Transcript Discuss two errors in attributions.

But we are human and seem to make
a lot of mistakes when attributing
other people’s behavior…..
Discuss two errors in
attributions.
1. Fundamental Attribution Error
Ross 1977
How do you view your
teacher’s behavior?
You probably
attribute it to their
personality rather
than their profession.
• We tend to
overestimate the role
of dispositional
factors.
But do you really
know?
We think that because Mr. Hertzig is calm and focused
in the classroom…then that must be his disposition.
Maybe that is his
situation. Maybe he acts
this way outside of school.
Some research to back up FAE…..
Ross et al. 1977
Procedure:
• 18 pairs of students at Stanford U
participated in a simulated quiz
game where they were assigned
roles of the questioner or
contestant.
• 24 people watched the show.
• The questioner was privately asked
to compose 10 questions to ask the
contestant and give the participant
30 sec to answer the question.
• If the participant did not give the
right answer, the questioner gave it.
• After the quiz show all the
participants and observers were
asked to rate the “general
knowledge” (how smart) they
thought the questioners and
participants were.
Who do you think the rated as smarter?
Results
• Both the contestants
and the observers rated
the questioners as
being much smarter
than the contestants.
• Is the fair?
• How is this FAE?
2. Self-Serving Bias (SSB)
• A self-enhancing
strategy.
• Refers to the tendency
for people to evaluate
themselves positively
by taking credit for their
success.
• While attributing
failures to situational
factors.
We won the game
because I am
awesome!!!
We lost because
our coach sucks!!!
How I see SSB…..
• I see a version of SSB called
“self-handicapping”
• If you expect to fail an test,
you will openly make
situational attributions
before the exam.
• “No time to study”,
“Relationship issues”, “You
never taught us that”
Why does SSB exist?
• Could be a way to uphold
self-esteem.
Or
• We tend to expect to
succeed.
• Could be that people just
lack information when
they fail and look for a
reason?
• We tend to think we have
more control over our
lives than we do.