Fundamental attribution error

In social psychology, the fundamental attribution error (FAE) ^[a] is a cognitive attribution bias in which observers underemphasize situational and environmental factors for the behavior of an actor while overemphasizing dispositional or personality factors. In other words, observers tend to overattribute the behaviors of others to their personality (e.g., he is late because he's selfish) and underattribute them to the situation or context (e.g., he is late because he got stuck in traffic). Although personality traits and predispositions are considered to be observable facts in psychology, the fundamental attribution error is an error because it misinterprets their effects.

The ultimate attribution error is a derivative of the FAE relating to the actions of groups, with an additional layer of explanation addressing whether the action of an individual is representative of the wider group.
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