Final answer:
Situational attribution suggests that the cause of an event or behavior is due to external, not internal, factors such as environment and circumstances. The fundamental attribution error is a bias where individuals overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational ones when observing others' behaviors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Key Concept of Situational Attribution
Situational attribution is a key concept within social psychology that suggests that the cause of an event or behavior is outside one’s control, and instead is related to external factors. For instance, a person's actions might be influenced by their environment, current circumstances, or social pressures rather than by their innate traits or personality. When people observe someone else’s behavior, they often commit the fundamental attribution error, which means they tend to underestimate the power of situational factors and overestimate the role of dispositional factors (traits, attitudes, and preferences).
This error is related to what is known as the actor-observer bias, where we attribute our own actions to situational factors because we are aware of our personal circumstances, but we attribute other people's actions to their dispositions or personal characteristics. Social psychologists strive to understand how both situational and dispositional factors influence behavior, recognizing the complex interplay between a person's environment and their personal attributes.