Discuss two errors in attributions.

Fundamental attribution error (FAE)
A bias to attribute other's behavior to stable internal causes rather than external circumstance, because we assume other's behavior reflects their dispositions. 

Jones and Harris (1967) 
Aim: To demonstrate FAE
Procedure: 

• asked participants to read essays written by fellow students 
  
• the essay is either supportive or critical of Fidel Castro's rule in Cuba
  
• participants was asked to guess what attitude the writers of the essays held towards Castro and his government
  

Choice condition
writers are free to choose whether to take positive or negative view about Castro 

No choice condition
writers are assigned with either pro-Castro or anti-Castro 

Findings: 
Participants in both condition assumed that the essays reflect genuine attitudes of their writers 
Conclusion: 
FAE is demonstrated because despite it was made clear the the writer's behavior was constrained in the no choice condition, the participants still opted for an internal attribution 

Fein et al (1990)
Procedure: 

• asked participants to read essay about a character called Rob Taylor 
  
• participants were told that Rob: 1) had been assigned to write either for or against some view, 2) expressed similar views held by his professor (can please the professor) 

Findings: 
FAE was demonstrated in the first condition while it didn't for the second 

Cultural bias in FAE
Norenzayan et al (2002) 
Aim: Test whether information given to Korean and American participant would influence their attributions 
Findings: 
when only received information about individuals, both groups made dispositional attributions 
when situational information is also provided, Koreans tend to include this information in their explanation more than Americans did

Strengths of FAE

• promoted understanding of common errors in explanation of behavior
  
• has been supported by many research studies
  

Limitations of FAE

• culturally biased (too much focus on individualistic cultures)
  
• much research on the theory has been conducted in laboratories and with a student sample (problems with generalization of findings)
  

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Self-serving bias (SSB) 
A bias to attribute our successes on dispositional factors, while to attribute our failures to situational factors 

Explanation to SSB

• a way to uphold self-esteem (self protection)
  
• SSB occurs when people don't have enough information and limit themselves to the available information. People typically expect to succeed and correlate success with their own effort and exaggerate the amount of control they have 

Johnson et al (1964)
Aim: To demonstrate SSB
Procedure: 

• participants taught 2 children how to multiply numbers
  
• first phase: how to multiply by 10, second phase: how to multiply by 20
  
• after each phase, participants have access to the children's worksheet to check on their learning progress
  
• pupil A gave all right answer
  
• pupil B either did badly on both tasks, or improved on the second one (participant either failed or succeeded in teaching pupil B) 
  

Findings:
When pupil B did badly on both tasks, participants tend to attribute it on the pupil's lack of ability 
When pupil B improved on the second task, participants tend to attribute it to their ability as a teacher

Lau and Russell (1980)
found that professional athletes and coaches attribute 80% of their wins to internal factors, while losses to external factors 

Cultural considerations in SSB 
Kashima and Triandis (1986)
Procedure: 

• showed slides from unfamiliar countries to American and Japanese students 
  
• asked them to remember details and later to explain their performance 

Findings: 

• Americans explained their success with internal factors, and failures with external factors 
  
• Japanese tend to explain their failure on the lack of ability (modesty bias) 

Exceptions in SSB
Abramson et al (1989)
depressed people tend to attribute their own success to external factors, while failure to internal factors

Strengths of SSB

• explains why some people (mostly from individualistic cultures) explain their failures as being caused by situational factors 
  

Limitations of SSB

• culturally biased, cannot explain why some cultures emphasize a self-effacing attribution (modesty bias)