Abstract
Are our social perceptions often inaccurate? According to Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett they are. The two authors believe that we often make the fundamental attribution error; the mistake of basing a subjects behaviour on their personality traits and disposition rather than on situational factors. Furthermore, they state that situational factors are a better predictor of an individual’s behaviour than past behaviour or personality traits. Alternatively David C. Funder disagrees and view’s our social perceptions as accurate. He believes that instead of saying a perception is right or wrong we can alternately view it as a deviation from a mean otherwise known as an error. Funder argues that we cannot base our social perceptions only on what is in front of us, rather that we must take it out of context in order to understand it in a broader social sense.
Commentary
Both Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett along with David C. Funder bring about valid points when discussing the accuracy of our social perceptions. It is however Lee Ross’ and Richard E. Nisbett’s argument, that persuades me to believe that our social perceptions are generally inaccurate. The term social perception is the process through which we seek to know and understand other people. (A.Baron, Branscombe, & Byrne, 2008)
Throughout the article the authors describe what is termed as the fundamental attribution error. This concept describes the tendency to perceive others as acting as they do because they are “that kind of person” and do not take into consideration situational factors. (Ross & Nisbett, 1991) A study conducted by Nisbett et al. (1973) where participants were shown twenty paired traits and were asked to identify if their statements were true or depended on the situation for themselves, their best friend, or Walter Cronkite. The results of the study demonstrated the fundamental attribution error in that the participant’s choice depends on the situation much more often