fundamental observer error actor observer bias

Studying hard is less constant (thus variable) and considered effort. Internal, stable causes are the most personalized delivering the most credit (if the outcome is positive, otherwise it brings the most scrutiny and blame). To claim brilliance is to describe a personal trait that is considered permanent (a stable characteristic).

Why you did so well on a test? You say you studied hard. You can illustrate the Success/Failure Bias with an example. The key fact from the research is that the successes of both men and women can be factually identical, yet the explanations (attributions) differ, favoring men.

Over time, the discounting of women has normalized the undercutting (externalizing) of how American society explains women’s success. Simultaneously, men get too much credit for being personally responsible (internal causes). Choosing situational (external) explanations discounts women’s accomplishments. The women leaders of We’ve Got Her Back rightly ask why there is a different standard to explain men and women’s accomplishments and successes. There are two Internal and two External groups, each paired with Stable and Variable causes. Over the years, researchers settled on four categories into which all explanations can be fit. Psychologists call this the attribution (assignment) of responsibility for events. Whenever we ask people to explain why events happen, we are asking for their version of reasons, explanations, causes. Allow me to describe Causal Attribution theory as briefly as I can.

Fundamental observer error actor observer bias