The benefit of doubt

When I first tell people I’m studying psychology, they oftentimes retort that it’s an easy major (it’s not) or ask if I can read their minds (I can’t). What I have gained from almost three years of psychology courses, however, is an insight into human thought and behavior.

If you really thought I was going to pass up an opportunity to share my nerdy psych love with the Bradley community, you are sorely mistaken. But I promise, this theory I’m about to share can drastically enhance your life; if you use it correctly.

You may be familiar with this concept already, but I think it’s helpful to match names to ideas. Allow me to formally introduce you to the fundamental attribution error. Essentially, this concept states that when judging the actions of others, people place a larger emphasis on internal characteristics of the person than on external factors that the person faces. In other words, we are more likely to blame someone’s behaviors on their character instead of their present situation.

For example, most of us have experienced troubling highway driving, such as when someone cuts right in front of you or won’t let you into their lane. Our immediate reaction is to assume the driver is a selfish person, a terrible driver, etc. But when the tables are turned, and we don’t let someone into our lane, it’s because we were distracted, or we thought the car behind us would let them in front. If we accidentally cut in front of a car, we’re in a hurry or didn’t notice that our lane was ending so soon.

Do you see the double standard here?

People are heavily influenced by situational factors all the time. I like to think of myself as a friendly and extroverted person. I’m usually pretty talkative and enjoy getting to know the people around me. If someone walked into a Scout meeting and saw me, though, I doubt they would believe that. We hold our weekly sessions Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. On Sundays, I attend three club meetings, complete hours of homework for the upcoming week, create the next week’s schedule, return phone calls, respond to emails and even squeeze in a workout if I’m feeling particularly ambitious.

By the time 7 p.m. rolls around, I stumble into the Scout office, already exhausted and mentally preparing myself for more assignments that I need to finish in the next few hours. It takes all of my energy to focus on the meeting, so I unfortunately do not have much left to spare on chatting with my peers. Luckily, I trust that my fellow staffers know me well enough from other times in the office to not make the fundamental attribution error. However, a brand new person may enter and leave the meeting believing that I’m an antisocial grump, simply based on my posture and neglect to socially interact with others.

By disregarding the situation and only focusing on a person’s actions, we can accidentally assume the worst of people (not that being antisocial is necessarily a bad thing). But if we take the fundamental attribution error into account, we no longer have to make this distressing mistake.

Your classmate doesn’t complete his share of the group project? He probably had an overwhelming week with midterms. Someone butts you in line at the dining hall? She forgot to eat breakfast and only has 15 minutes before class. Your acquaintance didn’t turn around and wave when you called his name? The music in his earbuds must’ve been playing too loudly for him to hear. Instead of concluding that these people are lazy or rude, we can offer them the benefit of the doubt. Not only will it help our relationships with others, but it will make us less frustrated and more compassionate people.

When I was younger, my grandma once told me that whenever there’s a reckless car on the road while she’s driving, she pretends there’s a woman in the backseat about to give birth, so the driver is rushing off to the hospital for an important cause. I didn’t know it at the time, but my grandma was combatting the instinctual fundamental attribution error. She imagined external factors for these drivers instead of deeming them bad people.

Since I know not everyone wants to be a psychology major (but really, it’s great), I hope this little piece of knowledge will help make you a more relaxed person and allow you to feel optimistic about those around you. Feel free to hit me up for more fun implications on cognitive dissonance, group polarization and more.