Group attribution error: Difference between revisions

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The '''group attribution error''' refers to people's tendency to believe either

The '''group attribution error''' refers to people's tendency to believe either (1) that the characteristics of an individual group member are reflective of the group as a whole, or (2) that a group's decision outcome must reflect the preferences of individual group members, even when external information is available suggesting otherwise.<ref name=":04">{{cite journal|last1=Hamill|first1=Ruth|last2=Wilson|first2=Timothy D.|last3=Nisbett|first3=Richard E.|date=1980|title=Insensitivity to sample bias: Generalizing from atypical cases|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/92179/InsensitivityToSampleBias.pdf|deadurl=bot: unknown|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=39|issue=4|pages=578–589|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.39.4.578|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511145714/https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/92179/InsensitivityToSampleBias.pdf|archivedate=2016-05-11|df=}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last1=Allison|first1=Scott T|last2=Messick|first2=David M|date=1985|title=The group attribution error|journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology|volume=21|issue=6|pages=563–579|doi=10.1016/0022-1031(85)90025-3}}</ref><ref>Mackie, Diane M.; Allison, Scott T. (1987). "Group attribution errors and the illusion of group attitude change". ''Journal of Experimental Social Psychology''.</ref>

# the characteristics of an individual group member are reflective of the group as a whole, or

The '''group attribution error''' refers to people's tendency to believe either (1) that the characteristics of an individual group member are reflective of the group as a whole, or (2) that# a group's decision outcome must reflect the preferences of individual group members, even when external information is available suggesting otherwise.<ref name=":04">{{cite journal|last1=Hamill|first1=Ruth|last2=Wilson|first2=Timothy D.|last3=Nisbett|first3=Richard E.|date=1980|title=Insensitivity to sample bias: Generalizing from atypical cases|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/92179/InsensitivityToSampleBias.pdf|deadurlurl-status=bot: unknown|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=39|issue=4|pages=578–589|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.39.4.578|archiveurlhdl=2027.42/92179|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511145714/https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/92179/InsensitivityToSampleBias.pdf|archivedatearchive-date=2016-05-11|dfhdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last1=Allison|first1=Scott T|last2=Messick|first2=David M|date=1985|title=The group attribution error|journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology|volume=21|issue=6|pages=563–579|doi=10.1016/0022-1031(85)90025-3}}</ref><ref>Mackie, Diane M.; Allison, Scott T. (1987). "Group attribution errors and the illusion of group attitude change". ''Journal of Experimental Social Psychology''.</ref>

The group attribution error shares an [[attribution bias]] analogous to the [[fundamental attribution error]].<ref name=":1" /> Rather than focusing on individual's behavior, it relies on group outcomes and attitudes as its main basis for conclusions.

== Types of TendenciesTypology ==

===Type I===

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===Type II===

The second form of group attribution error was first reported by Scott T. Allison and David Messick in 1985. This form describes people's tendency to assume incorrectly that [[group decision-making|group decisions]] reflect group members' attitudes. In their study the researchers did multiple experiments presenting participants with group decisions made on the national, state, and local levels. Participants were presented with situations in which a matter of public policy was determined by a single leader with no popular vote, a popular vote of over 90% of the population, and a popular vote which included approximately 50% of the population. If no group attribution error were present, the participants would be expected to conclude that in the 90% vote the views of the individuals were reflective of the group decision, in the 50% vote they may or may not be, and in the leader decision there is no evidence that the individual views reflect the group outcome. Allison and Messick discovered instead, however, that the participants associated the individual views with the group outcome in all three cases.<ref name=":1" />

==== Limitations and threats ====

Follow-up research by Leila Worth and Scott T. Allison attempted to identify the limits of the effect. These studies have shown that the error becomes stronger in perceptions of groups that are viewed as (a) more dissimilar to one's own group, (b) more monolithic, and (c) adversarial to one's own group. The error tends to disappear in perceptions of one's own group. Group members are more likely to attribute the decisions of their own group to structural constraints placed on the group, such as its decision rules, whereas members tend to attribute the decisions of another group to its members' attitudes.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Mackie|firstfirst1=Diane M|last2=Allison|first2=Scott T|title=Group attribution errors and the illusion of group attitude change|url=https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(87)90016-3|journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology|language=en|volume=23|issue=6|pages=460–480|doi=10.1016/0022-1031(87)90016-3|year=1987}}</ref>

