Question

Driving to school one snowy day, Marco narrowly misses a car that slides through a red light. "Slow down! What a terrible driver," he thinks to himself. Moments later, Marco himself slips through an intersection and yelps, "Wow! These roads are awful. The city snowplows need to get out here." What social psychology principle has Marco just demonstrated? Explain.

Answer 1

The social psychology principle that Marco has demonstrated is fundamental attribution error.

Marco first blames the driver for sliding through a red light, convinced that it is solely the driver's fault and a result of him being a negligent driver. However, when he himself faces a similar situation, he does not consider it his own fault, and blames the city snowplows for not doing their work. Marco attributed the other person's behavior to the person, but his own behavior to the situation, which is known as fundamental attribution error in psychology.