5.10
对应偏误
对应偏误（又称基本归因错误）指的是人们倾向于将他人行为归因于其个体特质而非情境影响。这种认知偏误导致个体忽视可能影响行为的外部因素，这可能导致对他人意图和性格做出不准确的评估。
对应偏误的实证证据
研究一致表明对应偏误普遍存在。在 Jones 与 Harris（1967）的一项经典研究中，参与者阅读…
对应偏差，也称为基本归因错误，是指倾向于将他人的行为归因于其个性特征，而非情境因素。
一项验证这种偏见的实验发现，即使参与者知道作者对其立场并无选择权，他们仍会认为文章反映的是作者的真实观点。
另一项研究发现，人们在解释自身行为时倾向于归因于外部环境，而在评判他人时则更多依据其个性特征，从而强化了对应偏差。
文化规范也会影响归因。基本归因错误在个人主义的西方社会中比在集体主义的亚洲文化中更为常见。
心理学解释表明，个体倾向于关注他人的行为本身，而非行为发生的周围情境，从而导致产生偏见的判断。
另一种解释认为存在一个两步过程：个体首先会对他人的行为做出快速且自动的内在归因，随后才会进行较弱且需要更多努力的外部情境因素调整。
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Q1: What is correspondence bias and why do people make this error?
Correspondence bias, also called the fundamental attribution error, is the tendency to attribute others' behaviors to their personality rather than situational factors. People focus more on a person's actions than surrounding context, leading to overemphasis on personality traits. This perceptual salience causes observers to overlook external circumstances influencing behavior, resulting in inaccurate judgments about others' intentions and dispositions.
Q2: How did the Jones and Harris essay study demonstrate correspondence bias?
Participants read essays supporting or opposing a stance and were told writers had been assigned their positions. Despite knowing writers had no choice, participants still inferred the writers genuinely held those views. This classic study shows a strong tendency to make dispositional attributions about others even when clear situational constraints explain the behavior.
Q3: How do people explain their own actions differently from others' actions?
Individuals attribute their own behaviors to external circumstances while judging others based on personality traits. This asymmetry in attribution reinforces correspondence bias. People recognize situational factors affecting their own choices but overlook these same factors when evaluating others, creating a self-other bias in social perception.
Q4: Does correspondence bias occur equally across all cultures?
No. Fundamental attribution errors are more common in individualistic Western societies than in collectivist Asian cultures. Western participants show stronger dispositional attributions, while Asian participants emphasize contextual explanations for behavior. Religious beliefs also influence attribution patterns, with Protestants showing stronger internal attributions than Catholics.
Q5: What is the two-step process behind correspondence bias?
Correction theory suggests individuals first make a quick, automatic internal attribution about others' actions, then attempt to adjust for external circumstances. However, these corrections often remain insufficient, reinforcing the original dispositional judgment. This two-stage process explains why people struggle to overcome correspondence bias despite having situational information available.
Q6: How does correspondence bias relate to broader attribution theories?
Correspondence bias is a key concept in understanding how people make attributions about behavior. The theory of attribution I correspondent inference theory explains how observers infer dispositions from actions, while broader attribution frameworks examine when people attribute behavior to internal versus external causes in social perception.
Q7: Why do observers focus more on personality traits than situational factors?
The perceptual salience hypothesis explains that observers naturally focus more on individuals' actions than surrounding context. A person's behavior is visually and cognitively prominent, while situational factors remain less noticeable. This attentional bias leads people to overweight personality explanations and underweight environmental influences when judging others' behavior.