Sketchplanations - A weekly explanation in a sketch

The “fundamental attribution error” refers to our tendency to overattribute others’ behaviors to their dispositions, while reversing this tendency for ourselves.

When we fail, we often conceal it, distort it, or deny it. We make the facts fit our self-serving theory rather than adjust the theory to fit the facts. We attribute our failure to factors beyond our control. In our own failures, we overestimate the role of bad luck (“Better luck next time”). We blame the failure on someone else (“She got the job b

“fundamental attribution error” to describe the tendency to explain behavior based on an individual’s disposition versus the situation.

Correspondence bias: making inferences about someone’s unique disposition from behavior that can be entirely explained by the situation in which it occurs. When we see someone else kick a vending machine, we think they are “an angry person,” but when we kick the vending machine, it’s because the bus was late, the train was early, and the machine at