29/08/2026
We often make quick judgments about other people based on what we can see.
Someone is late or behaves inconsiderately, and we may immediately attribute it to their personality.
In social psychology, this is known as the Fundamental Attribution Error: the tendency to overestimate personal characteristics when explaining another person’s behavior, while underestimating the influence of the situation.
However, behaviour is usually visible, while context is not.
This does not mean that every negative behaviour should be excused. Instead, it is a reminder that our instinctual explanation may not always be the complete one.
A useful question to consider is:
What situational factors might I be missing?