While eating at a restaurant, you see a waiter's serving tray tilt and an avalanche of food and beverages splatters on four people. "What a careless, clumsy idiot," you mumble to yourself as you resume eating. You have just committed an attributional bias called:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This scenario involves the fundamental attribution error, where the behavior of the waiter is attributed to a dispositional factor (him being careless and clumsy) rather than situational factors beyond his control (perhaps the tray was uneven or he was bumped by a customer). This bias occurs when we overestimate the influence of personal characteristics and underestimate the influence of situational factors when explaining others' behaviors.

While Eating at a Restaurant, You See a Waiter's Serving