Bertram Malle examined this entire literature in a meta-analysis, finding that, across 170 individual tests, the asymmetry practically did not exist. Over 100 studies have been published since 1971 in which the hypothesis was put to further tests (often in the context of testing another hypothesis about causal attributions). Based largely on this initial supporting evidence, the confidence in the hypothesis became uniformly high. The authors found initial evidence for the hypothesis, and so did Storms, who also examined one possible explanation of the hypothesis: actors explain their behaviors because they attend to the situation (not to their own behaviors) whereas observers attend to the actor's behavior (not to the situation). Soon after the publication of the actor–observer hypothesis, numerous research studies tested its validity, most notably the first such test in 1973 by Nisbett et al. By this theory, a student who studies hard for an exam is likely to explain her own (the actor's) intensive studying by referring to the upcoming difficult exam (a situational factor), whereas other people (the observers) are likely to explain her studying by referring to her dispositions, such as being hardworking or ambitious. Their research findings were that 'there is pervasive tendency for actors to attribute their actions to situational requirements, whereas observers tend to attribute the same actions to stable personal dispositions'. Jones and Nisbett hypothesized that these two roles (actors and observers) produce asymmetric explanations. The specific hypothesis of an 'actor–observer asymmetry' was first proposed by social psychologists Jones and Nisbett in 1971.

This interest was instigated by Fritz Heider's book, The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, and the research in its wake has become known as ' attribution research' or ' attribution theory.' The background of this hypothesis was in the 1960s, with social psychology's increasing interest in the cognitive mechanisms by which people make sense of their own and other people's behavior. privileged access, incorrigibility), management studies, artificial intelligence, semiotics, anthropology, and political science. The author of the study interpreted this result not so much as proof that actors and observers explained behavior exactly the same way but as evidence that the original hypothesis was fundamentally flawed in the way it framed people's explanations of behavior as attributions to either stable dispositions or the situation.Ĭonsiderations of actor–observer differences can be found in other disciplines as well, such as philosophy (e.g. However, a meta-analysis of all the published tests of the hypothesis between 19 found that there was no actor–observer asymmetry of the sort that had been previously proposed. Supported by initial evidence, the hypothesis was long held as firmly established. The specific hypothesis of an actor–observer asymmetry in attribution was originally proposed by Edward Jones and Richard Nisbett, where they said that 'actors tend to attribute the causes of their behavior to stimuli inherent in the situation, while observers tend to attribute behavior to stable dispositions of the actor'. Sometimes the actor–observer asymmetry is defined as the fundamental attribution error, which is when people tend to explain behavior on the internal, personal characteristics rather than the external factors or situational influences. However, when an observer is explaining the behavior of another person, they are more likely to attribute this behavior to the actors' personality rather than to situational factors. When people judge their own behavior, they are more likely to attribute their actions to the particular situation than to their personality. JSTOR ( March 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Īctor–observer asymmetry (also actor–observer bias) is a bias one makes when forming attributions about the behavior of others or themselves.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: 'Actor–observer asymmetry' – news Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.

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