Understanding Fundamental Attribution Error

Imagine that your team member couldn’t finish an important work in time. You might be quick to judge that he might be lazy or irresponsible. His/her reasons might seem as an excuse to you. Now on the flip side imagine yourself in such a situation. We are sure to take the external factors into consideration.

“The task was hard.”

“John didn’t send me the files needed in time.”

The reasons will go on and on. This is a fundamental attribution error. We are quick to judge others without taking the situational factor into consideration. We judge others differently from how we judge ourselves.

Your first impression may not be the actual character of the person. I am sure that some of us have been quick in signing someone off as unfriendly, introverted or as a jerk based on your very first interaction. We won’t consider what situation they might be in. They might just be having a bad day.

Fundamental attribution error can destroy relationships, make someone take bad decisions. Out of the cognitive biases out there, this is the one I would want most of the people to know about. We are hardwired to make fundamental attribution errors because it strengthens our confidence, but it hurts us more than it serves us.

Learning about this bias helped me to change my perspective. Why should we give ourselves the benefit of doubt while being quick to judge others? To tackle fundamental attribution error, we should learn to be more empathetic. We should consider ourselves in the place of others before coming to a conclusion about their character. This will help us become kinder and less judgmental. Practicing empathy makes you a better leader and avoiding fundamental attribution error is imperative for leaders.

Apart from the evolutionary reasons. We often fail to consider others as our equals. This may sound pretentious but I consider this to be a major reason for fundamental attribution error. We either consider others above us or below us. We won’t be able to understand their situation because of this perspective. With more conversations going online, judgments are getting quicker. The effect of fundamental attribution error is compounded.

Once you start taking note of this, you will see quick judgments almost everywhere and see that we are creating narrow minded ideas of people everywhere. So take some time, relax. Read the situation, understand the context and take the effort in creating a happier, empathetic world.

Learning cognitive biases helps us understand people better. Helps us understand why we do something in some ways. Helps us relate to others and better understand them. So next time you are about to judge someone, take some time to understand their situation. They are also human, just like you.

All thanks to Shreyas for introducing me to cognitive biases.