In 2001, Corneille et al. conducted further studies that suggest that threatening groups are viewed as being both more extreme and more homogeneous.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Corneille|first1=Olivier|last2=Yzerbyt|first2=Vincent Y.|last3=Rogier|first3=Anouk|last4=Buidin|first4=Genevieve|date=2001|title=Threat and the Group Attribution Error: When Threat Elicits Judgments of Extremity and Homogeneity|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin|volume=27|issue=4|pages=437–446|doi=10.1177/0146167201274005|s2cid=17149379}}</ref>

==Etymology==

==Origin of the term==

The group attribution error has been referred as a term since 1985 by Scott T. Allison and David M. Messick after evaluating numerous researches made between 1970- and 1985. These researches tie different attribution biases to an individual either 1) the individual's behavior or 2) the outcomes of the group that the individual belongs to. The first one is known as the fundamental attribution error, and the consequent one is known as the group attribution error.<ref name=":04" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. ''Advances in experimental social psychology'', ''10'', 173-220.</ref>

==Human development perception of group attribution==

Infants develop the ability to categorize first by putting a gender label to other children. Then, the difference in color of the skin begins to play a role in their ability to distinguish different backgrounds. Consequently, group attribution biases towards members of different groups, either on race or gender, affect their ability to judge others.<ref>Killen, M., & Rutland, A. (2011). ''Children and social exclusion: Morality, prejudice, and group identity''. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.</ref> For example, the conception of children believing that "all girlsboys are quietabusive" illustrates the influence of categorization and generalization to members of this group (girlsboys).

==Connections to different attribution errors==

The [[fundamental attribution error]] is similar to the group attribution error in that it refers to the tendency to believe that an individual's actions are representative of the individual's preferences, even when available information suggests that the actions were caused by outside forces.<ref name=":04" /><ref>Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1975). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. In ''Utility, probability, and human decision making'' (pp. 141-162). Springer Netherlands.</ref>

The group attribution error and the [[ultimate attribution error]] share the individual's tendency to draw different prejudiced conclusions between in-groups and out-groups. The individuals involved in an in-group would attribute positive conclusions about their group outcomes, yet they would attribute negative conclusions towards the out-group members.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pettigrew|first=Thomas F.|date=2016-07-02|title=The Ultimate Attribution Error: Extending Allport's Cognitive Analysis of Prejudice|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/014616727900500407|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin|language=en|volume=5|issue=4|pages=461–476|doi=10.1177/014616727900500407|s2cid=144300903}}</ref>

==See also==

{{Portal|Psychology}}

{{colbegin|div col|colwidth=22em}}

* [[Attribution bias]]

* [[Attribution theory]]

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* [[Outcome bias]]

* [[Ultimate attribution error]]

{{colenddiv col end}}

==References==

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==Further reading==

*{{cite journalbook|last1=Allison|first1=Scott T.|last2=Mackie|first2=Diane M.|last3=Messick|first3=David M.|title=Outcome Biases in Social Perception: Implications for Dispositional Inference, Attitude Change, Stereotyping, and Social Behavior|journal=Advances in Experimental Social Psychology|date=1996|volume=28|pages=53–93|doi=10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60236-1|publisher=Academic Press|refisbn=harv9780120152285}}

*{{cite journal|last1=Worth|first1=Leila T.|last2=Allison|first2=Scott T.|last3=Messick|first3=David M.|title=Impact of a group decision on perception of one's own and others' attitudes|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|date=1987|volume=53|issue=4|pages=673–682|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.53.4.673|ref=harv}}

{{Biases}}

[[Category:Attitude attribution]]

[[Category:Cognitive biases]]

[[Category:Group processes|Attribution error]]

[[Category:Error]]

[[Category:Prejudice and discriminationPrejudices]]

[[Category:Inductive fallacies]]