Group attribution error: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 05:00, 9 April 2021

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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|url-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}}</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 individual's behavior, it relies on group outcomes and attitudes as its main for conclusions.

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==== 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|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>

==Origin of the term==

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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|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin|language=en|volume=5|issue=4|pages=461–476|doi=10.1177/014616727900500407|s2cid=144300903}}</ref>

==See also==

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==Further reading==

*{{cite book|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|ref=harv|isbn=9780120152285}}

*{{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}}

[[Category:Attitude attribution]]