Wilson, Lili Milian

The fundamental attribution error (FAE) refers to the social perceiver's tendency to emphasize dispositional rather than situational information when determining the causes for an actor's behavior (Ross, 1977). The present study challenges previous FAE research by suggesting that highly constrained experimental circumstances, not representative of real-world occurrences in which self-selection variables play a major role, are perhaps responsible for these findings. Subjects were given behavioral information and asked to make attributions based on a target's level of agreeableness and predict their intentions concerning future interactions. The data indicates that limited information can still lead to accurate identification of true scores. Attributions for behaviors that were exhibited under both low and high situational constraint were useful in detecting a target's underlying trait. They also form a foundation for guiding future interactions. Together, these findings support the notion that the FAE serves as an adaptive and appropriate strategy.