According to this hypothesis, our point of view will be different depending on whether we analyze our own behavior or that of others. The second hypothesis of the actor-observer effect refers to the perceptual focus (or point of view). This hypothesis, however, has little empirical support. This makes us attribute the behaviors of others to internal factors, and ours to external or situational factors. Thus, this first hypothesis maintains that we tend to have more information about our behavior and our own situational variability, compared to that of others. Information level hypothesisĪccording to this first hypothesis of the actor-observer effect, the level of information we have influences how we analyze the causes of behaviors. Let's look at the five most important: 1. Some hypotheses have been postulated to explain why the actor-observer effect occurs. However, there are several explanations that have been proposed to explain this effect, as we will see throughout this article.Īn example to illustrate the actor-observer effectIt would be a failed exam by a student In this case, while the teacher can attribute this failure to stable personal dispositions of the observer (for example, “laziness” on the part of the student), the student himself (the “actor”) can attribute the same failure to situational or external factors ( for example family problems that have prevented him from studying). This effect could be thought of as a kind of defense mechanism or mechanism that aims to protect our self-esteem or self-concept. In other words, in a way it would be a way of "avoiding" responsibilities. That is, this effect would allude to the fact that we tend to "blame" others for their negative actions, and that we "excuse" ourselves from ours, looking for an external or situational factor that explains the negative result of our behavior. On the other hand, it is interesting to mention that the actor-observer effect appears especially when the behavior or the result of the behavior is negative (as we will see later in an example). This effect, as we have already mentioned at the beginning, has been highly supported and demonstrated by empirical evidence. In this case, when we speak of the "actor" we refer to "ourselves", and when we speak of the "observer" we refer to "the others" hence the name of the effect. This effect was made known by two authors: Jones and Nisbett, in 1972. The actor-observer effect is a psychological phenomenon studied in social psychology, which consists of a general tendency for people to attribute their own actions to situational or external factors, and the actions of others to stable personal dispositions (that is, to internal factors). Related article: "Cognitive biases: discovering an interesting psychological effect"Īctor-observer effect: what does it consist of?.We are going to see what this effect consists of, as well as its characteristics, explanations and limitations. This effect has been supported by empirical evidence, and maintains that we tend to attribute the causes of behaviors in different ways, depending on whether we are talking about our behaviors or those of others. One of these biases is the so-called actor-observer effect, widely studied in social psychology. Motivation hypothesis (self-concept)Īttributional biases are biases or distortions that make us make certain mistakes when explaining the origin of a behavior. Actor-observer effect: what does it consist of?.
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