Fundamental Attribution Error

(male narrator)
Today we're going to talk about

the fundamental attribution error.

What exactly is
the fundamental attribution error?

And why is so important?

Let's look at an example:

Say your friend Bob takes you to a party.

And at that party he introduces you
to his other friend, Erik.

Erik is particularly curt,
and seems uninterested in meeting you.

He comes off as unfriendly.

Chances are, your first reaction is to assume
Erik is just an unfriendly person.

A real jerk, if you will, right?

What if Erik is just having
a really tough day.

Maybe he broke up with his girlfriend.

Or maybe someone close to him
has passed away.

Then you may think that Erik's behavior
is excusable because well,

he's just having a bad day.

I guess Erik isn't that bad a guy, huh?

Well this mix up in judgement

is a perfect example
of the fundamental attribution error.

In other words,

people tend to place more emphasis
on internal explanations

rather than considering
the circumstances.

So next time
you meet someone at a party,

don't be so quick to judge them.