The fundamental attribution error involves over-attributing others' behavior to dispositional causes and failing to recognize the importance of situational causes. For example:
We are more likely to jump to the conclusion that someone who is often late to work is too lazy to take an earlier bus (a dispositional cause) than to assume that the lateness is due to situational factors, such as the bus always running behind schedule.
We are likely to believe that a person cut us off on the highway out of rudeness (a dispositional cause) than to assume that his or her child is sick in the hospital.
One cause of the fundamental attribution error is what is most conspicuous as we observe the behavior.
The individual's immediate surroundings remain relatively unchanged and hence we are less likely to make attributions to the situation.
We center our attention on the person whose behavior we're considering, and hence we are more likely to make attributions based on personal and dispositional factors.
The fundamental attribution error is common in Western cultures.
