The video directly relates to the material in my textbook on fundamental attribution theory since it illustrates the concept of the theory and how it applies in everyday life. In the social world, people perceive others’ actions based on cause and effect, and specific events are triggered by specific causes (Robbins et al. 35). Indirectly, the examples provided in the video are used to show how the theory can be applied to explain an event. The purpose of the video is to give a basic understanding of the theory and how it can explain social behaviors associated with people. According to Luttrell, fundamental attribution error (FAE) is the assumption people make when associating an individual’s behavior to a certain cause. Specifically, people often assume others’ behavior to reflect something about them. In other words, people tend to use dispositional attribution all the time, even when a situational attribution might be the cause for specific behaviors.
The example provided of disposition (internal) attribution is when supposedly someone working in a grocery store rolls their eyes and points you in the direction of the pickles after asking them where they are. From a disposition attribution perspective, the person might be rude and disregard the invitation to have a conversation (Robbins et al. 39). From a situational (external) attribution perspective, the person might have responded rudely due to a circumstance in the workplace, or his life, causing them to hold back from engaging in the conversation (Robbins et al. 41). From the video, I always tend to associate other people’s responses to a certain cause when in reality, their lives’ circumstances might contribute to their behaviors. For example, I can choose to understand that an individual’s behavior or response might be based on other external reasons and avoid assuming they are rude or dislike the initiated conversation.
Work Cited
Luttrell, Andy. What is the Fundamental Attribution Error? YouTube, Web.
Robbins, Susan P, Pranab Chatterjee, Edward R. Canda, and George S. Leibowitz. Contemporary Human Behavior Theory: A Critical Perspective for Social Work Practice. Pearson, 2019.