Fundamental Attribution Error

When I’m late for an appointment, it’s because someone called me at the last minute or my boss asked me to do one more thing before leaving. When you’re late, it’s because you don’t manage your time well or you’re inconsiderate of others.

When I snap at someone, it’s because I’m under a lot of stress or because they keep making the same stupid mistake. When you snap at me, it’s because you have anger issues or you’re disrespectful.

When my written report has several typos, it was just a bad day for me or because the unreasonable deadline didn’t allow me to proofread it carefully. When your report has the same errors, it shows that you do sloppy work and don’t care about quality.

When I say something bluntly, I’m simply being a “truth teller” in an organization that needs a wake-up call. From someone else’s mouth, the same words will draw criticism of insensitivity.

You get the idea. Do you rush to judgment? Do you quickly move from disappointment about an incident to assumptions about character? If you manage people (paid staff or volunteers), you need to understand the fundamental attribution error. For that matter, you need to understand this concept if you relate to others (that’s all of us). The next time you have a difficult interaction, take a few minutes to reflect on how the fundamental attribution error may have unintentionally come into play. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>