Question

Which of the following is true regarding the actor/observer effect?

1) There is a tendency to underestimate situational influences on behaviour when you are the actor.
2) You are less likely to overvalue dispositional factors on your friends' behaviour, even though you are the observer, because you know them well.
3) When you are the observer, you only have the current situation to consider so you overvalue situational factors.
4) It is easier to accurately identify situational influences on your behaviour when you are the actor.

Answer 1

The true statement about the actor/observer effect is that there is a tendency to underestimate situational influences when you are the actor. This is part of the actor-observer bias, where we attribute others' behavior to personal traits and our own behavior to the situation, especially when we lack complete information about the others' circumstances.

Step-by-step explanation:

Regarding the actor/observer effect, the true statement is that there is a tendency to underestimate situational influences on behavior when you are the actor. This phenomenon is known as the actor-observer bias, which describes our tendency to attribute other people's behaviors to internal or dispositional factors and to attribute our own behavior to situational forces. When we are the actors, we have more information about our own conditions and are more likely to provide situational explanations for our behavior. On the other hand, as observers, we lack detailed information about others' circumstances and tend to default to dispositional explanations. An example of this bias is demonstrated when explaining why someone likes their significant other.