After hearing a story of how a man was forced to steal food because his children were starving, Terri says that he was stupid, irresponsible, and probably dishonest anyway. Terri's comments reflect ______.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Terri's comments reflect the fundamental attribution error, which is the tendency to attribute people's behavior to their personality traits or dispositional factors rather than the situation at hand. In this case, Terri is not taking into account the situational factors that may have led the man to steal, such as poverty or lack of resources, and instead is attributing the behavior solely to his inherent character flaws.

After Hearing a Story of How a Man Was Forced