Scientific Definition
Systematic errors in explaining the causes of behavior — yours or others'.
Plain-English Definition
Systematic errors in explaining the causes of behavior — yours or others'.
Feynman Explanation
My failures are circumstantial. Yours are characterological.
Core Principle
Systematic errors in explaining the causes of behavior — yours or others'.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Systematic errors in explaining the causes of behavior — yours or others'.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Performance reviews encode this bias unless explicitly designed against it.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
My failures are circumstantial. Yours are characterological.
Examples
- A missed deadline is 'context' for me, 'incompetence' for you.
- Performance reviews encode this bias unless explicitly designed against it.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Use the same causal language for self and others.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Use the same causal language for self and others.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
We attribute our own actions to situations but others' actions to their character.
We favor people who are similar to us or who like us.
Faces and brands look more appealing in a group than individually.
Avoiding contact with people or things perceived as 'contaminated'.
Giving polite rather than honest answers to avoid offense.
Judging phenomena by the standards of one's own culture.
Attributing causes to protect oneself from blame or vulnerability.
Negative behavior of outgroup members is attributed to character; positive behavior to situational factors.
A group decides on a course of action that nobody actually wants, because everyone assumes others prefer it.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Sacrificing for others without expecting a personal reward.
Masking the sponsors of a message to make it appear grassroots.