Cognitive Biases: Causal Attribution Family

Fundamental Attribution Error

Also known as Internal Attribution Bias

Definition:

We tend to underestimate external causes and overestimate internal causes when analyzing others. Consequently, people are seen as responsible for their behaviors.

External Causes: The environment, conditions, context, etc.

Internal Causes: Personality traits, abilities, intentions, etc., of an individual.

Example:

In a user interface usability test, we might prefer to attribute the participant's failures to their lack of skill and ability rather than to the usability of the interface and the potential stress induced by the test.

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Self-Serving Bias

Also known as Actor-Observer Effect

Definition:

There is a difference in how we explain an event depending on our position (actor or observer). For a positive event, we attribute our success to internal causes and the success of others to external causes. For a negative event, we attribute our failure to external causes and the failure of others to internal causes.

External Causes: The environment, context, etc.

Internal Causes: Personality traits, abilities, intentions, etc., of an individual.

Example:

Error messages in a user interface should not blame users for making mistakes. This can lead to user frustration as they will not consider themselves responsible for the error.

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Ingroup Bias

Also known as Ingroup Favoritism Bias

Definition:

We have a more favorable view of and favor members of our own group (ingroup) compared to members of other groups (outgroup). This bias is amplified when:

- Ingroup members are close-knit.

- The ingroup is stigmatized by outgroups.

- The ingroup has a difficult goal to achieve.

- A goal requires strong cohesion.

Example:

Creating a community for users of a product/service fosters a sense of belonging and increases their engagement.

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Ultimate Attribution Error

Definition:

We favor our ingroup over outgroups in causal attribution. Therefore, the successes or positive behaviors of the ingroup are attributed to internal causes, while failures or negative behaviors are attributed to external causes. For outgroups, the attribution is reversed. It is a generalization of the self-serving bias to the group level.

Outgroup: A group to which an individual does not belong.

Ingroup: A group to which an individual belongs.

External Causes: The environment, context, etc.

Internal Causes: Personality, abilities, etc.

Example:

Having biases against a group of users can lead to ignoring important contextual factors and attributing difficulties to their abilities.

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