence bias (a Neglect of External Demands scale, or “NED”). The NED is internally consistent and distinct from scales and measures of intelligence, cognitive ability, cognitive reflection, general decision-making ability, preference for control, and attributional style. Individual differences in correspondence bias predict blaming people for harmful accidents, believing coerced confessions, correcting for job and task difficulty when making performance evaluations and incentive-compatible personnel selections, and separating market and fund performance when making incentive-compatible investments. Fortunately, the tendency to commit correspondence bias can be reduced. Making situational information easier to process debiases those most prone to correspondence bias. Data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2668 . This paper was accepted by Yuval Rottenstreich, judgment and decision making.

Mindfulness reduces the correspondence bias.

The correspondence bias (CB) refers to the idea that people sometimes give undue weight to dispositional rather than situational factors when explaining behaviours and attitudes. Three experiments examined whether mindfulness, a non-judgmental focus on the present moment, could reduce the CB. Participants engaged in a brief mindfulness exercise (the raisin task), a control task, or an attention to detail task before completing a typical CB measure involving an attitude-attribution paradigm. The results indicated that participants in the mindfulness condition experienced a significant reduction in the CB compared to participants in the control or attention to detail conditions. These results suggest that mindfulness training can play a unique role in reducing social biases related to person perception.