Lee Ross and the “Fundamental Attribution Error”
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2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment order> Sure, the people in your tribe may do bad things, but only in response to extraordinary circumstances. Attribution Error gets doubly dangerous when combined with another cognitive bias, the Out-group Homogeneity Effect[0], which leads to the Group Attribution Error.[1] This latter error leads people into thinking the characteristics of an individual group member are reflective of the group as a whole, so "When someone in my tribe does something bad, they're not really in my tribe (No True Scotsman…
I realized a long time ago that "personality" is a function dependent on context. Each situation brings out specific aspects of your personality, and as situations change, personality seems to change. The most clear is in relationships - you can never know how a relationship will go from the outset, even if you knew that person for a long time, it takes being in a relationship (actually be in that situation) to see how your personalities adapt.
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 216
- Total comments
- 122
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-07-06 | Ode to a world-saving idea: Fundamental Attribution Error | sdenton4 | 2 | 0 |
| 2021-07-12 | Lee Ross and the “Fundamental Attribution Error”First breakout · Best thread | deepbow | 133 | 49 |
| 2024-07-08 | Ode to a world-saving idea: attribution error and cognitive empathy (2021)Latest 20+ point return | fanf2 | 81 | 73 |